Washington Nationals news & notes: DJ Herz tosses five no-hit frames; Nats sweep doubleheader with Pirates…

Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ sweep of the twin-bill in PNC Park on Saturday…

HERZ THROWS 5.0 HITLESS:

DJ Herz walked three batters, but gave up no hits, and no runs over five innings on Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh’s PNC Park, but his nascent no-hit bid ended there, with the 23-year-old left-hander at 87 pitches, 53 strikes.

“I definitely understand,” he said of manager Davey Martinez’s decision to end the start at that point, in spite of what he was able to do in his five innings of work.

He’s been handled carefully all season in his rookie campaign, and it was more of the same in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

“I think the most I’ve ever gone was last year — with the [Arizona] Fall League — and it was about 110 innings. And coming into this start, I think I was at 109-110 [ed. note – “109 2/3.”]. I totally understand it, and I agree with it. Just take however long they let me go, and we’ll go from there.”

Hopefully, he said, one day he’ll get the opportunity to keep going.

“That day will come,” Herz said. “There’s no need to rush it.”

He finished the day with five Ks, and a total of 12 swinging and 12 called strikes, seven of each on his four-seamer, which he threw 57% of the time, along with 26% changeups, 14% sliders, and 2% curves.

“The changeup was probably — one of the better days … all year and I was really turning it over and throwing it for strikes a lot,” Herz said in discussing his pitch selection against the Bucs, “… and if not it was a competitive miss. And the fastball was just the regular fastball with a little bit more giddyup. It was good, just got to cut out the two-out walks and that’s about it.”

The two pitches, when sharp, Herz said, complement one another and can cause hitters trouble.

“I think they both work together, because, as you see, the fastball’s got really good life when it’s on and the hitters got to cheat to that, and when they do that’s when you can kind of see that they’re cheating to it, and that’s when you drop in the changeup, and when you can control it, throw it for strikes, throw it under the zone but on the plate, that’s when it’s a really good day because you know how to mess with them.”

Echoing what his manager and pitching coach preach on a daily basis, and what Pitching Strategist Sean Doolittle said in an MLB Network spot this week, pounding the zone has been Herz’s key to success in a strong second half.

“Everything plays in the zone, so just staying in the zone is the big key,” he explained.

“When we’re in the zone, good things are happening.”

Robert Garcia, Jacob Barnes, Derek Law, and Kyle Finnegan finished off the win in the first game of two with the Pirates, and after Jose A. Ferrer and Tanner Rainey gave the club 2 ²⁄₃ innings in the nightcap, it was Law, Barnes, and Garcia out of the pen again, with Finnegan coming on again after four-run top of the ninth put the Nationals up 8-6 and provided him with another save opportunity.

Asked after the earning save No. 35 if he wanted to pitch in the second game, Finnegan told reporters, “Oh yeah.”

“Finnegan actually made a big point of saying, ‘Hey, if I got a chance to close the game, I want to be in there,’” manager Davey Martinez said after the second win of the day.

“It was tough,” he said of the decision to send the four relievers back out for the second game.

Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images

“These guys are going to be down tomorrow. But they accepted their roles. They told me before the game that they were good to go.

“They held it together and they did well. They pitched well. They kept us in the game.”

Another comeback win in the second game had Martinez talking once again about his team never quitting.

“They don’t feel like they’re ever out of a game. They feel like if they keep grinding, good things will happen. Today, they grinded. They grinded hard today,” he said.

“After winning the first game, and playing the way we did the second game, hopefully they carry that over tomorrow.”