Irvin and unearned runs:
On Saturday, the Washington Nationals played some really sloppy baseball in the rain-soaked infield in the top of the first inning, allowing starter Jake Irvin two errors, a walk, two singles, and two runs batted in. .Double (not in this order) leads to 4th inning (earned run) toronto blue jays In the end, the visiting team won 6-3.
Irvin then calmed down and took the Jays out for the next four innings, pitching 107 pitches, 69 strikes, had four strikeouts, recorded six strikeouts, and collected 20 total called strikes (nine 9 times). His fastball, sinker and curve each have him 5, and his cutter he has 1).
The home team could not recover from the first inning, but they scored two runs in the seventh inning on CJ Abrams’ bases loaded sac fly and Nick Senzel’s RBI, and in the ninth inning they scored one run on Luis Garcia Jr.’s RBI. I stole it. .
“That was bad. The first inning wasn’t good,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters after the Blue Jays tied it for the third straight game. “I couldn’t throw the ball to first base. He only had one of those days, right? The weather wasn’t great, but he should have made that play. [Jake] He threw the ball really well. There must have been a few double plays there. We couldn’t take advantage of it. But we tried to fight back and again we scored late, but we couldn’t score early.I thought I could do something [Jays’ starter Kevin Gausman], his pitch numbers were much better, but he was unable to score a run or two. One such day. We play really good defense and I hum that all the time. Today just wasn’t that day. ”
The Nationals captain added, “The first inning probably could have been just one run.” “We just couldn’t play defense behind him. He was good all day. He let us pitch five innings.
“He didn’t give up a run after the first inning.”
Finnegan again:
Kyle Finnegan has made 10 of 11 save opportunities this season, posting a 2.03 ERA, 4.34 FIP, K/99.45, BB/9 (too high) 4.05, and a .136/.240/.296 line against the ball. was recorded. 14 games and 13 games 1⁄3 This year’s IP.
Finnegan also faced three or fewer batters in eight consecutive games, pitched clean, efficient innings, and allowed just one run (earned run) in his past 12 mound appearances.
“It’s all about throwing strikes to him, it really is,” manager Davey Martinez said after Finnegan threw 13 pitches, 3 Ks, and a 1-2-3 frame on May 1. “[He’s] He attacks the strike zone, he utilizes his fastball well and his splits are very good, so he attacks the strike zone. That’s what I love, both down and up, and when he’s around the strike zone, he’s hard to hit. It’s obviously the walks and setbacks that bother him.
“When he’s behind he’s primarily a fastball pitcher and hitters know that, but when he’s ahead he’s hard to hit.”
Of the three Ks last time, two were splitters and one was a sweeper (a pitch introduced this year that effectively replaces the slider) and was decided on counts 1-2, 1-2, 2-2. Ta.
“That’s right,” Martinez said. “And this is exactly what I’m talking about: He can’t get to that pitch unless he’s in front of it. He doesn’t like to throw them. [behind]. And when he does, they’re really effective, especially his splitter, so it’s definitely beneficial for him moving forward, like any pitcher, and that’s what he’s doing really well right now. is. ”
For splitters, Martinez said location is key, and his .167 BAA on the field so far this season suggests he’s locating well in just over a month.
“He’s throwing the ball in the zone. It’s a swing and a miss pitch,” the manager explained. He’s starting to understand what he needs to do on that pitch. He’s putting the ball down when he needs to throw that pitch because sometimes it’s not good to leave him alone. But like I said, his fastball is working really well right now, he’s got good movement with that fastball, and when he’s leading he can do other things. ”
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Considering he spent seven seasons in the minors in the Oakland Athletics system without getting a chance in the majors when the Nationals signed him to a major league contract in 2019-20, he was I’ve come a long way. He has become the kind of pitcher the Nats thought the club had in mind when they took a chance on him.
“When I first met him, I thought he was a great guy who didn’t really know who he was and didn’t have an identity,” the Nationals captain said. “So by getting to know him and talking to him and putting him in situations where I think he can be successful, more or less building confidence in him and making him understand, ‘You can pitch here, yours.’ The things that were important to me were very good. And the rest was up to him. He went out and showed me every day that I taught him, “Hey, he can do this job, and he’s getting better at it.” I think it’s tough to suddenly go from where he was to being forced into the final stages of the game, but he handled it really, really well. ”