Washington Nationals news & notes: Jake Irvin & Nats shut out Dodgers, 2-0, take 2 of 3 in LA…

Abrams comes out on top:

CJ Abrams had a four-game hitting streak in the final game of the series in LA, recording five of six extra-base hits (three doubles, one triple, and one HR) in the four games. Abrams, 23, extended his winning streak with an early 3-of-3 win on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium in his debut. dodgersStarter Landon Knack’s second pitch, a 1-0 fastball, hit almost midfield to right-center (392 feet from home) for the leadoff home run and a 1-0 lead early in the series. It was Abrams’ fifth home run of the year, but he didn’t hit his fifth home run last season until May 23.

Jesse Winker entered the starting lineup that day with Major League Baseball’s top OBP (.500), reaching base in 14 of 16 games this year, including reaching base in eight consecutive games. , reached the point with a single after Abrams’ home run. He reached base nine consecutive times, and 15th of 17 times thus far, until he finally scored.

Winker advanced to third base on a one-out hit by Luis Garcia and scored on a sac fly that hit Joey Meneses’ bat to center field, giving Washington a 2-0 lead early in Los Angeles…

Irvin Loring:

Jake Irvin, 27, hit a solo home run in the sixth inning, struck out five, allowed one earned run, and gave up a run in the third on the mound against Oakland at the Athletics’ home base in the second game of the Nationals’ road trip. did. He then finished his third start of the season with three scoreless innings, throwing just 33 pitches.

During this entire trip, he threw a total of up to 74 pitches (After throwing a total of 93 pitches in six innings in his last start,) and the right-hander was effective again yesterday in the series finale at Dodger Stadium.

Irvin didn’t put the Dodgers out until the sixth inning, throwing a total of 73 pitches, allowing just four hits and one walk, and striking out six of the 22 batters he faced.

The Nationals’ 6-foot-6 starter produced 11 swinging strikes overall, nine of them fastballs, threw it 56 percent of the time and collected seven of his 15 called strikes on the field. He gets off to a modestly dominant start with a mix of curveballs (22%, 7 called strikes), sinkers (14%), and cutters (8%).

Manager Davey Martinez decided that was enough for the second-year leaguer and headed to the bullpen in the seventh inning with a 2-0 lead. Robert Garcia got two outs in the seventh inning, Hunter Harvey finished the inning and pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Kyle Finnegan earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning, the Dodgers’ first shutout of the season. .

“Thank you, Jake Irvin, Harvey, Finnegan, Garcia,” the Nats captain said after the game, a win that sent the club (5-4) on a road trip to San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles.

“They were good. They were good, dude. Like I said, attacking the strike zone is important, and they did a good job.”

It all started with Irv――

In fact, it started with Abrams’ first-inning home run.

“For us,” Martinez said, “and I always tell C.J., he’s very aggressive, so I told him to get the ball in the strike zone and look for his fastball.” And he did a great job. I will do And I don’t care if he swings at the first pitch or the second pitch, he just gets the ball that he thinks he can hit and prepares for it. ”

“So he was a right-handed pitcher with a pretty straight fastball,” Abrams said. Post-game quote from MASN’s Mark Zuckermanso he jumped on it.

“I wanted to get him in the zone and hit a good pitch, and he hit the second pitch.”

Irvin and the Nationals’ bullpen held on to a 2-0 advantage against Los Angeles’ strong batting lineup.

“I talked to you guys about competing for the plate,” Irvin said, as quoted by MASN.

“And that was the goal today. Just compete for the plate. You can’t whiff. It just happens. Just compete for the plate and do your job and the rest will take care of itself.” Let me do it.”

“He was unbelievable,” Martinez said. “He really is. In fact, he’s been outstanding. He just keeps getting better and better. His confidence continues to grow.”

The coach added: “I can’t say enough about his achievements so far.” “He’s learned a lot. We talked about his growth last year, what he wants to accomplish this year, and so far he’s on the right path.”

And what was he doing at Dodger Stadium?

“He used his fastball both inside and outside, attacked the zone, threw a breaking ball when he needed to. But his fastball today was shocking, it really was. So he got into trouble. You avoided me, so we talked about it. [about] Instead of big innings, a lot.

“He did it today.”