(Not quite) Instant Analysis: Nats 6, Giants 3

Behind another early homer from Luis García Jr. and yeoman's relief work from Brad Lord, the Nationals won another series to move into a wild-card tie

Photo by Grace Navarro / ALL-PRO REELS

SAN FRANCISCO – The Nationals flirted with danger all night, giving the Giants countless opportunities to rally against a pitching staff that felt at times like it was running on fumes. And then that pitching kept coming through when it mattered most, preserving the early lead the lineup created and securing another road win.

Oh, and they also put themselves in playoff position.

Behind another first-inning homer from Luis García Jr. and some yeoman’s work from reliever Brad Lord, the Nats improved to 4-1 on this West Coast trip, clinched their fifth consecutive road series win and gave themselves a shot at three-game sweep here Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s not easy to win in the big leagues, and we’ll celebrate every win that we can,” manager Blake Butera said. “It wasn’t the prettiest one on the pitching side, but you talk to these guys and maybe when you’re not at your best, still being able to come through this lineup pitching the way we did, result-wise, you’ve got to be happy with it. At the end of the day, they dug deep and found a way to get outs and help us win the game.”

García supplied the early jolt with his second two-run homer of this trip to give his team a 2-0 lead. Jacob Young (triple) and James Wood (RBI single) produced another run in the fifth, then a patient lineup drew three walks during a two-run rally in the seventh. Daylen Lile provided the final nail in the coffin with a ninth-inning triple, providing cushion for the back of the bullpen.

That relief corps, though, didn’t have the luxury of much cushion for most of the night. After Andrew Alvarez wriggled his way out of four jams in four innings, Lord entered with two on in the fifth and surrendered a two-run double to the red-hot Jung Hoo Lee. No problem, because Lord then proceeded to throw 2 2/3 scoreless innings on 57 pitches, much of it after his right ankle gave out while making a play on a slow roller back to the mound.

“It didn’t affect my pitching at all,” he said. “Pushing off the rubber, it was no problem at all. Tested it out a lot in the dugout and just kept it loose.”

When Lord ran out of gas in the seventh, Butera summoned Richard Lovelady with the bases loaded in the seventh. And the lefty, who opened Monday night’s win, retired the right-handed Buddy Kennedy to strand all three runners and keep what was at that point a three-run lead intact. Clayton Beeter and Orlando Ribalta then closed it out with one inning a piece, finishing off an impressive night for the Nationals bullpen and finishing off yet another win for the best road team in baseball.

And where did the Nats stand at the end of the night? In a three-way virtual tie with the Diamondbacks and Padres for the third and final wild card berth in the National League.

“It’s awesome,” Lord said. “I mean, every big-league game matters, but they matter more when you’re trying to push for a playoff hunt.”

HITTING HIGHLIGHT: Why have the Nationals been so good on the road this season? Maybe their ability to consistently jump out to early leads has something to do with it. And it happened again tonight. After Wood led off the game with a single to left-center, García followed with a towering, two-run homer to right that nearly reached McCovey Cove.

It was the third time in five days the Nats have taken a 2-0 lead two batters into the game, the second time on a García homer, with Curtis Mead providing the other blast Saturday in Arizona.

“It’s really helpful to get ahead, especially that early in the game,” García said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “It gives confidence not only to the offense, but also to the starting pitcher.”

García now has five homers and 17 RBI over his last 13 games.

“I want to give credit to James, because he always gets on base,” García said. “So that’s another RBI, too, to my count. I’m just trying to go up to the plate, take every at-bat being focused and take advantage of it.”

PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: Though he faced traffic all night, Alvarez somehow kept finding a way to emerge unscathed. The Giants put a runner on third base in each of the game’s first four innings, and each time the rookie left-hander responded with a big pitch, leaving San Francisco 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Alvarez did not have pristine command. He issued five walks. He also saw his fastball velocity drop from 92-93 mph in the first couple of innings to 89-90 mph in the third and fourth, his pitch count rising throughout.

“It’s frustrating, the walks and going four (innings),” he said. “But thankfully we were able to win, we were able to hang on and get a 6-3 victory. And at the end of the day, that’s what matters. But going forward, it’s something I need to make sure is not continuing.”

With two left-handed hitters due up to begin the fifth, Butera let Alvarez take the mound again. But after another walk and a single, the manager walked to the mound and asked for the ball from his young starter, entrusting Lord to get out of the jam. Lord proceeded to give up Lee’s two-run double, both runs charged to Alvarez.

Lord, though, wound up tossing 2 2/3 eventful innings without getting charged with a run while throwing 57 pitches and also having his ankle give out fielding a slow roller to the mound. That performance ultimately made the biggest difference for the Nationals in this game.

“I’m sure a lot of it was adrenaline,” Butera said. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow. But it was huge for him to be able to stay in there. … I really can’t put it into words. He’s been huge for us.”

NOTABLE: Butera entrusted Dylan Crews to pinch-hit for Jose Tena in a big spot: bases loaded, nobody out, the Nationals leading by a run in the seventh. Crews responded with a rare display of patience, drawing a five-pitch walk that included a run-scoring wild pitch. It was only his second walk drawn in 70 plate appearances since his promotion from Triple-A Rochester.

UP NEXT: It’s a matchup of left-handers in Wednesday’s series finale, which starts at 3:45 p.m. EDT. Foster Griffin takes the mound against long-ago Nats prospect Robbie Ray. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM