After losing six in a row, including the first two of three games at Twist Park in Atlanta, Georgia, the Washington Nationals saw a shift from Knott starter to Braves first baseman Matt Olson early in Sunday’s series finale. A 421-foot shot put him down 2-0. In the fourth inning, trailing 2-1 by Trevor Williams, the bases were loaded with a leadoff, a one-out single and a walk for the home team, and Michael Harris II ran out to shortstop and Ronald Acuna Jr. hit. He hit a 3rd base grounder with a 2nd base force and got 3rd out.
Williams survived the pinch in the 4th inning, hit a double in the 5th, and in the top of the 6th, Luis Garcia doubled to move the game. By Joey Meneses, 2-2. Then Jaymar Candelario caught Braves starter Bryce Elder’s first-pitch slider and hit a two-run homer to make it 4-2. hit a fastball. Relief Kirby Yates zoned for two more runs to keep the lead at 6-2.
Manager Davey Martinez said at the post-match press conference that a win in the finale means a lot to the club.
“It’s always good, it’s always good for these young guys,” Martinez said of his Worlds win and six-game losing streak.
“You see, before we got into this series, we talked about how good this series is. Atlanta Braves “…and we have to step up the game. We can’t make mistakes,” he added.
“Today we had a clean game and played really well, so I’m proud of our players.”
Alex Cole hopped and caught Carl Edwards Jr. over the left-center wall and in the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth, depriving Harris II of a possible two-run home run. 7th, Kyle Finnegan 8th, Hunter Harvey 9th (on 6 pitches) rounded out the victory.
“That was a huge sigh of relief,” Martinez said of Cole’s capture.
“Alex, he’s been playing good defense for us, and today he hit a big home run and still gave us that big lead. It’s been good baseball, and they play hard, they’re like, ”
Hitting a big hit from the middle of the batting line was also a positive development.
“It was great,” Martinez said. “They’ve done that for the most part. Dom wasn’t in his element yet, but he’s on base and hitting for us, and Meneses is doing the same, but hitting big. And candy? What I know about him, and what I’ve been talking about, is that he’s a doubles player who, like today, can bump at times, but he’s playing really good on both sides of the ball.”
The Sixth Year Captain also pointed out Williams’ work (5.0IP, 7H, 2R, 1BB, 6K), especially the fourth, as another key to victory.
“It was big,” Martinez said. “It was a big moment in the game, but he’s done it before. We have a lot of faith in him. He got it back and got us into the game and today we were able to score some goals for him.”
“It was a good win. A good way to leave Atlanta. The boys played well.”
“Trevor calmly pitched five innings and then [Edwards, Jr.], Finnegan and Harvey closed out the game and it was great, but today Dom hit a big 2-run homer and Candy hit a big 2-run homer and they took the lead. ”
