Trevor Williams and Miles Mikolas both threw four scoreless innings Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C., in the final three-game set away as the Nationals try to avoid six straight losses and a second straight series sweep. in battle, St. Louis Cardinals.
Williams also made it through the fifth inning, but then Mikolas took the lead and allowed a home run with a high outside-angle fastball from a 1-0 two-out, which CJ Abrams 382 feet into the left field. hit. The solo shot gave the home side a 1-0 lead in the capital.
Luis Garcia, 10, and Jaymer Candelario, 22, hit back-to-back doubles in the Nationals’ first two at-bats of the sixth inning, with Garcia going 2-0 on a RBI lead by Candelario. drove in Garcia with a grounder RBI. After the second baseman hit his 11th double of the year in the 3-0 eighth inning.
Williams went scoreless in the sixth inning for the home team and then turned it around in the bottom of the seventh, but manager Davey Martinez headed for the bullpen (for Mason Thompson) after the starting pitcher allows a hit in his first at-bat. Thompson took two outs before returning to the mound in the eighth inning scoreless when Kyle Finnegan got three outs. Hunter Harvey scored the ninth and completed the combined shutout.
Manager Davey Martínez said it was “amazing” after the club won 3-0 to end a five-game streak. “It was a very clean game. We hit and hit home runs and it was really good, but overall I liked how we played. We played very cleanly and played well.
“He’s throwing a sinker to get away from me,” Abrams said of the massive RBI that hit his seventh home run of the season.
“I was just trying to go the other way. I didn’t think I was going to get out, but I did.”
“The fact that he kept on the ball like he always has,” Martinez said.he has worked with [Hitting Coach] Darnell [Coles] About staying on the ball. The ball pops out of the bat, it really does. If we can keep him in the middle of the field, he will be a really good player. And you saw it today. ”
Martinez also witnessed the starter put together one of the best games so far this season.
“Just mix all his pitches,” the manager said of what made Williams effective. Williams had just eight whiff strikeouts in just over six innings on the mound, but had a total of 16 cold strikes on a rainy day in Washington, D.C.
Given what we’ve seen from Williams so far in his return to the starting lineup this season after spending a year and a half in New York (National League) splitting the bullpen and rotation, he said he pulled the starter.
“Today he showed something really good,” Martinez said. “Because when he hits the 75-80 pitch mark, he hasn’t really started yet. It’s the first time he’s started in a year or so, so when Mason is around, it’s a big deal for me. is enough.” [Thompson] I’m ready, and so are the other players at the back of the bullpen. Everyone did their job today, so it was difficult to leave the pitch today. ”
Did Williams think it was the best start to the year?
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“Certainly, it might, with consequences,” he said. “But did you feel your best this year?” But he’s one of those games where he starts 32 times, starts 33 times, feels great five times, feels terrible five times, and tries to figure out everything in between. So I’m just grateful that I came out today and played well.”
Avoiding a sweep and going undefeated meant a lot for the Nationals and their manager.
“It felt really good,” Martinez said. “And I always say, forget what happened yesterday. These guys came in today, they came out every day, they put the game aside and they came back ready to play baseball, and today we had a really, really good game. I’m proud of what they did today, so let’s keep going, come out tomorrow, make fewer mistakes, play clean baseball and throw strikes.”