Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats win 5th straight, 7-5 over Tigers in Comerica Park

Nationals win five straight games (first since 2021):

Jake Irvin gave up a home run to the leadoff batter last night on a curveball thrown right in the middle of the zone on the sixth pitch with a full count. Detroit Tigers‘ Outfielder Matt Beerling hit a ball into left field at Comerica Park.

The Nationals’ starting pitcher threw 98 pitches and 69 strikeouts over six innings, allowing six hits, walking one and striking out five, but that was the only run allowed by the Nationals’ starting pitcher.

Irvin struck out just eight times on 44 swings, but threw 25 strikes on the night – 15 on curveballs, seven on sinkers and three on fastballs.

He gave up a home run in the first inning but had two singles, got three consecutive outs in the bottom of the second inning, got a single with two outs in the third inning, got a single with one out in the fourth inning, got a throw to second base in the fifth inning and got out of a two-out jam, and got three consecutive outs in the sixth inning.

“He threw a really good changeup toward the middle of the game,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said when asked about Irvin’s recovery from a rough start to pitch six innings. “I think that helped them dial back the fastball a little bit, but he settled in. He got out of that inning with only one run, and then he settled in and pitched really well after that. He really did.”

The Nationals were leading 5-1 going into the seventh inning, but the Tigers got three consecutive hits from Robert Garcia and then Dylan Floro, the third of which was an RBI single by Colt Keith to make it 5-2, and a double by Gio Urshela to add two more runs to make it 5-4, before Hunter Harvey came on to end the inning with a one-run lead.

In a game that was suddenly close, Martinez brought in Kyle Finnegan in the ninth inning, but going into the game he wanted to move away from both the setup man and the closer.

Luis Garcia Jr. and Joey Meneses each hit singles to extend the lead to 7-5 in the top of the ninth, before Finnegan gave up a home run with one out but earned the save.

“I didn’t want to go to them, I was trying to get away from them,” he explained, “But we had a chance to win the game so I said, ‘I’ve got to do it.’ Hopefully we can win 10-0 tomorrow, but we’ll see what happens.”

CJ Abrams – 2-for-5, double, home run:

C.J. Abrams hit a 1-1 curveball over the middle off Tigers starter Reese Olson 404 feet to right-center field on Wednesday at Comerica Park to tie the game for his 11th of the year, then added an RBI with a ground-rule double to left-center field off Olson in the fifth inning, sending Jacob Young home after a double by leadoff hitter Young.

Abrams extended his hitting streak with a home run in the second of three games in Detroit, going on a five-game hitting streak.

After Abrams finished two-for-five at-bats, the manager told reporters the 23-year-old infielder had had some tough times but he was pleased with the shortstop’s play in recent games.

“The home run was a nice hit, but the double was amazing, he caught the ball and hit it back to left-center field, and then he hit another ball like a rocket down the first base line. [Mark Canha] “He played unbelievable,” Davey Martinez said.

What has changed for Abrams in recent games?

“He’s really just become a little more patient,” Martinez explained.

“He’s starting to be a little more patient, which is something we’ve been emphasizing for a long time. He’s getting better. Like anybody, he’s got to throw the ball in the strike zone.”

“That makes us patient and gets us on base, and that’s why we’re scoring runs.”

Martinez’s team was just four for 16 with 10 men on base, but they won their fifth straight game and have a chance to make it three in a row this afternoon against the Tigers.

“We’re out there, we’re scoring runs. We left some guys on base today,” Martinez said. “But we’re scoring runs now and our guys are playing well. We’ve got to make sure we don’t give up outs. We’ve got to be a little more conscious about scoring runs. We could have won this game by a large margin and we just didn’t get it done, but we fought and we fought through. I can’t say enough about Harvey and Finnegan. We tried to avoid him but we had to use him today. So who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow, but we’re going to get the win.”

Wildcard?:

Granted, it’s only June 13th and there are still 95 games left, but as of this morning the Nationals have won five straight games to improve to 32-35 and are 1.0 game out of the running in the race for the National League Wild Card.

Ahead of the second of three games on the road against the Tigers in Detroit, D.C. GM and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo spoke to Audacy’s The Sports Junkies on D.C.’s 106.7 the FAN about where the team is after 67 games.

If someone had told the GM this spring that the team would be in wild-card contention in June, would the GM have been surprised?

Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images

“I don’t know if I’m surprised,” Rizzo said, “I know the expectations were higher than last year, so I’m not surprised or pleased, but I think we’re moving in the right direction.” [CJ] Abrams and [Jacob] “With Young and those types of young guys, and then four young starters that more or less grew up here, and two, three or four guys in the minor leagues that are ready to go, and position prospects that are all doing well and developing at the right level, I think it’s an exciting time to be a Nationals fan. I think you can really see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

“Davey [Martinez] His coaching staff has this team playing very hard. They play fast, and yes, they make mistakes, but they’re mostly youthful and eager mistakes. But they play hard and with drive. And then you add in some veteran players, who have helped us a lot. [Joey] Gallo doesn’t get enough credit for his defense, but he’s No. 1 in baseball in defensive runs saved at first base and I think he’s doing a great job. [Jesse] With blinker [Eddie] “Rosario brings veteran leadership to these young players. I think it’s a good mix of personality and leadership qualities, and I think the fans can see that, especially the wise fans who have supported the team since the beginning of the rebuild, they can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”