Two bad pitches:
Jake Irvin threw a first-pitch fastball to Max Kepler in the top of the second inning and a first-pitch curveball to Carlos Correa in the sixth inning, so it wasn’t just a “one bad throw” type of game. But the two bad throws changed the rotation for the 27-year-old second-year starter.
Irvin also got some help from the defense along the way, with a diving catch by Jacob Young in right-center field, a jumping catch by Jesse Winker at the top of the left wall and a sliding Eddie Rosario making a catch out in right field, helping out the Nats starters along the way.
at 6 1⁄3 Irvin allowed five hits and two home runs in one inning, struck out six out of the 25 batters he faced, had nine strikeouts, six curveballs, 16 strikes and nine curveballs. His curveball percentage increased from his season average of 30.5% to 42%, while his four-seam pitch percentage decreased from his season average of 37.2% to 21%.
“Jake pitched really well, really well. He kept us in the game,” manager Davey Martinez said in his post-game press conference following the 3-2 loss. Minnesota Twins At home in DC
Irvin threw just 84 pitches in six innings. 1⁄3 The Twins, as a club, have been aggressive against right-handed pitchers and often swung early in the third of three games at Nationals Park.
“They were aggressive the whole series,” Irvin said of the game overall. “They’ve been swinging like that all series. Hitting home runs is like their team identity.
“And if they hit a home run, they win the game. And I think they’re looking for their pitch and looking for it early. What they’re trying to do is hit the key on the first pitch. It’s like a hall.”
Irvin was pleased with the Twins’ offensive approach.
“I’m there to go deep. If they’re going to give me an out early, I’ll take an early out,” he said. “There were a lot of really great defensive plays today that were really great.
“JY, Eddie, CJ, Lewis [García, Jr.]”Just making plays, Winker too, hey guys. And they come in with an early pitch, so that keeps them involved, and I think that’s just kind of the plan of attack there.”
“He did a good job,” Martinez added. “The home run to Kepler, he just pulled it. It should have been away, but he just pulled it down the middle. Other than that, I thought he pitched really well.”
“Second pitch. Some solo bombs,” Irvin said of his start. “I hope they don’t hurt us as much as they did, but we attacked across the board and threw strikes. That’s my job.”
The reason for the home run was that the Nationals’ batting lineup struggled in the loss with runners in scoring position again, and in a game with a one-run difference, they were 0-for-8 with 6 bases left, and in the 8th inning with two on, they allowed one run. Because it was recorded. A one-out grounder by Keibert Lewis and a solo home run by Joey Meneses in the ninth inning were the home team’s only scores of the game.
“We were 0-for-8 today with runners in scoring position. So, quite a few at-bats where we had a chance to score and we just didn’t,” Martinez said.
“We just have to practice better at the plate. I mean, we do that. We have to hit the ball in some of our at-bats.”
“We’ve had to do a better job. Like I said, we’ve got to get guys on base, create traffic and produce runs.”
