Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats walk off on Mets; Jacob Young wins it; Mike Rizzo talks Luis García + more…

National situation:

Comments from Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo Weekly visit with 106.7 the FAN of Sports Junkies in DC On Wednesday morning, he spoke about the current changes in his club (6 straight losses, 8 out of 10 losses), compared to runs done in July-August (The overall record is 29 wins and 25 losses, and 17 wins and 11 losses in August.).

“The secret of how good we were in July and August was how we pitched to keep the game close,” Rizzo told the Junkies. game. That’s how we won most of our games in August. The starters are the key to all this, I’ve been saying for years, when the starters give us a chance to win, we can play very well and win games. . “

As Rizzo pointed out, erratic starting pitching, with some of the young starters reaching inning levels they’ve never reached before, and a tendency to fall back early, are the key drivers of the recent fate of the Nationals. is determined.

“It’s hard for any team to come back when they’re down three or four points in one or two,” Rizzo explained. We have a chance of winning those games. “

“The starting pitchers are key to this. They need to keep us in the game and give us a chance to grab a win,” he added.

As if to signal, Joan Adon took the mound last night in the capital to give the Knots a top-five, conceded in the first but then held back. New York Mets In DC, he went up to 4 runs in 2 of 2 innings, but allowed a second run in the final inning of the top of the fifth.

The 26-year-old Adon walked three hitters, struck out six total, threw 80 overall with 45 strikes, and produced 12 vacant strikes and seven cold strikes that night.

With the score 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh, the home team fought back with hits from Dominic Smith and Jake Alou, an RBI by Ildemaro Vargas and a tie-breaker by CJ Abrams to equalize the lead by two. -2 in the second game of a quick two-game set.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Nationals made a comeback. Carter Keyboom gave the first walk off reliever Phil Bickford and hit Jake Alou (At the next at-bat, on a 0-2 pitch), Ildemaro Vargas bunted both runners before Jacob Young hit a walk-off single to Nakamae to throw in a keyboom to win 3–2.

“It’s great. It’s great,” Martinez said of Young’s blockbuster. “And as I always come back, he’s one of many players who will help us win games.”

It was a big moment for a young player.

“I’m happy for him and happy for our club. I always say they don’t give up.

“We’re down, we’re down, we’re down and it’s great to have them come back and leave the team, especially one of our young prospects…”

Brad Mills – USA TODAY Sports

And what about Adon’s outing?

“He was great,” Martinez said.

“He limited the damage. It was hot. ”

The win ended the Nationals’ six-game losing streak. los angeles dodgers To Washington DC on the first Friday of the three.

“It’s great because we’ve struggled,” Martinez said. We have a day off tomorrow and we have a tough team this weekend, but we need to get some rest and come back on Friday to prepare for the game. “

AAA Garcia:

Manager Davey Martinez told reporters about the club’s decision to send 23-year-old second baseman Luis Garcia to AAA after playing 100 games for major league clubs from April to August 2. Ta. 259/.293/.362 in 407 at-bats with 13 doubles, 4 triples, and 6 homers, including 21 walks and 51 strikeouts.

“I still strongly believe that Lewis is a big part of our future, I really do,” Martinez explained.

Jamie Germano / USA TODAY NETWORK

“There are some consistency issues that we would like him to address. [things of] its nature. He does many things well. We believe he can do better. So this is really about him and the future of our organization. I really believe that Lewis here will help us win the game and I hope he will be here when we get another chance to win the championship. he is 23 years old. I wanted him to step back and work on some things, especially to be more consistent in his overall game, preparation, routine, things of that nature. So he got a chance to get down there and reset his legs a bit. As soon as he shows us that he can do it, we will take him up. But he has really great skills. He has good bat-to-ball skills and his hands really work on defense. What we want him to get better at is using his lower body both on hitting and on the ground, so he has to work on that while he’s there. “

Garcia has batted .268/.315/.381 in 25 games and 108 PAs in Triple-A Rochester, with eight doubles and a home run, and general manager Mike Rizzo said Wednesday at 106.7 fans and progress in D.C.’s Sports Junkies. Told. They’ve been watching infielders ever since they moved down to top minor league affiliates.

Reggie Hildred – USA TODAY Sports

“It was a prep task,” Lizzo told Junkies. “We wanted him to go out there and learn the routine and learn how to prepare for every big league game. , really cut down on the time in the video room, he’s really feeling better and he’s lost a few pounds, which is one of the things we wanted him to work on when he got there. He worked with our hitting coordinator and hitting coaches at Triple A where he had a really good attitude and used this to truly understand his game in a less competitive environment. and he did a great job there.”

Lizzo also wanted to clarify that the club still sees Garcia as part of DC’s future.

“We’re going to see him playing our second baseman every day in the big leagues soon, because we think he’s a big part of the future of the field,” said the GM. Ta.

“He’s only 23 years old and has had a lot of at-bats at the major league level with some success. It’s just about being sexual.” Being a major leaguer. “

Goa Starts Friday:

Mackenzie Gore missed a rotation turn while on the bereavement list but returned to the club on Tuesday. The player’s manager, Davey Martinez, told reporters ahead of Game 1 of Game 2 against the New York Mets in Washington, D.C. this week that he will play southpaw Wednesday before deciding when he will return to the rotation. said he would love to see him throw in the bullpen.

“He’s going to pitch in the bullpen tomorrow, and if all goes well, we’ll probably start him on Friday. But I want to keep an eye on him tomorrow, so I’ll go see the bullpen.”

Apparently Mr. Gore was good looking.

“He looked good,” Martinez admitted before Wednesday’s victory over the Mets. “I threw 30 pitches and threw really good.

“So he will start on Friday.”

Martinez and others will be watching closely when Gore returns from a nine-day hiatus and takes the mound.

“I’ll keep an eye on his mechanics and stuff like that,” Martinez explained. “But he’s — his bullpen, his electric. It really is. You need to keep him a little under control.

Jeff Burke – USA TODAY Sports

“He gets very emotional. He pitches very hard, which I love, but sometimes you have to be able to control it.

“I’m looking forward to seeing him out there and competing.”

Martinez said he thinks Gore has come a really long way in controlling his emotions on the mound since joining the 2022 trade deadline.

“Much better. Much better,” Martinez said. “The first time I saw him, he could throw back and go completely insane. Now he understands that he needs to get to the next pitch, and he is still very young, but he has to be able to control his emotions and sometimes his heart rate, and he does much better in high leverage situations as we do. If he’s with you and you use your emotions the right way, you can get outs, you can get outs quickly, you can strike out, but it’s like I said, he’s young and he’s hungry. Yes, he wants to go out and play games, he wants to help us win the championship, and it’s all right.”

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