Instant analysis: Nats 7, Royals 3

Behind clutch hits from Luis Garcia Jr. and Curtis Mead and a three-run homer from Dylan Crews, the Nationals are finally 3 games over .500

Photo by Billy Sabatini / ALL-PRO REELS

It took a few more days than everyone initially hoped, but it did finally happen. The Nationals got to three games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2019 season.

Behind another offensive explosion that included clutch hits by Luis García Jr. and Curtis Mead and an absolute laser of a home run by Dylan Crews, the Nats won their series opener against the Royals and improved to 38-35. They haven’t been this (modestly) above the .500 mark since they ended the 2019 regular season 93-69.

In winning their third straight following back-to-back losses to the Giants and Mariners, the Nationals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third via Mead’s two-out, two-run single to center. They then exploded for five runs in fifth, with García’s two-run single to left knocking starter Mitch Spence from the game and Crews’ three-run homer off reliever Mason Black putting a definitive stamp on things.

Benefiting from the run support was Andrew Alvarez, who allowed one run in four innings but was pulled after only 58 pitches to avoid having to face Kansas City’s lineup a third time. Brad Lord entered for the fifth with the Nats leading 2-1 at the time and quickly gave up two runs and the lead. The right-hander settled in, though, and went three innings on 48 pitches before handing the rest of the game over to the back of the bullpen.

HITTING HIGHLIGHT: Though he had hit tape-measure homers and he had hit lasers right at infielders, Crews had not yet combined those two things to produce a laser of a home run. Until tonight. Stepping to the plate with two on and two out in the fifth, he worked himself to a full count against reliever Mason Black. He got a slider over the plate and then destroyed it. The ball left Crews’ bat at 108.4 mph, and though it only went 22 degrees into the air, it was struck more than hard enough to clear the fence down the left-field line. It was Crews’ third homer in his last eight games. His swing still isn’t all the way where it needs to be. But it’s getting there, and he’s starting to have more consistently positive results.

PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: Alvarez had much better command tonight than he did last week in San Francisco, when he issued five walks and saw his pitch count soar. The left-hander didn’t enjoy a clean inning, but he posted three straight zeros and struck out four of the first eight batters he faced. He ran into a little bit of trouble in the fourth but would have escaped unscathed had Nasim Nuñez been able to cleanly field Carter Jensen’s two-grounder to his right, a play initially ruled an error but later changed to a hit by the official scorer. At 58 pitches, Alvarez certainly appeared fine to continue. But manager Blake Butera has been reluctant to push the rookie, preferring to pull him too soon rather than too late. It all worked tonight, but keep an eye on bullpen availability the rest of this series.

NOTABLE: The Nationals are now 27-19 since April 25, a .587 winning percentage that equates to a 95-win pace over a full season.

UP NEXT: It’ll be Foster Griffin against veteran Michael Wacha in Game 2 of the series, Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM