Jeter Downs has appeared in just five major league appearances this season, including multiple stints with the Nationals, when he made his second appearance in the bottom of the ninth against the Oakland Athletics in Washington, D.C. was hitless.
Downs, 25, came on as a pinch-hitter for shortstop CJ Abrams in the eighth inning, and it all started with a six-pitch leadoff walk from Athletics reliever Trevor May, which opened the floodgates after one out and allowed three RBIs. mentioned. Straight single, third RBI by Stone Garrett, sack fly by Ildemaro Vargas, pass ball, bases loaded, bases loaded, RBI from pitching change to Kirby Snead, walk, 2-run ROE, and finally Downs’ walk-off single. So, the home team won with the first major hit of the year, closing the 6-point rally that eliminated the 5-point gap.
A down in the eighth inning, 7-2, to give Abrams a rest seemed to work pretty well, but that wasn’t really the reason manager Davey Martinez replaced the starting shortstop. .
“[Abrams] I was actually having a spasm in my back,” Martinez explained. We didn’t want to corner him, so we took him out. ”
It was the first walk-off hit for a first-round pick in 2017.by the Reds), traded from Cincinnati to Los Angeles (with Josiah Gray in 2018), then sent to Boston (In the 2020 Mookie Betts trade), before he was picked out of exemption by Washington this year.
“It was the first time since Sept. 3, 2019 that the Nationals were behind by five or more points in the final inning of a game,” the club wrote in post-game notes. New York Mets In the bottom of the ninth inning, they won 10-4, 11-10. ”
This time we won 8-7. And Washington is now “…on a five-game winning streak in the home series going back to July.” [7th], (Texas, San Francisco, Colorado, Milwaukee, Oakland), including series sweeps in San Francisco and Oakland. ”
“What about these kids? It’s ‘boom’, isn’t it?” Martinez asked reporters after winning three straight games over the Athletics. “I mean, they hit back.
It meant a lot to the manager to see Downs play in two at-bats for the first time since August 8.
Martinez said, “It was a great at-bat.” [ed. note: “Though technically it was — [snarky, pedantic, and unnecessary correction that it was one plate appearance and one at-bat, deleted]”]He kicked things off by giving us a big walk over there, and then he fought, fought, got the ball in play and hit us a big base. I mean, look, he’s working really hard, and I’ve seen him, and I’ve seen him take an extra swing, I’ve seen him work on things , and I’ve seen him take ground balls, he’s been really good. And he got his chance today and he did something big for the ballclub, so it means a lot. ”
“We have a reason to play this game because it all ended like this,” said Downs. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN After the game.
“I never thought something like that would happen, especially with a five-run lead in the 9th inning. It still feels unreal at this point.”
Ultimately, the team’s efforts really paid off, as the Nationals won their 12th of the last 14 in the capital and their 25th overall of their last 44 games since June 29th.
“I didn’t try to overdo it,” Martinez said of the hitter’s approach in the ninth inning.
“We moved the ball. was selective to
“This team has been relentless,” he added.
“They play hard. They don’t give up. We talk about playing 27 out hard and it shows.”
“You can see it. And we’ll never get out of it. They’ll never feel like they’re on the limit anymore and will keep playing hard until the last out.”
