Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats salvage finale with Phillies; Keibert Ruiz is going up…

Go up and get it, Kayvert:

After his team lost three games in a row, Phillies Washington Nationals captain Davey Martinez, coming off the series finale at Citizens Bank Park and his fourth career win, had a simple message for all of his team’s hitters heading into Sunday’s series finale in the City of Brotherly Love.

“It’s really important for us today to get the ball up in the air instead of getting the ball up in the zone and chasing it,” the seventh-year coach told reporters. “That’s the thing. We can’t chase it today.”

“That way we can hit the ball really well. The key today is to hit the ball high, get the ball in the zone and like I said, try to hit the ball down the middle of the field.”

Cavert Lewis clearly listened to a third of his manager’s advice — “Put the ball up” — but not so much to the other two-thirds.

Trailing 2-0 in the third inning, the catcher was 3-for-9 with two home runs in the series against the Phillies to that point, but after James Wood walked in the top of the inning, he came to bat with runners on base and took a 0-2 sinker outside the zone for a 386-foot, two-run homer to tie the score at 2-2.

In the end, Lewis, chasing balls out of the zone much like C.J. Abrams has done recently, became the third-highest pitch hitter for a home run by a Nationals player in the Statcast era.

Lewis appeared in three of the four games in the Philadelphia series, finishing with four hits in 13 at-bats and three home runs.

“He’s gotten so much better at staying behind the ball,” Martinez said. “He’s gotten so much better with his hands and he’s driving the ball, which is great. We’ve always thought Kavert could do this and we’ve seen it, so it’s great.”

Salvage Jobs:

Though the Nationals lost their first three games against the Phillies, Nationals captain Davey Martinez praised his team’s performance at Citizens Bank Park and said after the Game 4 win that the team is fighting for another comeback victory.

“We’re going to play our hardest,” he said. “No matter what, we’re going to play our hardest. We’ve got some things we need to improve on, but we’re going to go out there and compete. I’m proud of our guys for coming back today and getting a win after three losses here.”

“If we can finish the road with a win, it’s good for the team, good for everybody,” Sunday’s starting pitcher Jake Irvin said after throwing 100 pitches over six innings, giving up four runs on eight hits, three of which were home runs.

“And to beat a team like that feels great.”

Irvin did his part. He struck out 11 batters (Five times with a fastball, three times with a curveball, two times with a changeup, and one time with a sinker.), and earned 13 strike calls (Five times with a curveball, three times with a sinker, two times with a fastball, and one time with a changeup.).

After allowing a Nick Castellanos single in the first inning and a solo homer by Trea Turner in the second, his goal for the game was simple.

“I tried to mix it up and throw strikes,” the manager explained. “Just hang in there long enough to get some good results. I think for the most part that worked.”

Irvin held the Phillies to just two runs through the fifth inning, and the Nationals battled back to take a 4-2 lead before giving up two more runs on back-to-back, one-out solo homers by Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh with the final two outs of the sixth.

The manager said before the game that the 27-year-old, a fourth-round draft pick by the Nationals in 2018, has been projected to be a reliable starter in his second year in the majors.

“He’s been studying the game all year,” Martinez said. “He does his job, he practices hard and he knows what to do every time he goes out there. He’s an incredible competitor.”

“One of the things he’s learned a lot about this year is how to stay in the moment, which is great.”