“Look, I’ve known Trevor for a while,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez told reporters after pulling Trevor Williams for 77 pitches in Washington’s 6-1 road win over the Athletics in Oakland. “I’m working on it,” he said. Williams pitched 67 pitches and got through the 5th inning with one run, but in the 6th inning, he gave up a walk to the leadoff batter and had runners on first and third base with one out and a double, so Martinez headed to the bullpen.
“Just the 80-pitch mark, I think that’s good for him,” the Nats’ captain told reporters.
“My decision was to take him out. He was great. We went up by five points. We couldn’t finish it.”
Derek Roe allowed back-to-back singles to score both runners he inherited, then scored his third run on a wild pitch and eventually reversed back-to-back walks as well, giving the Athletics a sudden 7-6 lead. . .
On Saturday afternoon, Williams was in the nation’s capital. houston astros He pitched 77 pitches through the 6th inning, allowing only 3 hits and 1 run, and then manager Martinez started the game against left-handed batter Robert Garcia and two left-handed batters in the 7th inning with a 2-1 lead. Ta.
A single, a walk, and a single hit made it a 2-2 game. Hunter Harvey on the mound scored his third run, and the Astros added another run in the eighth inning to take a 4-2 lead.
However, in the top of the 9th inning, Nick Senzel reached for a catcher interference call, CJ Abrams doubled to right field, and Jesse Winker added two runs with a single to make it 4-4.
The game went into overtime, and Joey Meneses hit a free runner for a walk-off victory.
In hindsight, did Martinez have second thoughts about pulling Williams?
The coach said, “Our pitching was really good.” “I can’t say enough about Trevor.
“Trevor was outstanding all year. He was setting up where he thought the bullpen was going to come in, and we had Garcia as a left-handed pitcher, but he just fell behind and didn’t get the outs he needed. However, [Hunter] Harvey has done a great job of bringing us closer together. ”
So if Williams rolls in the future, will Martinez continue to pull him around 80 pitches? Or will we start giving long leads to our starters?
“That’s not the case right now,” Martinez said. “I want to keep him at the top. You have to remember that he is just starting.” [again] last year. Last year, I fell apart at the end, so I hope I can do my best. Maybe when it starts to get really warm outside and we need him because the bullpen is in tatters, yeah, if he does what he’s doing now, he might be able to get us in the seventh inning. .
“But like I said, he’s doing well, I’m trying to cut down on his pitch count. He lets us pitch five or six innings and every time he goes into a game. I think he’s feeling fresh, so he’s been great.”
And what about Meneses’ walk-off win?
“It was definitely magic,” Martinez said. “In 2019, we played a lot of games like that. Again, the players are not quitting.”
sorry:
Run from 19-31 to first world series Since 1924, the D.C.-based team’s championship run has been an exhilarating, bumpy road that leads to some truly beautiful places.
But it’s fun (After parading down Constitution Avenue.) It came to a rather abrupt halt a few months later when the coronavirus pandemic ended the celebrations.
Davey Martinez and his club weren’t able to enjoy the 2020 World Series Championship Tour, at least not as much as other teams were taking victory laps after winning the title. Looking back, it was really one thing (Maybe the only thing) it remains as a minus.
“Yeah, definitely,” Martinez said as the club kicked off its fifth anniversary weekend at Nationals Park.
“We missed out on a lot. I always come back and I always come back to the coaching staff. We had a chance to go to the All-Star Game and they didn’t go. We went and really I felt bad, I didn’t want to go without them, to be honest, but it’s always an honor to go, but I felt sorry for them. I felt sorry for everyone. It was a really big tour for us to play that year and we never got to do that.”
Instead, it was empty ballparks and coronavirus protocols, with fans locked down and watching from home during the pandemic.
Martinez, his staff and players never achieved a victory lap, and fans never got to enjoy the club’s accomplishment in bringing the title to Washington, D.C.
Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“We always say this when we talk about the team, they’re the 26th, right?” Martinez said, acknowledging that the entire fan base contributed and missed out.
“We really don’t have anything without them. And we went through that in 2020 playing without fans here. It was awful. It really was.
“But it was what it was. When I talk about our team, it always includes them. I love our fans.”
While the players and coaches who are still in Washington, D.C., or who may be able to participate, and the fans who will be at Nats Park this weekend will have a chance to celebrate again, the captains will be looking forward to what they did. He said there are things around him that help him remember. We were able to do this together on a daily basis.
“It’s a great feeling because every time I look at my ring or my trophy, it always feels like it was yesterday,” Martinez said.
