Washington Nationals news & notes: Jake Irvin nails at the Trop; CJ Abrams leads Nats to 8-1 win…

Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ win over the Rays on Saturday…

IRVIN AT THE TROP:

Jake Irvin popped Brandon Lowe up with a 1-2 fastball up and in on the Tampa Bay Rays’ left-handed batter, but the ball never came down.

Davey Martinez, the one-time Ray as a player and a coach, warned his players about the odd things which sometimes happen in Tropicana Field.

“Those fly balls that go up in the catwalks, it’s tough,” Martinez explained.

“I told all the guys, even the infielders, I said, ‘Hey, when those balls go up, you’ve got to go get the ball, because at any given moment, that ball is in play, it hits the catwalk.”

Photo by Mark Taylor/Getty Images

This one didn’t come down, and Irvin had one thought when Lowe got a second chance.

“I’m giving up a homer. That was the thought,” he told reporters, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman after the game.

“I saw the ball go in there [landing on the catwalk], and of course it’s the synergy of the game — made an okay pitch afterwards, and to see it leave the yard, you just kind of tip your cap.”

Lowe hit the next pitch, a 95+ MPH fastball up but not far enough away 405 ft. to center for a solo home run which tied things up at 1-1 after CJ Abrams homered in the top of the first for an early lead in the second of three in the Rays’ home.

“Hey, it’s part of this field, right?” Martinez said in his post game press conference, following what ended up an 8-1 win.

Photo by Mark Taylor/Getty Images

“It’s Tropicana [Field]. Sometimes you’re going to lose balls, sometimes balls are going to get stuck.

“Sometimes they’re going to hit and you’re going to catch the ball for an out, that’s how it is.

“After that ball, which should have been an out, Lowe did a great job of just staying in the at-bat, and getting a ball and he smashed that ball. But lesson learned.

“You’ve got to go out there and forget about it and make your pitch. Unfortunately he didn’t make a pitch at that particular moment, but after that he was nails.”

Irvin went on to retired 16 of 19 batters after the home run, giving up just three walks over the next five-plus innings in a 96-pitch, 57-strike outing in which he struck out five, with a total of seven swinging strikes, but 14 called strikes in the start.

“He goes out there and competes, but he’s got a great idea of what he wants to do, and the fact that he’s just pounding the strike zone, and trying to get ahead, is a big key,” Martinez said of Irvin’s 17th start, which ended with the 27-year-old ranked 9th in the NL with his 3.03 ERA.

The manager said Irvin’s curveball, which was a real weapon in his start in Coors Field, was not the same in Tropicana Field, but the starter just went with it.

“His curveball acted more like a sweeper today, and instead of trying to figure out and try to manipulate, he just went with it and it got better as the game went on,” Martinez explained.

“But that’s what he does. Instead of trying to find that, he said, ‘I’m in. It’s sweeping, so we’ll just keep going with that.’ But his changeup was really, really good. So, like I said, when he’s locating his fastball and able to get it up and down and away, he’s tough.”

Irvin held the Rays to one run through six, then the Nationals scored seven in the top of the seventh inning for an 8-1 lead and eventual win which snapped a four-game losing streak.

CJ PO/CS/HR:

CJ Abrams reached base via HBP on the left hand which recently cost him a few games (ganglion cyst) in the seventh inning on Friday (his second HBP of the game).

There were two out in the seventh after Jacob Young had manufactured a run in what was a 3-1 game in the Rays’ favor. Pitcher Kevin Kelly threw over immediately in the next at-bat, of course, but Abrams got back the first time. Then Kelly went to first base again and picked Abrams off, for the NL-leading ninth caught stealing on Abrams this season (which was tied for the lead in the majors as of Saturday morning).

Why is he getting picked off/thrown out so often?

Manager Davey Martinez shared his own thoughts after Friday’s game.

“One, I don’t think he’s really staying in on his legs, and he’s trying to take that extras shuffle step,” Martinez said. “We talked to him about doing that. I mean, he gets a big lead anyway. He doesn’t need to get that far out. I think teams are on to him about taking that lead like that, and he’s getting picked off quite a bit. So I’m going to talk to him again about it. I’ve talked to him once already, uh, more than once, but he’s just got to stay still. Over there, whenever a pitcher sees movement, you alert them, and that’s when they throw over. He’s got to just be quiet over there, get a good lead, and really read the pitcher.”

Martinez talked before the second of three with the Rays about how Abrams is handling it all early in his career, whether it be defensively, on the basepaths, or at the plate.

“He’s got a lot on his plate, because he is the guy that we count on to get on base, get us going,” Martinez said.

Abrams got the Nationals going with a leadoff home run on the fourth pitch of the game on Saturday, hitting a 2-1 cutter belt-high outside 396 ft to right-center field in Tropicana Field.

It was his 13th home run of the season, and his third leadoff home run of the year.

Later in the game he just missed hitting his second of the game, bouncing an RBI double off the top of the left field fence.

The power to both right-center and left field? That a good sign?

“When he’s doing that, he’s really good,” Martinez said. “We tell him, ‘Hey, don’t try to pull everything.’ The at-bat that really got him to stay on the ball the other way was the curveball he swung at and grounded out. He wanted to stay in the middle of the field and hit the ball hard to the middle of the field, he was able to get a ball kind of up and drive it to left field.”

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