CBP Irvin:
Jake Irvin finished the series opener at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on a high note, retiring the last seven batters he faced, but Washington’s starting pitcher pitched in the first of three games. It was shaky early in the game. phillies They ended up losing 4-2 to the Nationals this weekend.
Irvin allowed one run in the first inning against Philly, 1-0, with a one-out single and a two-out, two-RBI double, but after his teammates rallied to tie the score, Keibert Lewis’ RBI double gave him another run. I conceded a point. It was 1-1 in the home half of the second inning, with a walk, a single, a ground ball, and a wild pitch leading to the second run, making it 2-1, and then a ground ball to make it 3-1.
In the third inning, a two-out single, an HBP, and an RBI double gave the Phils a 4-1 lead, and the right-handed pitcher made some adjustments, starting his streak of consecutive hits in his final at-bat of the inning.
Irvin allowed 5 hits, 4 total runs scored, 1 walk, struck out 2, induced 7 ground outs and 5 fly outs, had 10 whiffed strikes (7 curveballs), 15 called strikes, 8 on curveballs, 5 with a sinker.
“He started throwing more breaking balls at the end,” Nationals catcher Keibert Lewis told reporters after going 1-for-3 with the aforementioned RBI double to get Irvin out of trouble. “I think that was the key late in the game because he got ahead and finished with those pitches.”
His manager, Davey Martinez, praised Irvin for doing everything he could to keep the club in the game, even though he was struggling.
“Things could have gotten away from him,” Martinez said. “I know he’s made some adjustments, but [Pitching Coach Jim] Hickey spoke to him between innings. His head was out a little bit early on and so he started pulling pitches and then he was able to settle down and, like I said, keep us in the game. I was able to.
“He’s getting better and better every time he plays. He knows what he’s supposed to do and he competes. And that’s what we look for in all of our players.”
“I made a lot of really uncompetitive pitches early on and ended up in the count where I expected them to be,” Irvin said. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN after the series opener. “And that’s a good team over there, dude. They’re going to make mistakes, and I made quite a few mistakes early on.”
“I was able to somehow notice the opponent’s attack plan and make adjustments,” he said.
“But it was a little too late.”
The score was 4-2 at the end of the 5th inning, and Eddie Rosario added a run with a double in the top of the 5th inning, and in the 6th inning, Jacob Burns took over where Irvin left off, giving up 6 more innings, totaling It was 13 consecutive outs. Jordan Weems scored 16 straight points in the eighth in a 1-2-3.
“Overall, our pitching has been very good,” Martinez said after the team’s three-game losing streak. “We’re going to score some runs for them and they’re going to start winning some games.”
“We have to start hitting,” the coach added at another point in the postgame presser.
“The big thing right now is we need to start producing a little bit longer innings offensively. We need to start hitting the ball hard and start putting the ball in play. We just don’t have enough runs, we don’t have enough hits. I just haven’t hit it.”
CBP Gallo?:
Joey Gallo went on the IL in late April with an AC sprain in his left shoulder.
After Wednesday’s game in Chicago, Nats captain Davey Martinez said the veteran slugger was close to returning to the majors.
Gallo, 30, played in 10 games during his rehab, hitting 9-for-74 (.122/.286/.311), then 5-for-33 (.152/.364/.546) with a double and a double. He recorded 4 home runs. ) He had five doubles and three home runs in 23 games before the injury and time on the IL.
“I’m going to sit down and talk. [GM Mike Rizzo]Probably on the plane,” Martinez said before the club’s flight from Chicago to Philadelphia.
“[Gallo is] He’s doing well, he’s feeling good, he’s doing well, so there’s a chance he’ll come back to us. ”
Before this weekend’s first of three games against the Phillies, the Nationals officially announced that Gallo has completed his rehabilitation period and will be back in the lineup for the series opener at Citizens Bank.
Martinez spoke before the game about what Gallo brings to the lineup.
“That’s his big home run, right?” the manager said. “And he plays good defense. He’s going to walk. One, I’m really happy that he’s healthy and feeling so good. That’s great news. And like I said, He’s going to give us some power in the middle of the lineup and drive in some runs. Draw walks, walk your own walks, don’t chase, and we need that right now.”
Martinez selected Gallo as the No. 4 batter for the game against the Phillies.
“I’m glad he’s back. He’s a threat in the middle of our lineup.”
What did he see, or when did he know Gallo could make it to the majors again?
“He was giving out walks and hitting the ball hard,” Martinez explained.
“He drove some balls in, hit some home runs. The biggest thing for me was his shoulder was bothering him, but he tried to play through it, and we I mean we got him on the IL and he feels good right now.”
Gallo spoke to reporters before Friday’s game and said the shoulder pain is an issue that will remain for some time into his IL stint.
“I think it was a shoulder issue. I just got to a point where I couldn’t keep playing with my shoulder. I was too weak and needed rest and I needed to get back to full strength,” he said.
Although he stated that he did not think there was much to worry about anymore, it reached a point where he and the club felt he needed to rest and rehabilitate the injury before returning.
“That was something that bothered me a little bit during the season and off. In Los Angeles, I jumped to second base and ran into shortstop, and that’s when it really started to burn,” Gallo said.
“I got to the point where I couldn’t lift at all and I was really worried at the time. And obviously I worked on it and tried to keep playing, but it just wasn’t where I needed it to be, so I probably spent some time doing it and tried my best.” I thought it was necessary to bring it back.
“But yeah, I mean, I’m ready to go. I think I should be 100 percent again. I feel good.”
Gallo struck out in three at-bats against Phillies starter Zach Wheeler in his return to the big leagues, then hit a double off reliever Jeff Hoffman in the ninth inning, creating a potential tying run, but the Nationals succeeded. I didn’t. A big hit in the end.
“It was good to see Joey Gallo smoke a double at the end,” Martinez said.
“In his last at-bat, he just hit the ball a little bit earlier,” he said of the difference between the at-bat that ended in a strikeout and the last AB at-bat.
“All we were thinking about was getting the ball to right-center with him, and he was able to get the ball to a position where he could handle it. He was a little behind early in the game, but As I said earlier, it was [Zack] Wheeler’s first game back here, he smoked those two and it was great. ”
