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The dam broke in the second inning. No matter what pitch Logan Webb of the San Francisco Giants threw or whatever else he tried to stem the Washington Nationals onslaught, the hits and runs continued to pour in at Nationals Park Saturday night.
Thanks to the contributions of the entire lineup — from leadoff man CJ Abrams to No. 9 hitter Alex Call and everyone in between — the Nationals scored six goals in the inning before adding four more runs in the fourth inning. Those early outbursts gave Washington a 10-1 win, their second straight win.
After Webb didn’t have to sweat much in a 10-pitch first inning, the Nationals put him to work in the second inning. When he was eliminated after just one out, he had thrown 51 pitches that night.
Dylan Crews is officially there and gets a first impression of Nationals Park
A nine-pitch at-bat by Joey Meneses ended with a single and initiated the rally. Keibert Ruiz followed with a 10 pitch at bat that ended in a walk. Dominic Smith made Webb throw 10 more pitches; In the final game, his RBI single gave the Nationals a 1-0 lead.
“Logan Webb is a great pitcher,” Smith said. “Tiring him a little, frustrating him, fouling off the field, not having easy outs – I think if you lengthen those attacks you make a mistake at some point. And we could take advantage of that. You have to do that against such good pitchers.”
After Smith gave Washington the lead, Corey Dickerson was next with an RBI single. After a strikeout by Luis García, Call scored two goals with a three to make it 4-0. And two pitches later, as Abrams made a change down center that just exited the ballpark at right center, Call raised his fists while jogging down the third baseline.
That was the end of the road for Webb; It was the shortest start in the 26-year-old’s major league career. The Nationals (40-58) would go on from there, handing the rival Giants (54-45) another loss.
The Nationals have had no trouble putting the ball in play this season, but they’ve had very little hitting power. They’re best at stringing singles together and finding an extra base hit here or there to set up a crooked number. That’s exactly what happened on Saturday night, and it continued into the fourth inning.
García started with a single against substitute Sean Manaea before Call left. Two batters later, Lane Thomas contributed an RBI double. Jeimer Candelario and Ruiz each added an RBI single before Smith found a hole in the middle for another, this time at just 72.9 mph to make it 10-1. Manaea leaned forward in frustration as Nationals fans in the upper echelons stood up for another run-scoring shout.
Last time: Jake Irvin throws a pitch in the seventh and the Nats hold off the Giants
All that support was more than enough for Josiah Gray who, despite initial difficulties, put on one of his best performances of the season. Gray threw seven balls in a row to open the game, eventually prevailing over LaMonte Wade Jr. and Joc Pederson. But he knocked out JD Davis before taking Michael Conforto to a double play late in the inning.
Gray also walked with the first batter he faced in the second bat, but he again avoided damage. He allowed two hits in the third before Davis hit the Giants’ only run with a sacrificial flight. But Gray made the necessary adjustments, as Jake Irvin had done in a 5-3 win the night before.
“I just had to refocus a little bit,” Gray said as he started the game with two walks, “and look at the score up front and say, ‘If I give up a hit, if I give up a run, the guys are behind me.’ Just pitch my game and get the first out and first strike. After the first two innings, I felt like I could do better than that.”
Gray went through seven innings and hit out four, giving up 11 of the last 13 batters he faced. Manager Dave Martinez said before the game he wanted Gray to establish his fastball, but he stayed away from it almost entirely. He ended up throwing 23 sliders, 19 curveballs, 17 cutters, nine sinkers, seven change-ups, seven sweepers and just five fastballs while his ERA dropped to 3.45.
Hours before the game, the Nationals welcomed No. 2 draft pick Dylan Crews, the team’s newest addition, to the organization after the outfielder agreed to a $9 million contract bonus from LSU. And then Gray – along with Ruiz, arguably the organization’s first major signing in its rebuild – built on an all-star season while also receiving offensive support from his young teammates.
Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit, and Abrams, García and Ruiz had two each. Behind the plate, Ruiz Gray and the rest of the team helped slow the Giants back down. Rico Garcia, making his Nationals debut, hit two strikeouts in the eighth inning before Joe La Sorsa hit the ninth with just five pitches.
The Nationals didn’t score after the fourth inning, but they didn’t need to. By this point, they had clearly outplayed the Giants.
“Big day for us,” Martinez said. “The future is bright; we are excited about it. Our young boys are playing really well. Veterans keep us grounded. So just a really good day. It’s been a good weekend so far. So let’s finish tomorrow with a 1-0.”
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