Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats and St. Louis Cardinals split two; Jake Irvin tries to keep rolling; CJ Abrams’ SBs…

First of all:

Each club had to complete six games before the Nationals and Cardinals played their second of two games Saturday night at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.-plus at the endinnings from the series opener after being postponed by rain in the third inning on Friday night.

When the game resumed, Cards took a 1-0 lead in the third, but after Abrams got the lead in the top of the fourth with a hit by the away Nuts, Joey Meneses hit CJ Abrams with an RBI to make it 1-1. tied the score. .

Both teams scored three runs in the first half of the fifth, added one each in the eighth, and went into overtime at 5-5 as the Nationals scored two more on Lane Thomas’ RBI lead. added. He singled to right and scored the 7th on a double play ground ball, 7-5.

“We stayed in midfield,” said Davey Martinez after the club went 22-22 away wins this season. “Joey’s good at bat [Meneses] Clearly, driving in that large run [in the eighth]but CJ, again, stayed in the middle of the field, got on base for us, stole a base, and all these guys.

“Lane, going the other way, everyone had really good approaches, good plate appearances, and good two-strike plate appearances.”

“It was a good day for a hitter,” Martinez added. “Overall it was a good day for the players. I wish we could have won a little earlier, but the bullpen came in and held us back. We played well.”

St. Louis Irvine:

Manager Davey Martinez and others gave Nationals 26-year-old rookie Jake Irvin an extended vacation in early June so Nationals starting pitcher and pitching coach Jim Hickey could make some adjustments to his pitching mechanics. made the decision to give Since his return the results have been good.

“His hitting the strike zone is a lot better,” Martinez said before Ervin made his fifth start after returning from a rotated turn. “[He’s] I’m using all his pitches, but his fastball placement was really good.

“His efficiency, his pitching efficiency, has improved a lot since his first start, so he’s doing really well.”

Prior to the hiatus, Irvin, who had pitched 31 innings in seven starts in seven games with a 5.81 ERA, 5.79 FIP, 20 walks, 23 Ks and a .267/.386/.408 batting average, was returning to the starting lineup for the fifth time. played. (W, 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER) 3.25 ERA, 4.36 FIP, 8 Walks, 18 Ks, .243/.296/.350 vs. 27 ²⁄₃ IPs in that range.

Photo Credit: Joe Puetz/Getty Images

“We talked about how much he’s grown,” Martinez said after the win against the Texas Rangers.

“He hit the strike zone again today. His fastball was great and his curve ball was great. So when he throws strikes, he’s good, really good.”

“We talked a lot about giving him time off,” added the director. “And I tried to work out some issues for him, and what he did in those 10-12 days helped shape him into who he is today.”

In the 2nd of 3 innings last night in St. Louis, the rookie starter struggled early, taking two outs quickly in the first inning, but then singled with two outs and walked to throw up to 27 pitches by the end of the inning. Irvin threw 31 pitches in the second, allowing Alec Burleson to score the first HR. At Busch Stadium, he hit a single after hitting a 1-1 sinker to 427-foot center over the middle of the plate, 1-0. , a one-out HBP, and a two-run triple to lead the home team 3–0, then another RBI to make it 4–0.

The home side had a 4–2 advantage when Irvin returned to the mound in the third inning (with a total of 58 balls), he was up to 79 after striking out Nolan Gorman in 10 at-bats, hitting a leadoff single, and ending 21 pitches in the bottom of the inning.

That’s the end of Irvin’s outing…

Jake Irvin quotes: 3.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 Ks, 1 HR, 79 P, ​​51 S, 2/2 GO/FO.

“He threw almost 80 pitches in three innings. To me he was part of our big future and I thought that was enough for him,” Martinez said after a 6-9 loss to Cards. explained. .

The manager said the starters were having trouble dealing with sweat on a humid St. Louis night, but didn’t want to use that as an excuse.

“When you throw almost 25 to 27 pitches per inning in three innings, that’s a lot,” he said.

Key Moments (Nightcap Edition):

• Alex Cole hit a 0-1 sinker in the zone from lefty Steven Matz, and CJ Abrams hit a 403-foot solo homer for Cole on a 1-2 curve over the middle. After the Cardinals extended their lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the second, Abrams was down 4-2 with a 408-foot blast to right-center as the visiting team came onto the board. It was Cole’s sixth of the season and Abrams’ eighth.

• Ildemaro Vargas and Dominic Smith stole back-to-back walks with two outs from the Mats in the top of the fourth, and Riley Adams hit a RBI to left field to make Card’s start at 4-3.

• Michael Chavis (Start second with a nightcap like a doubleheader) doubled off Mats, stole third base on a CJ Abrams sack bunt, walked Lane Thomas, then Joey Meneses hit a sack fly to the left field wall at Busch Stadium to make it 4-4 to one batter. was added.

• In the top of the sixth with the score 7-4 in favor of the Cards, Dom Smith doubled over right, Riley Adams singled over right, and Alex Cole scored a sinker to make things tough, and the big spot went. expanded. Michael Chavis went on one down against Card’s right-hander Dakota Hudson and went down chasing the second out. What about CJ Abrams? Force at second base. Opportunity wasted. Did MASN take note of the reports that Luis Garcia apparently did not appear at Chavis’ request to pinch hit? Was he ready to hit? Did it cost him a pinch hitter at-bat? Let’s see if Davey Martinez has anything to say in his post-match press conference…

• Abrams singled in the ninth, Thomas’ 24th double of the season moved to third, and Ildemaro Vargas doubled with two outs to score with both runners to make it 9-6. That was the end of the game, with the first two splits and a rubber match at Busch Stadium this afternoon.

Bullpen action:

Jose A. Ferrer came on for Amos Willingham after a right-handed pitcher was hit by a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth and a left-handed pitcher allowed a single, double and RBI to win the card. 7-4 after 5 o’clock.

Paolo Espino allowed a run in the sixth, 8-4, but pitched a scoreless seventh inning in the second to keep the Cardinals’ four-point lead. In the third inning of the eighth inning, the right-hander was hit by a two-out home run by Nolan Arenado to make it 9-4.

abrams [Leading] Off and Running:

Davey Martinez liked a lot of what he saw from 22-year-old infielder CJ Abrams in his three games as the Nationals’ leading hitter before the All-Star break, but he said, “…but I like it. ”, said Martinez after a speedy hit. The infielder stole five bags in four games in that period, and “he got more aggressive on base.”

“He’s going ahead and trying to steal more bases. He’s pushing the limits a little bit. That’s great. That’s what I wanted to see,” the manager explained.

In the series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Abrams stole two more bases, stormed second base in the top of the fourth, and scored on a Joey Meneses RBI to score 16. I decided to steal an eye. It was his fifth time this season, reaching when he hit a ground ball to power, placing third on an error, and scoring Lane Thomas’ ground ball on an error.

Photo Credit: Joe Puetz/Getty Images

“He was fantastic,” Martinez said of Abrams’ running game in Saturday afternoon’s 7-5 win in overtime.

“You have to be on base for him to do that, and that’s what he does really well.

“He’s pitching and he’s aggressive with the balls he can hit, but all he’s really trying to do is get on base. He’s done a great job so far.”

Does a player who stole 9 in 77 stolen bases over the first three months go 7 in 5 games a sign of a change in Abrams’ mindset since moving up the standings?

Martinez said it would rather “… just give him the breathing room to go into the game and do his best.” he’s doing it I said to him, “Hey, I want you to go unless you give me a hold sign.” I want you to be aggressive. Sometimes we will get caught, but we will learn from it and move on. ’ He was really good at it. ”

Does that mean that the fast-footed leadoff man gets the green light to run when he gets to base?

“Sometimes I shut him out, depending on the score of the game and everything else, but most of the time he’s on his own,” Martinez said.