Well that was a marathon. The Nationals sat through a rain delay at the beginning of this game as a system moved through the Atlanta area, just to be interrupted again in the seventh inning, this time for two hours. Similar to yesterday’s game, there was not much offense to speak of, but RBI singles by Nasim Nunez and Luis Garcia Jr. were all the Nats needed in this one as Foster Griffin and the bullpen delivered another brilliant performance. Griffin and company headed a huge effort as the Nats battled back to win the series in Atlanta and bring their record back to .500.

A few of you guys got on me last Friday so I’ll give credit where it’s due, the bullpen these past two games was magnificent. They must have caught my thoughts in Friday’s postgame article, but if that’s what it takes — I’ll gladly do it again. All jokes aside, the Nats’ bullpen did an unbelievable job yesterday, and did just the same today, as the Nationals held the best offense in baseball to one run over the last 18 innings of the series.

The Action

There wasn’t much to report on in this one, but from the very beginning it was a pitcher’s duel between two crafty lefties. Foster Griffin and Martin Perez went back and forth over the first part of the game, matching each other zero for zero, with not a single baserunner from either team reaching third base until the bottom of the fourth.

The first real threat of the game came from the Braves in the fourth, as they managed to load the bases with one out against Griffin. Eli White came to the plate and got a pitch to hit on a 2-1 count, a cutter near the center of the plate, but luckily for Washington he grounded it straight to CJ Abrams, who started the 6-4-3 double play that ended the inning. So Griffin escaped the inning unharmed, and the game remained scoreless into the fifth.

As some light rain began falling in the fifth, the Nationals led off the frame with a double by Daylen Lile and a single by Jacob Young to put runners on the corners with nobody out for Nunez. Nasim Nunez did not have the best weekend, and has been taking plenty of criticism from the fanbase, myself included, but he came up huge in the top of the fifth today, lining a ball into right field for an RBI single. The hit broke the scoreless tie and set the Nats up in a great position to extend their 1-0 lead, but a double play ball by Keibert Ruiz limited their powers in the fifth.

The rain picked up rapidly in the bottom of the fifth as Griffin finished off another scoreless frame, and after the game got back around to him in the bottom of the sixth, it was almost a downpour. Nevertheless, Foster Griffin battled through the elements and turned in six shutout innings against the Braves this afternoon, cruising through the heart of the order in the sixth, just before the grounds crew emerged with the tarp to send the game to delay.

• Foster Griffin: 6 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 90 pitches
• Martin Perez: 5.2 innings, 5 hits, 1 run (1 earned), 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 86 pitches

The game resumed a little over two hours after they sent it to a delay, and it was in the hands of both bullpens. Reynaldo Lopez mowed through the top of the seventh, before Andrew Alvarez scattered a leadoff single en route to tossing a scoreless bottom of the inning, sending the game to the eighth with the 1-0 lead still intact.

The Nats got a huge insurance run in the eighth, as James Wood got on base with a walk before immediately stealing second base to get into scoring position. Luis Garcia took advantage and yanked a line drive into right field for a base hit, scoring James Wood, and doubling the lead to 2-0. We would go on to find out just how big that hit ended up being, but in the moment it felt like a dagger punch landed by Washington.

Gus Varland got the final two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and Blake Butera rolled him over into the ninth to try and finish off the 2-0 win. It didn’t go exactly as planned, as Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley led off the inning with back-to-back singles, and Butera was forced to go to Richard Lovelady to try and hang on to the game. He induced a flyout from Michael Harris for the first out, before getting Eli White to hit a perfect double play ground ball right to Nasim Nunez that should have ended the ballgame. Unfortunately, Nunez picked a wonderful time to boot it, and the ball rolled through his legs to put the tying run on second and the winning run on first with one out. To make matters worse, he walked the next batter to load the bases, forcing Butera’s hand once again, and in came Orlando Ribalta.

Ribalta turned in perhaps the most clutch outing of his career tonight. Being brought in to a 2-1 game with the bases loaded and one out on the road has to be a challenge, but Ribalta was ready, striking out Chadwick Tromp for out number two, and up came Ronald Acuna. After a long battle, the noted Nats’ nemesis broke his bat on a little dink hit past the mound, Acuna stumbled out of the box, allowing Ribalta to beat him to the bag and receive the toss from Luis Garcia to end the ballgame.

What’s Next?

It might be a late night for the boys this evening, as the effects of the delays will be felt in full upon landing in Cleveland late tonight. Tomorrow night the Nats will begin a three-game series against another of the league’s best, taking on the Guardians. Even bigger, tomorrow night represents another opportunity for the Nationals to break the .500 threshold, and post a winning record in the month of May for the first time since 2018. The series will get going tomorrow at 6:10, and the Nats will send Zack Littell (3-4, 5.83 ERA) to the mound, fresh off a great start this week against the Mets. They’ll face the young right-hander, Tanner Bibee (0-6, 3.75 ERA), who hasn’t been given much run support so far this season, but despite the record, will be an excellent challenge for this Washington lineup.

Down on the Farm

AAA Rochester

• Game today postponed by rain
• Tomorrow: 4:05 game versus Syracuse (Starter TBA)

AA Harrisburg

• Doubleheader today versus Akron
• 5-1 win in game one
• Shinnosuke Ogasawara: 7 innings, 6 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts (2.36 ERA)
• Jonathon Thomas: 2-4 (.260 BA, .677 OPS)
• Sam Petersen: 2-3, double, walk (.235 BA, .823 OPS)
• Kervin Pichardo: 2-3, RBI (.235 BA, .712 OPS)
• Marcus Brown: 2-3, double, 3 RBIs (.226 BA, .681 OPS)
• 3-0 win in game two
• Thomas Schultz: 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout (4.98 ERA)
• Jared Simpson: 2 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts (2.78 ERA)
• Erick Mejia: 1 inning, 1 hit, 1 strikeout (1.06 ERA)
• Robert Cranz: 1.2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts (0.00 ERA, future bullpen piece?)
• Valentin Linarez: 0.1 innings, 1 strikeout (5.27 ERA, 1 save)
• Leandro Pineda: 1-3, double (.245 BA, .695 OPS)
• Sam Petersen: 2-3, double, home run (8), 2 RBIs (.243 BA, .858 OPS)
• Maxwell Romero: 1-3, double (.287 BA, .916 OPS)
• Jack Rogers: 1-2, double, walk (.170 BA, .508 OPS)
• Tomorrow: Off-day

High-A Wilmington

• Doubleheader today versus Jersey Shore
• 2-1 in in game one
• Josh Randall: 6 innings, 7 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts (4.40 ERA)
• Brady Hill: 1 inning, 1 strikeout (2.50 ERA)
• Devin Fitz-Gerald: 1-2, walk-off double, 2 walks, RBI (.299 BA, 1.039 OPS)
• Ethan Petry: 1-2, walk (.313 BA, .987 OPS)
• 4-1 win in game two
• Yoel Tejada: 4 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts (3.80 ERA)
• Hunter Hines: 1-3, double, 3 RBIs (.186 BA, .578 OPS)
• Randal Diaz: 1-2, RBI (.231 BA, .746 OPS)
• Tomorrow: Off-day

Low-A Fredericksburg

• Doubleheader today at Fayetteville
• 6-2 win in game one
• Miguel Sime: 3 innings, 0 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts (3.38 ERA)
• Grant Manning: 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout (1.65 ERA)
• Eli Willits: 2-4, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs (.276 BA, .869 OPS)
• Juan Cruz: 1-2, home run (3), 2 RBIs, walk (.274 BA, .753 OPS)
• Nick Peoples: 1-2, RBI, walk (.212 BA, .778 OPS)
• 9-3 win in game two
• Carson Fischer: 4 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts (1.62 ERA)
• Gavin Fien: 1-4, RBI (.200 BA, .619 OPS)
• Coy James: 2-4, home run (6), 3 RBIs, double (.216 BA, .741 OPS)
• Jamison Jones: 1-3, home run (5), RBI, walk (.159 BA, .638 OPS)
• Jordan Williams: 3-4, home run (3), 2 RBIs (.294 BA, .888 OPS)
• Dashyll Tejada: 1-2, RBI, walk (.167 BA, .625 OPS)
• Tomorrow: Off-day