Washington Nationals news & notes: Jake Irvin nails at the Trop; CJ Abrams leads Nats to 8-1 win…

Tropp’s Irvin:

Jake Irvin got Brandon Lowe to pop fly on a 1-2 fastball. Tampa Bay Rays‘ He was a left-handed batter, but the ball didn’t drop.

Former Rays player-coach Davey Martinez warned players about strange happenings that sometimes occur at Tropicana Field.

“A fly ball going down the catwalk is tough,” Martinez explained.

“I told everybody, including the infielders, ‘Hey, when the ball goes up, you’ve got to go get the ball because you never know when the ball’s going to be in play and it’s going to hit the catwalk.’

The shot missed, and with Lowe given a second chance, Irvin had one thing on his mind.

“I’m going to hit a home run. That’s what I thought,” he told reporters. Quote from MASN’s Mark Zuckerman After the match.

“I saw the ball go in. [landing on the catwalk]And then, of course, it’s the synergy of the game. Then you make a decent pitch and you see it go off the base, and you just take your hat off to that guy.”

Rowe hit the next pitch, a 95+ mph fastball, but the 405 feet to center field wasn’t enough for a solo home run, tying the game at 1-1 after C.J. Abrams homered in the top of the first to give the Rays an early lead in their second of three home games.

“Hey, that’s part of the field, right?” Martinez said in his post-game press conference after the 8-1 win.

Photo: Mark Taylor/Getty Images

“It’s Tropicana. [Field]Sometimes you lose the ball, sometimes the ball gets stuck.

“Sometimes they’re going to hit it and you’re going to catch the ball and get out. That’s how it goes.”

“After the ball that should have been an out, Rowe did a great job of staying at bat, catching the ball and smashing it. But lesson learned.”

“You’ve got to go out there, forget about it and make your pitch. Unfortunately, he didn’t pitch in that moment, but after that it was perfect.”

Irvin retired 16 of 19 batters after the home run and then walked just three batters over the next five innings, throwing 96 pitches and 57 strikeouts, striking out five and totaling seven strikeouts, though he was called for 14 strikeouts in his start.

“He goes out there and competes, but he has a good understanding of what he wants to do and he’s trying to attack the strike zone and get a lead, that’s a big key,” Martinez said of the 27-year-old Irvin’s 17th start, in which he ranked ninth in the National League with a 3.03 ERA.

The manager said Irvin’s curveball, which was a real weapon in his starts at Coors Field, wasn’t the same at Tropicana Field, but he kept the starter in place.

“His curveball had a sweeper-like movement today. He didn’t try to figure it out and manipulate it, he just went with it and got better as the game went on,” Martinez explained.

“But that’s just the way he is. Instead of trying to find it, he said, ‘It’s in. It’s a sweep, so let’s keep it going.’ But his changeup was really, really good. So, like I said, when he goes for the fastball and can pitch it up and down and outside, he’s tough.”

Irvin held the Rays to just one run through the sixth inning before the Nationals scored seven runs in the top of the seventh to take an 8-1 lead and ultimately secure the victory, ending a four-game losing streak.

CJ PO/CS/HR:

C.J. Abrams reached base in the seventh inning on Friday after being hit by a pitch (ganglion cyst) on his left hand, which has sidelined him in the last few games (his second hit by pitch of the game).

In the seventh inning, Jacob Young scored a run and the Rays were leading 3-1 with two outs. In his next at-bat, pitcher Kevin Kelly threw the ball right away, but Abrams got it back in the first inning. Kelly then advanced to first base again and tagged out Abrams. That was the NL record for most stolen base attempts against Abrams this season (9).As of Saturday morning, they were tied for first in the major leagues.).

Why is he being picked off/pushed out so often?

Manager Davey Martinez shared his thoughts after Friday’s game.

“First of all, I don’t think he’s stepping on his feet. He’s trying to take that extra shuffle step,” Martinez said. “I’ve told him to do that. He’s got a big lead anyway. He doesn’t need to go that far. I think teams are aware that he’s got a lead like that, and he’s been intercepted quite a bit. So, I’ll talk to him about it again. I’ve talked to him once, no, many times, but he needs to stay still. There, when the pitchers see the movement, they give them a heads up and that’s when they throw. He’s got to stay quiet there, get a good lead and read the pitcher well.”

Ahead of the second of three games against the Rays, Martinez spoke about how Abrams has handled himself defensively, on the bases and at the plate early in his career.

“He’s got a lot to work on because he’s a guy that’s expected to get on base and get the team going,” Martinez said.

Abrams gave the Nationals the leadoff home run on the fourth pitch of Saturday’s game, smashing a belt-high 2-1 cutter 396 feet outside right-center field at Tropicana Field.

It was his 13th home run of the season and his third leadoff hit of the year.

Later in the game, he missed his second hit of the game, smashing an RBI double over the left field fence.

Has he got power in both right-center and left field? Is that a good sign?

“When he does that, he’s really good,” Martinez said. “We tell him, ‘Hey, don’t try to pull the whole thing.’ The at-bat that started him continuing to hit the ball the other way was a curveball that he swung at and hit a grounder to. He wanted to stay in the middle of the field and hit the ball hard in the middle of the field. He was able to hit the ball a little bit higher and hit it back to left field.”

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