Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats even things up with 5-3 win over Padres; Rubber match today in D.C.

Front Page – Williams vs Padres:

“He threw the ball well,” said Davey Martinez after Trevor Williams allowed five hits.1HR), he pitched 94 pitches in six innings against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park last week, recording three earned runs.

Williams suffered a loss in his ninth start of the year, dropping to 1-2 with a 4.26 ERA, 4.71 FIP, 10 walks (2.03 BB/9), 32Ks (6.50K/9) and a .266 batting average. . 44 /.309/.468 lines ¹⁄₃ IP.

“He’s brought us into the ball game this past year,” Martinez added. “They got a few hits there and conceded a few runs. But other than that, he threw the ball really well.”

Williams scored 13 cold strikes, (8 four seamers, 4 sliders, 1 changeup), with 15 Cold Strikes, (9 fastballs, 4 sliders, 2 curveballs).

“I was just trying to do my best to pitch as many innings as possible today,” Williams said after the game. Quoted by MASN’s Bobby Blanco.

“Give us a chance to win.” [Marlins have] I’ve been playing good baseball the last few days.

“Early on today they showed a good swing on the ball.”

This time it was at home at Nationals Park against the San Diego Padres.

The right-hander, starting pitcher No. 10, started three scoreless innings, pitched a complete game on just 39 pitches, and led 4-0 at the end of the second inning, but walked Juan Soto in the top of the fourth with two outs later. I stepped down. After a 2-1 curveball into the zone, Rougned Odor hit a 363-foot two-run shot into the right field to make it 4-2 Nass.

The home team was leading 5-2 as Williams hit the first home run in the first at-bat of the fifth inning by Kim Ha-sun. Kim’s fastball flew 405 feet into the zone. In the middle of the capital, it was 5-3, and in the 6th inning, he kicked the manager out of the dugout with a two-out walk on the 94th pitch, and Carl Edwards Jr. recorded 3 on one pitch.

Trevor Williams quote: 5.2 IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 5K, 2HR, 94P, 53S, 4/5GO/FO.

Williams had just six swing strikes that night, but had 17 cold strikes in the game.

After the home side won 5-3, the Nuts captain said the early lead set the tone for the rest of the side.

“That’s a big difference,” he said. “First of all, everyone calmed down a little bit, relaxed a little bit, and Trevor went to work and started throwing strikes. It was great. He gave us everything he had today. It was an unbelievable start to the game and he came out and gave us over five innings and that was what we needed.”

“He mixed his repertoire quite a bit,” Martinez said of the key to Williams’ relatively successful performance. It’s just a matter of mixing his pitches. ”

Key moments:

• Back-to-back singles from Stone Garrett, Dominic Smith and Keibert Lewis started the game in the bottom of the second, with Lewis leading Garrett 1-0 before Smith and the catcher scored. Alex Cole’s two-run double to left center gave the home side an early 4-0 lead when Luis Garcia hit a sack-fly off Padres left-hander Ryan Weathers.

• Lane Thomas started the night with a career-high 19-game on-base streak, had safe hits in 17 of 19 games, 27-for-78 (.346 average), 3 doubles, 1 triple. , hit six. He had a home run, 13 RBIs, four walks, one HBP and 17 points in 19 games during this period.

In his first at-bat against a Padres southpaw, Thomas hit an effective ground ball, put two runners in scoring position before a Garcia sack fly, and hit his eighth double of the year in the fourth. , leading to a score from two outs. He hit to lead the Nationals 5-2. 20 consecutive games on base. He hit 18 of 20.

• In the Nationals, Carl Edwards Jr. got two outs in the seventh inning, but Davey Martinez replaced Hunter Harvey after allowing a two-out double to Brett Sullivan to put Fernando Tatis Jr. at bat. to the pen again. , hit a weak ground ball toward third before Jaimer Candelario threw it with his bare hand for the third out.

Back Page – Meneses Updates:

Joey Meneses, 31, started in the second of three games for the Padres in Washington, D.C., where he was “tied for 4th in the National League with 56 hits” and batting average, as the Nationals emphasized in their pregame notes. Heading into last night’s matchup, which ranked 12th in the National League at .295.

Meneses “since April 15 is ranked tied for third in the major leagues with 45 hits, behind Freddie Freeman (48) and Marcus Semien (46),” the club added, “…April. 331 batting average since the 15th,” he added.[ed] 4th in MLB. 356/.387/.508 with 6 doubles, 1 homer, 14 RBIs, 3 walks and 7 runs scored in his past 13 games, which have been hot from a slow start to the season.

Manager Davey Martinez said before last night’s game that the veteran, who made his major league debut at age 30 last season, is adjusting to the role of DH this year, but it won’t be an easy transition. . After playing primarily as a first baseman, he also played as left fielder and right fielder in 2022.

“He’s got — you know, DH isn’t easy,” Martinez admitted. . Sometimes it’s a little different because of the day game, but he develops a routine to keep going. The most important thing for him is to go out and get grounders, catch flies, and motivate himself, even if it’s early. Because I’ve seen many DHs do that. So Harold Baines was picking up a ground ball at first base or going out in the outfield and moving around a bit. But he has to treat it as if he’s been in the game all the time, playing on the field, moving himself. He goes into the cage and hits before at bat, and I think he does some leg work there to keep him active, but he has a routine.”

The manager, who knows it’s different, told Meneses that building a routine is the best thing he can do when he’s not on the field, and that he needs to stay focused between at-bats.

“For me it’s — ‘Hey, you have a talent for hitting. He hits and he hits the ball really well. ing”. I know it will be difficult,” Martinez said.

“So if you keep working on your routine and keep making good at-bats, that’s what the results will be.

“I remember the first few weeks he was frustrated and didn’t know what to do.”

Martinez said Meneses certainly sought advice from someone who knew how to do the job.

“I know he spoke.” [2022 Nat and 2023 Padre] Nelson [Cruz] We talked a little bit about it yesterday,” Martinez said. “He’s a good guy to talk to about it. He’s talked about it a little bit, but he needs to develop his own routine.”

As for the difficulty of the gig, it was something Cruise had talked to the manager about when he was at the club last season.

“Nelson always said to me, ‘No matter what people think about DH, we’re going to be there at a crucial moment and we have to always be ready.'” Martinez told reporters. “We don’t rest every at-bat. Our job is to attack and we have to be ready for any situation at any time. And we’ve been doing it for a very long time. It’s good to hear that from people.”

Bullpen Talk:

On Sunday, when the Tigers scored two runs in the sixth inning to give the Nationals a 6-3 advantage, leaving two runners behind and even more in danger of scoring, Davey Martinez stepped out for right-hander Kyle Bryant. I asked Finnegan. He struck out Javier Baez, walked Riley Greene, and popped up Spencer Torkelson to block a comeback attempt.

Finnegan then returned and went 6-4 with seven unearned runs, winning the eighth and ninth with Carl Edwards, Jr. and Hunter Harvey, respectively.

“For me, that was a big turning point,” Nats captain Davey Martinez said of relying on Finnegan as a closer in the sixth. “They had the momentum, so we had to put the fire out. It really did. We got him up really quickly, come out and shut it off right away, and go out for the next inning.” He came in and kept us there, and when he came in he said, “You can go one more time.” And I said, ‘It’s over’. ”

After Tuesday night’s loss to the Padres in the series opener against San Diego in D.C., the sixth-year manager says he’ll take the lead late in the second of three games at Nationals Park this week. , was asked who to turn to.

“It all depends on where we are in their line-up,” Martinez explained.

“Certainly those two [Finnegan and Harvey] Behind the scenes you’ll be throwing 8s and 9s, but it all depends on how the match goes.

“At any time, Finnegan will be there for us and Harvey.”

Brad Mills – USA TODAY Sports

Martinez emphasized that this is not a loss of confidence in any of the pitchers, but that Reed can rest assured that he can rely on any of the backguards who trust him.

“Of course,” he said. “And this is what I’ve spoken with both of them and they’re both positive about getting the ball — just like Finnegan got the ball the other day in the sixth inning, he went all out. So it’s good to know.’ Like I said, it’s based on my conversations with them and they’ll be ready after the 6th. ”

After Trevor Williams finished last night, Edwards Jr. and Harvey teamed up to win the Nationals in the sixth, seventh and eighth, as Finnegan finished the Padres with a 1-2-3 record in the 9th inning. . Final score: 5-3 Nationals.

“They were good,” Martinez said deadpan when asked about the bullpen’s contribution to the win.

“They’ve been good. It’s a big difference to have the lead and still be able to use Harvey, and finally Finnegan and then CJ came in and did a great job.”