This Nats road trip has been a bit chaotic. Now a big month awaits.
2024-06-26T13:15:21.265ZCJ Abrams and the Nationals will face the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday as a long road trip for Washington shifts to the East Coast. (Gregory Bull/AP Photo) Before all this came about, Washington Nationals Manager Dave Martinez sat at a wooden desk in the visitors’ clubhouse in Denver and chuckled at the premise of a question. Washington’s offense, which had waxed and waned since Opening Day, had a chance to play at Coors Field in the friendliest run environment in baseball. A chance, he was asked, to wake the offense up a bit?Martinez offered a counter. A year before, the Nationals had lost to the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, 1-0. More specifically, he said, this was a weird place. Anything could happen.In the six days that followed, across two ballparks in Colorado and California, just about anything did. A brief recap:Friday: After collecting just 14 hits in the entire previous series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and seeing just 87 pitches in the series finale — the lowest by the franchise in a nine-inning game since 2013 — the Nationals put up a season-high 19 hits.Saturday: The Nationals come back, twice, to provide closer Kyle Finnegan — who had not blown a save since May 18 — with a one-run lead. Finnegan then concedes four straight singles and issues a walk on a pitch clock violation.Sunday: Washington is no-hit through 5⅓ innings against a starter who was just activated from the 60-day injured list. They get a strong performance from Jake Irvin and score two runs in the ninth to win it.Monday: The Nationals, now in San Diego, trail the Padres, 3-0, after Patrick Corbin — who has the third-highest ERA among qualified starters — tosses seven strong innings. They come back to tie it with three RBI on three hits from Joey Meneses, score three runs in the top of the 10th and hand the ball to ever-reliable Hunter Harvey, who allows four runs as the Nationals lose. Jurickson Profar, the hero for the Padres, celebrates next to Washington’s dugout.Tuesday: And the Nationals don’t like that. Catcher Keibert Ruiz confronts Profar, a scuffle ensues, Profar is accidentally hit on the next pitch, and Manny Machado then hits a two-run homer. Jesse Winker, who got into a spat with a fan the day before, is booed and homers. Profar hits a grand slam that clinches it for San Diego.Wednesday: The most normal game of any on the trip still sees the Nationals get no-hit through 4⅔ innings, trail 8-0 on what at the time seemed like a meaningless grand slam conceded by Tanner Rainey, then makes all the difference as a five-run ninth inning is sparked by the first hit of Rule 5 draft pick Nasim Nuñez’s career.Got it?On Friday evening, the Nationals — still on the road but now back on the East Coast — will play Game No. 81 against the Tampa Bay Rays. By all accounts, they have overachieved, particularly with their pitching, at the porch of the halfway point. In 2022, Game No. 81 meant 23 games under .500 with a -117 run differential. In 2023, it was 15 games under at -61. After Wednesday’s loss, they will enter Game No. 81 just four games under the break-even point at -15.“We just got to forget about the series,” Martinez said after Wednesday’s loss. “We got day off in Tampa. Hope the guys enjoy. And let’s come ready to play again and have a good weekend.”They seem to be able to contextualize, as lefty MacKenzie Gore put it after Tuesday’s defeat, where they are in the season.“Yeah, you know, some tough losses the last few days,” Gore said. “But look, we’re still in a good spot. It is June. We’re okay. But we do need to figure out how to win some games here moving forward.”A big month awaits the Nationals. From now until the July 30 trade deadline, they will multitask, identifying how close they truly are to wild-card contention while fielding calls on their veterans who could presumably contribute to that push in lieu of the long-term, deciding how many players — and which ones — they might aim to sell off to a contender. That isn’t likely to assuage the chaos.The Nationals, at least before this road trip, have a track record of responding well amid hectic circumstances. In April, they erased a seven-run deficit, earning their largest road comeback win since 2015. After losing four in a row early in the month, they won eight of nine games. Recently, a spat between Gore and third baseman Nick Senzel was resolved before the contest ended, the Nationals won in a rout, and Gore produced one of his best outings of his career.The messaging has not changed amid chaos. When Martinez was asked Tuesday what he’s learned about his team during this stretch, it’s that they don’t quit — a familiar phrase. And before Wednesday’s game, Ildemaro Vargas walked by reporters with an assurance. “Hey, I’ve got something to say,” he said on his way out of the clubhouse. “Everything will be fine.”
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Before all this came about, Washington Nationals Manager Dave Martinez sat at a wooden desk in the visitors’ clubhouse in Denver and chuckled at the premise of a question. Washington’s offense, which had waxed and waned since Opening Day, had a chance to play at Coors Field in the friendliest run environment in baseball. A chance, he was asked, to wake the offense up a bit?
Martinez offered a counter. A year before, the Nationals had lost to the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, 1-0. More specifically, he said, this was a weird place. Anything could happen.
In the six days that followed, across two ballparks in Colorado and California, just about anything did. A brief recap:
Friday: After collecting just 14 hits in the entire previous series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and seeing just 87 pitches in the series finale — the lowest by the franchise in a nine-inning game since 2013 — the Nationals put up a season-high 19 hits.
Saturday: The Nationals come back, twice, to provide closer Kyle Finnegan — who had not blown a save since May 18 — with a one-run lead. Finnegan then concedes four straight singles and issues a walk on a pitch clock violation.
Sunday: Washington is no-hit through 5⅓ innings against a starter who was just activated from the 60-day injured list. They get a strong performance from Jake Irvin and score two runs in the ninth to win it.
Monday: The Nationals, now in San Diego, trail the Padres, 3-0, after Patrick Corbin — who has the third-highest ERA among qualified starters — tosses seven strong innings. They come back to tie it with three RBI on three hits from Joey Meneses, score three runs in the top of the 10th and hand the ball to ever-reliable Hunter Harvey, who allows four runs as the Nationals lose. Jurickson Profar, the hero for the Padres, celebrates next to Washington’s dugout.
Tuesday: And the Nationals don’t like that. Catcher Keibert Ruiz confronts Profar, a scuffle ensues, Profar is accidentally hit on the next pitch, and Manny Machado then hits a two-run homer. Jesse Winker, who got into a spat with a fan the day before, is booed and homers. Profar hits a grand slam that clinches it for San Diego.
Wednesday: The most normal game of any on the trip still sees the Nationals get no-hit through 4⅔ innings, trail 8-0 on what at the time seemed like a meaningless grand slam conceded by Tanner Rainey, then makes all the difference as a five-run ninth inning is sparked by the first hit of Rule 5 draft pick Nasim Nuñez’s career.
Got it?
On Friday evening, the Nationals — still on the road but now back on the East Coast — will play Game No. 81 against the Tampa Bay Rays. By all accounts, they have overachieved, particularly with their pitching, at the porch of the halfway point. In 2022, Game No. 81 meant 23 games under .500 with a -117 run differential. In 2023, it was 15 games under at -61. After Wednesday’s loss, they will enter Game No. 81 just four games under the break-even point at -15.
“We just got to forget about the series,” Martinez said after Wednesday’s loss. “We got day off in Tampa. Hope the guys enjoy. And let’s come ready to play again and have a good weekend.”
They seem to be able to contextualize, as lefty MacKenzie Gore put it after Tuesday’s defeat, where they are in the season.
“Yeah, you know, some tough losses the last few days,” Gore said. “But look, we’re still in a good spot. It is June. We’re okay. But we do need to figure out how to win some games here moving forward.”
A big month awaits the Nationals. From now until the July 30 trade deadline, they will multitask, identifying how close they truly are to wild-card contention while fielding calls on their veterans who could presumably contribute to that push in lieu of the long-term, deciding how many players — and which ones — they might aim to sell off to a contender. That isn’t likely to assuage the chaos.
The Nationals, at least before this road trip, have a track record of responding well amid hectic circumstances. In April, they erased a seven-run deficit, earning their largest road comeback win since 2015. After losing four in a row early in the month, they won eight of nine games. Recently, a spat between Gore and third baseman Nick Senzel was resolved before the contest ended, the Nationals won in a rout, and Gore produced one of his best outings of his career.
The messaging has not changed amid chaos. When Martinez was asked Tuesday what he’s learned about his team during this stretch, it’s that they don’t quit — a familiar phrase. And before Wednesday’s game, Ildemaro Vargas walked by reporters with an assurance. “Hey, I’ve got something to say,” he said on his way out of the clubhouse. “Everything will be fine.”
