Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats sweep four-game set with Marlins in Miami…

Notes and quotes from the Nationals’ sweeeeep!!!

SWEEP THE LEG FISH, JOHNNY!!!:

As noted in Washington’s pregame notes for the series finale in Miami, the Nationals went into the fourth of four with the Marlins in loanDepot park looking for the four-game sweep, which, if they completed it, would be the, “… first four-game sweep since [September] 23-26, 2019 vs. Philadelphia,” which was actually, “…a five-game sweep due to a doubleheader on Sept. 24.”

“Washington’s only other four-game sweep of [the] Marlins was Sept. 18-21, 2014 at Miami,” the club added.

As manager Davey Martinez told reporters before the game on Monday, earning a series win and setting themselves up to potentially sweep was a nice response after getting swept this past week, in three straight with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Photo by Brennan Asplen/Getty Images

“We came into this series after losing three games to the Dodgers,” Martinez said, “which, you know, I thought we could have won a couple of those games, but we bounced back, and that’s what I love about this team.

“We left it there, we showed up to Miami knowing that we struggled here in the past, and we tried to take care of business on the first day, and we did that, and we’re playing really well right now.”

“I just want to continue to play the way we’re playing,” he continued, “they’re playing good heads-up baseball, they’re having a lot of fun, and they’re starting to swing the bats a lot better, which is awesome. So … we jump on Jake [Irvin’s] back today, and he gives us the innings we need, and hopefully we come out of here 1-0 again today.”

Irvin, 27, tossed five scoreless to start the finale, working around a one-out single in the first and a two-out, ground-rule double in the third, then retiring nine straight before he gave up a two-out single, and a two-run home run in the sixth. He got the last out of the inning, then the Nationals, who led 3-2 at the time, scored four in the top of the seventh to provide some insurance on the way to a 7-2 win and a four-game sweep.

CJ Abrams started the scoring for the Nationals, with his 7th home run of the season, a two-run blast off Marlins’ starter Trevor Rogers in the top of the third, then Jesse Winker took a bases-loaded walk in a two-out rally in the fifth, forcing in a run, 3-0, before the Marlins put their first runs up on the board in the sixth, 3-2.

An RBI groundout by Winker, bases-loaded wild pitch, RBI double by Joey Meneses, and RBI single by Ildemaro Vargas in the seventh blew things open.

“The boys played well as a team, which I love,” Martinez said after the game. “So kudos to those guys, man. We came back this series and played really well.

“Played good defense, we’re pitching, we’re getting timely hits, so it was a good series. Get on a plane and go to Texas.

“And just continue to play the way we’re playing and we’ll be in good shape.”

Getting contributions up and down the lineup made it that much more enjoyable for their manager.

“I keep saying this, but they keep feeding off of one another,” Martinez explained.

“If one guy doesn’t do it, the next guy is going to get up there and do everything he can to get it done. It was like that this whole weekend. I loved watching them play, the energy was fabulous, so we just got to keep going out there, and keep playing the game.

‘Right from the first inning, play for 27 outs, and hopefully at the end of the day we come out on top.”

Abrams started the game with a 14-game on-base streak going (over which he had a .400 OBP), and he’d hit safely in 13 of the 14 games, going 18 for 57 (.316 AVG) with five doubles, three triples, three home runs, six walks, and 13 runs scored in that stretch, and hit homer No. 7 in his 112th plate appearance this season. [ed. note – “… after it took him 243 PAs for Abrams to get to 7 HRs in 2023.”]

“After his first at-bat, we talked to him about, just, ‘Hey, don’t get yourself out,’” Martinez said of his advice for Abrams on Monday. “‘Get a good pitch to hit, work the counts, and you’ll be surprised at what’s going to happen.’

“And sure enough he was able to get up there and hit the ball hard,” sending it 370 ft. out to right field in Miami.

Irvin threw 84 pitches in six innings, striking out three without walking anyone, and he got just four swinging strikes (on 46 swings), and picked up 13 called strikes in another strong start, earning the win.

“He threw the ball really well,” Martinez said. “His curveball was really good. His cutter was really good as well. So, he was very effective.

“We thought about sending him back out there [for the seventh]. But with the long inning, I thought that was it.”

Up next, it’s three with the Rangers in Globe Life Field in Arlington, coming off a strong start to the current road trip.

“Everybody contributed,” Martinez reiterated “… everybody played hard. I love where we’re at right now, so let’s continue to do that.”