The Nationals put together one of the strangest games we’ve seen all season tonight, but when the dust settled, it was one of the best and most exciting wins of the year. Miles Mikolas got roughed up again tonight, but was bailed out by a monster night from the Nats’ offense, with James Wood getting on base four times and driving in four runs, Curtis Mead driving in three, CJ Abrams driving in three, and Clayton Beeter coming up with a massive four-out save to finish it off.

The Action

This one got off to a really rough start for Miles Mikolas and the Nationals in the first few innings. Miles retired the first two batters of the game before surrendering a two-out walk to Isaac Paredes. That walk came back to bite him a batter later when Christian Walker ripped an RBI double to put Houston ahead 1-0.

That would be all the Astros got in the first inning, and the Nats even responded with one of their own in the bottom of the inning. James Wood began what was a monster night for him by drawing a leadoff walk to begin the frame, and was rewarded two batters later when Curtis Mead drove him in with an RBI double to tie the game up.

Mikolas pulled the same mess in the top half of the second inning, where he retired the first two batters before getting himself into trouble. Two singles later, Jose Altuve strode to the plate with two on and two outs and wasted no time, blasting a first-pitch slider over the left-field wall, delivering a big three-run blow to make it 4-1 Houston.

That lead increased in the top of the third inning, after, guess what???? Mikolas retired the first two batters of the inning!! This time, it was a two-out walk that set the table for Yainer Diaz, who took advantage of a sinker that Miles left right over the heart of the plate and launched a moonshot out to left field to extend the lead to 6-1 Houston.

The ballgame took a huge turn in the bottom of the third inning as the Nationals’ offense finally began to fight back against Mike Burrows. A leadoff single and a walk turned into a run when Luis Garcia lined one the other way for an RBI double, and then, next at-bat, it was James Wood’s turn to score on an RBI single by Curtis Mead. This made it four consecutive batters to reach base to start the inning, setting the stage for CJ Abrams with two runners on in a 6-3 game. It did not remain that way for long. CJ got a slider down the middle and took good care of it, yanking it into the Nationals’ bullpen for a game-tying three-run homer to knot the ballgame at six apiece and make it a five-run inning.

Mikolas and Burrows settled the game down in the fourth, both posting zeroes, and Mikolas was able to do it in the top of the fifth as well. That sent the game to the bottom of the fifth with a 6-6 tie still intact… that is, until Curtis Mead grabbed a bat.

Already having a huge night, Mead added to it in style, putting the Nats ahead with a leadoff homer off of Burrows, setting the table for a huge inning by the Nationals’ offense. Four batters later, the Nationals had the bases loaded with one out, and that was all Joe Espada wanted to see from Burrows, and the Astros’ skipper went to the bullpen to bring in AJ Blubaugh. His first assignment was Drew Millas, who drove in an insurance run with a sacrifice fly, making it 8-6 Washington. Nasim Nunez was next and delivered one of the biggest plays of the game, beating out an infield single that was overturned to a hit after review. That kept the inning alive and loaded the bases back up with two outs for James Wood. What ensued was one of the swings of the season for the Nats, as Wood blasted a grand slam to center for his 24th homer of the season. That blew the game wide open, gave the Nats a 12-6 lead, and put the homestanders on the road to accomplishing one of their most memorable wins of the year.

The Astros got one back in the sixth against Mikolas, who at least did a solid job of eating innings. He exited after six innings of rough work, but left with a 12-7 lead.

• Mike Burrows: 4.1 innings, 9 hits, 10 runs (7 earned), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 83 pitches
• Miles Mikolas: 6 innings, 9 hits, 7 runs (7 earned), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 99 pitches

Cole Henry got the ball in the top of the seventh to make his long-awaited return to the bigs, and he didn’t disappoint. He worked a 1-2-3 inning, knifing through the heart of the Houston order with two strikeouts.

Blake Butera gave him a bit more of a workload than he was ready for tonight, sending Henry back out for the eighth and paying the price. Henry got the first two outs of the inning without damage, but with runners on the corners and two outs, Braden Shewmake drove in one on an RBI double to make it 12-8. At 38 pitches, Henry stayed in to face Brice Matthews and that was really a misstep, as Matthews got him for a three-run bomb to make it 12-11, and all of a sudden what seemed like a sure win was very much in question.

Clayton Beeter got to play the hero tonight, as the Nats turned to him for a four-out save, and he delivered in a huge way. Beeter worked through Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Paredes, and Walker, Houston’s four best bats, all in order to close this one out and give the Nationals an epic 12-11 win in game one of this series.

What’s Next?

Game two of this three-game series will get underway tomorrow evening, again at 6:45. The Nationals will face the highly-coveted free agent right-hander from Japan, Tatsuya Imai (5-4, 6.14 ERA), who signed his first MLB deal with the Astros this offseason. The Nats will counter with Andrew Alvarez (2-1, 3.05 ERA), who has continued to impress this season against tough competition. It’ll be great to see if he can carry the Nationals tomorrow to an early series victory and help bring their record back up to three games above .500.

Minor leagues are off today; games will begin for the week tomorrow evening.

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