It was not pretty in the 9th inning, but the Nats held on to secure a much needed 10-7 win over the Diamondbacks. With the win the Nats are only a game out of the third Wild Card spot with the trade deadline on the horizon. The offense did not skip a beat without Curtis Mead. Now it is time for Paul Toboni to go and get some bullpen reinforcements.
From the outset, this game just felt like a shootout. Miles Mikolas and Kohl Drake were not fooling anyone on the mound. Even the outs they were getting
were loud contact. Even though things did not fully set ablaze early on, it was still 3-2 after four innings.
After the D-Backs added another run in the 5th, the Nats exploded in the bottom of the inning. After Nasim Nunez walked to start the inning, the Snakes let Kohl Drake face James Wood for a third time. That proved to be an unwise decision, with the Nats star outfielder punishing a hanging curveball for his first homer of the second half, and 29th of the season.
Later in the game Wood hit another home run, that turned out to be a key piece of insurance. After a slow start to the second half, Wood showed up in a massive way in this big game. He now has 30 home runs for a second straight season. Wood joins Adam Dunn as the second Nat to do that, which honestly surprised me when I saw the stat.
However, Wood was not the only Nats star to go deep that inning. Wood’s partner in crime, CJ Abrams had a huge game of his own. After homering in the third, Abrams did it again in the 5th inning, crushing a ball out the yard for his 27th long ball of the season. He is having the best month of his career in July.
There have been plenty of Abrams trade rumors lately, but this stretch is showing that Abrams is just too good to trade. Unlike the Juan Soto situation, the team has a good shot of being competitive in the near future. This team can make a run with Abrams on the team. Also, they need to push as hard as they can for an extension this offseason. CJ Abrams is part of this team’s solution.
Even after the Mead trade, this offense showed just how potent they can be this afternoon. They just tore through the D-Backs pitching staff this afternoon. Having success against a rookie starter in Drake was not overly surprising, but they put a beating on the Snakes solid bullpen as well.
Jonathan Loaisiga and Brandyn Garcia are both high velo arms who are having great seasons. That did not phase the Nats though. They roughed up both of those guys on the way to yet another win.
However, that win did not come easily in the 9th inning. Handed a 10-5 lead, Matt Krook came out and walked three straight hitters before being yanked. That is just something you cannot do as a major league pitcher. It also showcased the glaring hole on the Nats roster. Paul Toboni owes it to this clubhouse to bring in some bullpen help at the deadline. This group has just done too much to be let down like this. They did not blow it today, but we have seen that sort of thing happen too many times.
It seems like Toboni is trying to thread the needle between buying and selling. He said this morning that he wanted to give this team a shot. If he is serious about that, he needs to bring multiple bullpen arms through the door. This is a good team with one flaw that is fatal, at least as it stands right now.
Even though the bullpen almost ruined the fun, Clayton Beeter eventually put out the fire to give the Nats the win. With this curly W, the Nats are right in the middle of the playoff race. They face a Blue Jays team whose season has not gone according to plan after this. That gives them another opportunity to collect some wins in the lead up to the deadline.
One last piece of fun from today was the performance of Brady House. The 23 year old is back in the show after the Mead trade. His impact was loud in his return to DC. House hit two doubles in this contest. He looked comfortable at the plate, especially in his at bats against lefties. House has plenty of room to grow, but man can he mash lefties.
Overall, this was an excellent series win. This is a series they had to win to truly remain in the mix, and they did it. Before the deadline, I want at least two bullpen arms and maybe a starter as well. The offense is an absolute buzzsaw, and has me dreaming really big if this team can manage to find even average pitching.
