Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats win 5th straight, 7-5 over Tigers in Comerica Park

Notes and quotes from the Nationals’ second win over the Tigers and fifth straight win overall…

NATIONALS WIN 5TH STRAIGHT (1ST TIME SINCE 2021):

Jake Irvin gave up leadoff home run, on his 6th pitch of the game last night, a full-count curve he left up in the zone, over the middle of the plate. Detroit Tigers’ outfielder Matt Vierling hit it out to left field in Comerica Park.

It was the only run the Nationals’ starter allowed in what ended up a six-inning start in which he gave up six hits total, and one walk, striking out five in a 98-pitch, 69-strike performance.

Irvin recorded just eight swinging strikes (of 44 swings), but he piled up 25 called strikes on the night, 15 of them on his curve, seven on his sinker, and three on his fastball.

He stranded two singles after the home run in the first, retired the side in order in the home-half of the second, worked around a two-out single in the third, and around a one-out single in the fourth, got out of a two-on, two-out jam in the fifth, and retired the side in order in the sixth.

“He threw some really good changeups there, towards the middle of the game,” Nationals’ manager Davey Martinez said when asked about Irvin rebounding from a rough start to go six strong, “which I think got them a little bit off the fastball, but he settled down. He got out of the inning with just one run, and then after that he settled down and pitched really well, he really did.”

Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images

It was a 5-1 game in the Nationals’ favor through seven, but the Tigers got three straight hits off of Robert Garcia and then Dylan Floro, with the third an RBI single by Colt Keith, 5-2, and Gio Urshela doubled to drive in two runs, 5-4, before Hunter Harvey cameon to get the club out of the inning with a one-run lead.

It what was suddenly a close game, Martinez turned to Kyle Finnegan in the ninth, though he’d wanted to stay away from both his set-up man and closer going into the game.

Luis García, Jr. and Joey Meneses hit RBI singles in the top of the ninth, 7-5, and then it was Finnegan giving up a one-out home run before locking down the save.

“We didn’t want to go to them we were trying to stay away from them,” he explained, “… but we had a chance to win the game, so we said, ‘Hey, we got to do it,’ and hopefully tomorrow we win 10-0, we’ll see.”

CJ ABRAMS – 2 FOR 5; 2B; HR:

CJ Abrams hit a 1-1 curve over the middle of the plate from Tigers’ starter Reese Olson 404 ft. to right-center in Comerica Park on Wednesday, tying things up with his 11th of the year, and he added an RBI, ground-rule double to left-center off Olson in the fifth, driving Jacob Young in after Young’s leadoff double.

Abrams took a five-game hit streak into the second of three in Detroit, and extended it with the home run.

His manager told reporters after the 2 for 5 game for Abrams, he liked what he saw from his shortstop in recent game after a rough stretch for the 23-year-old infielder.

“The homer, he got a good ball to hit, but the double, staying on that ball and driving it to left-center field was awesome. And he hit another ball — a rocket down the first base line and [Mark Canha] made an unbelievable play,” Davey Martinez said.

What’s been different for Abrams in recent games?

“A little bit more patient, he really is,” Martinez explained.

“He’s starting to get a little bit more patient, which we’ve been harping on for a while now. He’s getting better. He’s got to get the ball in the strike zone, just like everybody else.

“When we do that, we’re patient, we get guys on base, this is the reason why we’re scoring some runs.”

Martinez’s club went just 4 for 16 with 10 left on base, but they got the win, their fifth in a row, and set themselves up with a chance to take all three with the Tigers this afternoon.

“We’re playing, we’re scoring some runs. We left some guys on base today,” Martinez said, “… but we’re scoring runs now and guys are playing good. We got to stop giving away outs. We’ve got to be a little more conscious of driving in those runs. We could’ve blown this game wide open, and we just couldn’t get it done, but we fought, we battled, I can’t say enough about Harvey again, and Finnegan — we tried to stay away from him, we had to use him again today, so who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow, but we come out with a victory.”

WILD CARD?:

Yes it’s just June 13th, and yes there are 95 games to play, but as of this morning the Nats are 1.0 game back in the NL Wild Card race, after their fifth straight win left them 32-35.

Before the second of three with the Tigers on the road in Detroit, the GM and President of Baseball ops in D.C., Mike Rizzo, talked to Audacy’s The Sports Junkies on 106.7 the FAN in D.C. about where things stand after 67 games.

If someone had told him this spring, the team would be in the Wild Card race in June, would the GM have been surprised?

Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images

“I don’t know if I would have been surprised,” Rizzo said. “I know expectations were higher than they were last year, so I would say I wouldn’t describe it as surprised or pleased, but I think that we’re going in the right direction. I think that when you see the emergence of [CJ] Abrams and [Jacob] Young and those type of young players, and couple that in with four young starters that are more or less homegrown and developed here with 2-3 or 4 more at the ready in the minor leagues, and then you’ve got all those position prospects playing well and developing at the right level, I think it’s an exciting time to be a Nats fan. I think you can really see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“Davey [Martinez] and his coaching staff have this team playing extremely hard, and they play fast and yes they make mistakes, but they’re mostly mistakes of youthful exuberance, but they play with their hair on fire and play hard, and when you throw in some of the veterans that have helped us so much: [Joey] Gallo doesn’t get enough credit for the defense that he’s playing, I think he’s No. 1 in baseball in Defensive Runs Saved at first base, has been great, and [Jesse] Winker and [Eddie] Rosario have brought some veteran leadership with these young kids. I think it’s a good mix of personalities, and some leadership qualities, and I think fans can see it. Especially savvy fans that have been with us from the beginning of this rebuild can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”