Instant Analysis: Nats 9, Cardinals 6
The Nationals picked up their beleaguered bullpen with three home runs in the bottom of the eighth to snap their five-game losing streak
What’s the cure for bullpen troubles? How about some sustained offense in the late innings, headlined by three big blasts to flip a game back to the home team? After watching their beleaguered relief corps give up five runs and leave themselves staring at a three-run deficit late, the Nationals stormed back to beat the Cardinals thanks to three home runs in the bottom of the eighth.
James Wood’s three-run laser to center field off Ryne Stanek tied the game. Brady House’s two-run homer to left-center off Matt Svanson gave the Nats the lead. And then CJ Abrams added a solo homer (his fourth in five games) to provide some extra cushion for Cionel Pérez, who brushed off Sunday’s disaster by closing it out in the ninth for the win.
Zack Littell, making his first official start after having PJ Poulin open for him last week in Philadelphia, looked much closer to the true version of himself, tossing five innings of one-run ball on 70 pitches. He departed in line for the win thanks to two quick runs supplied by his teammates in the bottom of the first via singles by Wood and Nasim Nuñez surrounding walks by Luis García Jr. and Abrams. Wood also helped out his starter when he robbed Nolan Gorman of a likely home run in the right-field corner in the top of the fourth.
Nevertheless, the 2-1 lead Littell departed with was immediately erased when Ken Waldichuk entered from the bullpen and served up a two-run homer to Rámon Urías to give the Cardinals the lead in the sixth. The Nats did fight right back to tie the game back up, getting back-to-back, two-out walks from José Tena and Drew Millas and an RBI double from Jacob Young. But they squandered a golden opportunity to re-take the lead in the seventh when House was narrowly thrown out at the plate on a flyball to medium-shallow left field.
And when Waldichuk re-took the mound for the top of the eighth, he was greeted by Gorman, who this time hit the ball far enough over the wall to prevent Wood from having any chance at another robbery. Andre Granillo gave up two more runs later that inning, leaving his team facing a steep uphill climb the rest of the way. Turns out they had the ability to climb all the way back and then some to snap their losing streak.
HITTING HIGHLIGHT: You think Wood might be starting to figure things out at the plate? He opened this game with a 104.3-mph infield single. Then he drew a pair of walks. Then he saved his best for last. With two on and one out in the eighth, the Nationals trailing by three runs, he delivered an absolute laser to straightaway center field. The ball left his bat at 114.3 mph. The launch angle was only 18 degrees. But he hit it so hard, that was enough to clear the wall for a dramatic, three-run homer. House and Abrams followed with their own impressive blasts, but Wood’s big bopper is the one that ignited the whole rally.
PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: Not that there was a huge sample to choose from, but this clearly was the best Littell has looked since signing with the Nationals in mid-March. He got at least one whiff on each of his five different pitches. He painted the corners and struck out six in his first 3 1/3 innings, surpassing the 500-mark for his career. And he was pretty efficient, totaling just 70 pitches over five innings. The fact Blake Butera felt compelled to pull him at that point, though, suggests the veteran right-hander still needs more time to build up his arm. Littell labored some in that fifth and final inning, issuing back-to-backs and seeing his velocity drop a tick. Hopefully in another week or two, that’s no longer an issue and he can approach (or even exceed) the 100-pitch mark on a regular basis. But he’s not quite there yet.
NOTABLE: The Nationals are now 5-for-14 on ABS challenges this season. Only the Rangers, with four, have been successful fewer times.
UP NEXT: The Nats give the ball to Cade Cavalli for his third start of the season when these two teams meet again Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. He’ll be opposed by fellow Opening Day starter Matthew Liberatore, the Cardinals lefty who has allowed just two runs in 11 innings so far this season. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM
Brady House looks like a guy who is putting it all together.
Watching postgame interviews, it occurred to me that James Wood has the same low key, monotone speaking style as Ryan Zimmerman!