In one of the most exciting games of the season, the Washington Nationals overcame a Royals comeback thanks to Daylen Lile’s clutch hitting. This game showed the best and the worst of the Nats. The young offense was humming, but inconsistencies and poor pitching made this closer than it needed to be.
The Nats were all over veteran Seth Lugo from the jump. It was a ferocious first inning assault that was capped off by Nathaniel Lowe hitting the first grand slam of his career. It was also the first grand slam of the season
for the Nats.
The Nats made it 5-0 later in the first on a Drew Millas double. It looked like this would be smooth sailing. However, due to poor pitching and a lack of killer instinct, Nats fans were in for a stressful but fun afternoon.
In the bottom of the first, Jake Irvin would give a couple of those runs right back to the Royals. His command was all over the place and he struggled throughout his four innings today. Irvin walked four while only striking out three.
Last season, Jake Irvin and Mitchell Parker were revelations for the Nationals. While they were not stars, they looked like stalwarts who could anchor the middle to back of a rotation for years to come.
However, they have come crashing back down to earth this year. Among qualified starters, Parker has the second worst ERA at 5.55 and Irvin is fourth worst at 5.14. Neither should be handed rotation spots entering next season.
After the Royals cut the lead to 5-3 after the second, the Nats looked like they pulled away again. Brady House hit an RBI single in the third and CJ Abrams hit a solo homer in the fourth. It was 7-3 and it looked like smooth sailing.
However, in the bottom of the fourth, the game turned on its head with one swing. Irvin threw a changeup right down the middle to Vinnie Pasquantino and the game was 7-6 just like that.
It remained 7-6 for a while and that is due to the good work by the Nats bullpen. The Nats have an army of misfit toys out in the bullpen right now, but they got the job done today. Konnor Pilkington, PJ Poulin, Cole Henry, Clayton Beeter and Jose A Ferrer combined to throw five innings of one run ball.
Some of them got into jams, but the next guy was always there to bail them out. PJ Poulin looked pretty fatigued after throwing 30 pitches yesterday. He walked the first batter and hit the second. However, he got two big outs and handed the ball over to Cole Henry who got the Nats out of the inning.
The rag tag Nats bullpen could not hold onto the lead forever and eventually allowed the Royals to tie it on a Bobby Witt Jr. sacrifice fly. That meant the offense, which was dormant after doing the heavy lifting early, needed to step up.
They did just that in the top of the 9th. Luis Garcia Jr. and Nathaniel Lowe set the stage by both getting on base. With two outs, Daylen Lile came to the plate with a chance to be the hero. He delivered, knocking a single into right field to give the Nationals their one run lead back.
It was a huge moment for the 22 year old outfielder who has been swinging a hot bat lately. While it has been an adventure in the field, Lile is just a pure hitter. He has a sweet swing and a knack for hitting the barrel.
While things got a little dicey in the ninth inning, new closer Jose A Ferrer locked the door to give the Nats a much needed win. This was a very encouraging road trip for the Nationals. They did not win every game, but they showed up and competed every night. We had not been seeing that fight for the last couple months.
Hopefully that fight they have showed this road trip is here to stay. They will have a big test this weekend with a four game series at home against the Phillies. If they can find a way to even get a split, that would be a really positive result. Overall, it is nice to see the Nats stay in the fight, even if the pitching is not there.
