The Nationals have now won two extra-innings games in the past 24 hours. How crazy is that to hear after the abysmal experiences we’ve been through as a fanbase in those games over the past few years? The Nats and the Chisox played a lightning-quick ball game this afternoon, covering ten innings in right at 2.5 hours, aided by outstanding outings from Foster Griffin and Sean Burke, each going seven scoreless innings. The difference in the game came from a pinch-hit solo homer from Jose Tena in the top of the tenth, setting up Paxton Schultz to collect his first big league save.
The Action
The White Sox threatened first this afternoon, putting a runner in scoring position with nobody out in the bottom half of the first inning after a single and a balk by Foster Griffin. Griffin would find his way out of the jam with ease, striking out the next three hitters to end the inning unscathed and begin what was a tremendous outing for him today.
Both teams stranded runners on second base in the second inning. The Nats got a two-out double from Jacob Young and couldn’t bring him in. The Sox put men on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the inning and again couldn’t score. Now, usually frames such as these aren’t very significant, but today they are because after the White Sox stranded their runner on second base in the bottom of the second, neither team would put a runner into scoring position again until the top of the ninth inning. Just an absolute masterclass by these two pitching staffs this afternoon. And one of the biggest plays for the Nats came to start the bottom of the 7th inning when Young robbed at least a double, maybe more.
Sean Burke allowed a two-out single to James Wood in the top of the third, but Wood was caught trying to steal second base on a great throw by the catcher Drew Romo. After that play, Burke would go on to retire the next 15 Nationals’ hitters in order, finally being broken up by Nasim Nunez‘s leadoff single to start the top of the ninth inning.
Foster Griffin had to work around a walk or a hit-by-pitch every now and then, but after allowing a single to Tanner Murray with one out in the second inning, Griffin would proceed to throw the next 5.2 innings without allowing a hit, matching Burke zero for zero. You guys may have been wondering during my intro how in the world we played ten innings in just 2.5 hours today, this is why. The game went from the top of the third inning all the way to the top of the ninth inning without a single hit from either team. Tell me if you’ve ever seen that before.
- Foster Griffin: 7 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts, 95 pitches
- Sean Burke: 7.1 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts, 76 pitches
Well, we’ve referenced the top of the ninth plenty, so we might as well go over it now. I’ll warn you, it’s not nearly as action-packed as you guys probably expect. Nasim Nunez led off the inning with a leadoff single and then immediately stole second base with nobody out, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position here in this 0-0 game. Drew Millas then swung at a 3-0 pitch and skied it to left field, at the very least pushing Nunez to third base with one out. The Sox then went to the left-hander Sean Newcomb to come in and face James Wood in this critical moment, but after the count went to 2-0, Chicago opted to just intentionally walk Wood rather than rolling the dice. After that, Curtis Mead had a chance to come up clutch, but instead, they got him to pop out into foul territory for out number two, and then Daylen Lile snuffed the threat by popping out to second to end the inning.
Richard Lovelady got the Nationals through the bottom of the ninth, working around a runner on second with one out, and this game went into the tenth inning still scoreless.
The Nats got their first run on a one-out sacrifice fly by CJ Abrams, scoring Lile to make it 1-0. Then Blake Butera made a move with his bench that proved to be a stroke of genius, calling on Jose Tena to pinch-hit for Jacob Young against the hard-throwing closer Seranthony Dominguez. Tena got a 3-1 fastball right down the middle and did not miss it, driving it out to right field for a solo shot and his first home run of the season, making it 2-0 Washington in a huge swing.
The Nats turned to Paxton Schultz in the bottom of the tenth, giving him a shot at his first career save, and while he did allow the extra innings runner to score on an RBI single by Tristan Peters, he locked down the game by striking out the next two batters and locking down another road series win for the Nationals.
What’s Next?
The Nationals will have an off-day tomorrow after making their first trip to the Big Apple this young season. There, the Nats and Mets will begin a three-game series on Tuesday night at 7:10, as Washington will look to capitalize on a Mets team that has struggled mightily this season, with a record sitting at 9-18 prior to New York’s game later today. The Nats will send Zack Littell (0-3, 7.56 ERA) to the mound to try and get back on track after a pretty horrendous stretch that he’s been on so far this season. Littell has had a terrible time trying to keep the ball in the ballpark, as he leads the league in home runs against. Let’s hope he can take some steps towards fixing that on Tuesday. The Mets will counter with Clay Holmes (2-2, 2.10 ERA), who has pitched very well so far this season, but just hasn’t gotten the run support that he needs to win games consistently.
Down on the Farm
AAA Rochester
- Doubleheader today
- Lost 6-1 in game one earlier today at Scranton Wilkes-Barre
- Andrew Alvarez: 4.1 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
- Christian Franklin: 2-4
- Dylan Crews: 0-4
- Robert Hassell: 2-3, double, stolen base
- Phillip Glasser: 2-3, double, RBI
- Game two is in progress now, score and stats will be added upon completion
- Tomorrow: Off-day
AA Harrisburg
- Lost 5-4 today versus Altoona
- Kyle Luckham: 5 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts
- Connor Van Scoyoc: 2 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts
- Seaver King: 2-4, home run (4), triple, RBI, walk
- Cayden Wallace: 1-5, home run (5), 2 RBIs
- Caleb Lomavita: 2-4
- Jonathon Thomas: 2-4, double
- Tomorrow: Off-day
High-A Wilmington
- 5-2 win today at Frederick
- Isaac Lyon: 3 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts
- Ronny Cruz: 2-4, home run (3), 2 RBIs, walk
- Ethan Petry: 2-5
- Elijah Green: 1-5, double
- Elijah Nunez: 2-4, 2 stolen bases
- Caleb Farmer: 2-3, double, 2 RBIs, walk
- Tomorrow: Off-day
Low-A Fredericksburg
- 7-0 win today at Salem
- Liam Sullivan: 3 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 3 walks, 1 strikeout
- Coy James: 1-4, home run (4), 3 RBIs, walk
- Jacob Walsh: 2-5, double, 2 RBIs
- Jack Moroknek: 2-3, walk
- Nick Peoples: 1-3, double, RBI, walk
- Jordan Williams: 1-3, RBI, walk, 3 stolen bases
- Tomorrow: Off-day
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