Hustle and Hart were the names of the Washington Nationals game last night. They were trying to take all the extra bases and make all the diving catches. Like Dylan’s crew, they sometimes cost them Layout For the ball, he should have probably kept it in front of him. But in the end, the baseball gods were rewarded with Nat’s huff.
This game had all the features of the 2025 Nats game. It had good starting pitching, inconsistent but promising offense, and a terrible bullpen.
Let’s start with the start pitching. Jake Irvin was absolutely stunning in his third straight start. He went on to 7.1 innings and allowed only one run, a runner who inherited in eight innings. Irvin did an excellent job in his way through the Star Studs Mets lineup.
He had long innings, but after that he was very efficient. Only Irvin 98 pitches were needed to pass 7.1 innings. His curveball lifted a lot of heavy stuff and threw it 43% Time. When he slowed, Irvin was really leaning against that curveball and was very effective.
The offense looked good at times, but most of the mid-innings were sputtering. The Nationals batsman squared Kodai Senga early on in many difficult contacts. This led to two runs in the first three innings.
Second, Dilncru’s H-hustle created the run. He changed his single to a double first. Red Hot Josettena drove him into the second half of the innings. Third, CJ Abrams triple drove at Jacob Young.
However, the attack then quieted for a while. Bats in the AT were much less competitive, allowing the roe snatcher to enter the ditch. His fastball forkball combination was torn through Nats Hitters.
As Senga left the game, Nat got something to counter Juascal Brozaban. It was CJ Abrams, again in the middle of the action. His speed spiked Brozaban’s fielding attempt, and he missed the ball and allowed for an infield single. It made it 3-0.
A 3-0 lead was not safe in the Nationals bullpen. For the third day in a row, Davy turned to Jose a Feller after Irvin allowed the base runner on the 8th. It’s important to wonder if having two unruly guys on Sims and pouch is overworking Feller and Finnegan. I saw this in 2019 with Shawn Doolittle.
Feller was volatile tonight, delaying many batters. He also gave the couple’s Bloop hit. After the runners charged with Irvin got in, the bass was still loaded and Kyle Finnegan came into the game. Two strike fastballs caught many of the plates, and Mark Bientos cleared the base with a triple.
It was a strange play, it was a high fly ball, but Dilncrue couldn’t get there. He is a pigeon, but it allowed the ball to reach him. Now with the 4-3 Mets, the bullpen looked like it would once again become a night story.
Nat did nothing at the bottom of the 8th before Jorge Lopez threw the ninth scoreless top. He has to give Lopez a lot of credit for keeping the game on a single run.
At the ninth bottom, Dillancrue tripled with a hit ball from Juan Soto’s glove. Jose Tena drove him with a single that went through the infield where he was playing.
Abrams was first with two outs after Jacob Young and CJ Abrams both put their strength in. James Wood was on the plate. After a rocket of 114.7 mph in singles in the first innings, Wood had a quiet night. But he will come here.
CJ Abrams moved and he hit a single in the middle. It didn’t look like a walk, but CJ Abrams’s hustle and speed made just that. He scored on singles all the way from the start.
It was a great send by 3 base coach Ricky Gutierrez and even better fuss from CJ. That play is everything you want from the nut. In fact, most of the game was exactly what you wanted.
It was a young team playing with chips on their shoulders. They were offensive and sometimes blamed. But their attacks and efforts ultimately paid off. CJ Abrams and Dilncru played with their hair burning all night, and it was amazing to watch.
Side note, this game was so crazy, I almost forgot about triple play. In the fourth innings, Jake Irvin took part in the first and second no-one in the jam, but won all three outs in a controversial triple play. Nathaniel Lowe came out second to throw, before “catching” a line drive from Jesse Turnooker. CJ Abrams then threw it back to Lowe for a third out.
Overall, it was a fierce wild game where Nat showed off a ton of hearts. The Mets were a very good team and competed in those eight innings. However, Nut took it on his chin and answered Bell in the next round. Last night was exactly like a performance you’d like to see from a young team on the rise.
