Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats drop sloppy finale with Giants in extras, 9-5; Luis García, Jr.’s big hit + more…

Notes and quotes from the series finale with the Giants in Nationals Park…

SLOPPY FIELD; SLOPPY LOSS:

Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning on a rainy afternoon in the nation’s capital, and having endured two lengthy rain delays in spite of the fact that the Washington’s Nationals and San Francisco Giants’ series finale started earlier than planned in an attempt to avoid an expected storm, a persistent Nats’ ballclub battled to tie it up at 5-5 and send it to extras.

Keibert Ruiz walked to start the bottom of the ninth, but was forced out at second base on James Wood’s grounder, then pinch hitter Travis Blankenhorn took the second walk of the inning from Giants’ right-hander Camilo Doval, but Ildemaro Vargas lined out for the second out of the inning.

Luis García, Jr. stepped in next, and hit a 97.5 MPH, 1-2 fastball up in the zone out to left, and just over the wall for a game-tying, three-run home run, 5-5. It was García, Jr.’s 14th homer of the season.

“I didn’t feel like I hit the ball as well as it went,” García told reporters, via interpreter Octavio Martinez, and as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman, after the loss:

“But I saw [Giants’ left fielder Michael] Conforto backing up, backing up, backing up, fading into the wall. And I saw it leave the ballpark.

“I was surprised, because I didn’t think I had enough of it to get it out.”

“We fought back, we were down 5-2, we come back and tie it up. But the game’s not over,” manager Davey Martinez said after a sloppy ninth and tenth cost his club the game.

“Emotions were flying. We got to finish the game. I want them to understand that in those situations, we’ve got to finish the game, finish strong.”

Nats’ closer Kyle Finnegan gave up a one-out single and two walks in the ninth, then failed to back up his catcher on a base-clearing hit by Mark Canha, allowing the third run in, and after they rallied to tie it, CJ Abrams made a throwing error going for the Giants’ runner at third base, Brett Wisely bunted for a single off reliever Robert Garcia, whose throw to third on the next play was dropped by Ildemaro Vargas, and two more runs scored off the lefty, as the visitors went up by four, 9-5.

“The last two innings weren’t good,” Martinez said, noting the walks, misplays in the infield, and missed opportunities.

“We just got sloppy,” he said. “It was good until it wasn’t. We played in sloppy conditions, and we got sloppy in the last two innings.”

It wasn’t the conditions to blame though, he stressed.

“Both teams played in the same conditions. Those plays should be made, and we do make those plays. For whatever reason, we didn’t today and it cost us some runs.”

His team, he said, tried to make things happen, rather than taking outs where they could get them.

“The thing about those games like that, when you get a guy on second base, is really you got to focus on just getting outs,” the skipper explained.

“If that guy scores, and you give up only one run, we’re in a pretty good position, because we’re at home. I think we got just a little bit ahead of ourselves, I really do. CJ making an awful throw to third. If he just even takes an out at first right there, and not try to throw the ball behind the runner, we could be in a better position. Vargas, which never happens, he dropped that ball at third, I’ve never seen him do that. The game sped up on us a little bit, because I think were just trying too much to just get outs instead of just playing the game.”

POSITIVES:

Luis García, Jr. finished the series finale with the Giants 2 for 4, “with a two-out, two-strike, three-run [home run], a stolen base, and two runs scored,” in the loss, and as the Nationals noted in their post game notes, “[García, Jr.] has now hit safely in 11 of his last 14 games… [and] during that span, he’s hitting .385 (20-for-52) with two doubles, a triple, three home runs, 11 RBI[s], four walks, seven stolen bases, and nine runs scored.”

James Wood went 1 for 3 with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored in the 5 hour, 28 minute affair, which included 2:02 of rain delays), and the 21-year-old rookie’s reached, “… base safely in 12 of his last 13 games.”

“During that span, he’s hitting .348 (16-for-46) with two doubles, three triples, a homer, 11 RBI, 11 walks, four stolen bases and 11 runs scored.”

GM and President of Baseball Ops Mike Rizzo talked to 106.7 the FAN in D.C.’s Sports Junkies this week about Wood’s development in the last few weeks since he made his MLB debut on July 1st.

Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images

“He’s progressing beautifully at the big league level. For a player of his age that can do the things that he can do on the baseball field, it’s incredible,” Rizzo told the Junkies.

“With that said, we knew there were going to be growing pains defensively, base-running wise, playing a new position, hitting against these extreme, tough left-handed pitchers is going to be a challenge to any left-handed hitter, but I think that you see constant, slow progression and the precision he puts into his workouts have been great. And he has performed admirably for us and I think you’re just seeing this kid scratch the surface of what he can be.”