For the first time since the end of the 2019 season, the Nationals are 3 games over .500. The magical ride continued tonight, as the boys disposed of the Royals in a mostly drama free 7-3 win. Andrew Alvarez, Brad Lord, Clayton Beeter and Gus Varland pitched well, while the bats did their usual thing.
It feels dangerous to
say this, but it might be time to accept that this is a good baseball team. They have been playing at a 95 win pace since April 25th, which is over 6 weeks at this point. The Nats are not doing this on the back of one hot run either, they have just consistently grinding out series wins. It is never a sweep, but you can count on the Nats to take two of three.
This consistency is a real testament to manager Blake Butera, who unlike the fanbase never gets too high or too low. His even keeled demeanor and confidence in the plan has helped this team become so consistent. You can sometimes question his bullpen decisions, but you cannot question the results Butera is getting out of this team that was supposed to be a bottom dweller.
The first two innings of this game were pretty sleepy, but the Nats opened the scoring in the third. Nasim Nunez and James Wood both got one out hits. After a tough at bat by Luis Garcia Jr., Curtis Mead picked up his teammate, driving in two runs on a base hit that just got over the second baseman’s head. Mead has slowed down slightly this past week, but he delivered in a big way there.
To Garcia’s credit, when there was another opportunity to drive in runs later in the game, he delivered. The thing about this Nats offense is that you can’t keep them down for long. They will just stick to the plan, and usually they will break through if your name is not Jacob Misiorowski.
The Nats offense would need to respond because the Royals offense strung together three runs in the 4th and 5th innings to take the lead. Those runs came on a combination of some poor defense by Nasim Nunez and some bad luck. However, to credit Nunez, he had a great day with the bat, getting on base three times.
One of those times came in the bottom of the 5th, where the Nats really broke through. The first four Nats hitters reached, culminating in a Garcia Jr. rbi knock. However, after two flyouts, things seemed to be under control for the Royals. Dylan Crews changed that in a big way, launching a line drive bullet just over the left field wall.
The offensive stats are still not there for Crews, but it feels like he is always doing at least something positive every game. Whether that is in the field, on the bases or at the plate, he will give you at least one moment per game. That is what makes it so hard to quit Crews despite the offensive ineptitude. He just makes a lot of winning plays out there.
Crews’ energy is a good representation of these young Nats. They are hungry, exciting and ready to win. Let’s see where this season takes us, but so far it has exceeded all expectations. This new regime has really found a way to flip the switch in one season. It feels like this group is just growing in confidence after each win, and wondering why not the Nats?!
