Washington Nationals news & notes: Trevor Williams and Nats secure series W with 3-1 win over Mariners…

Notes and quotes from the Nationals’ 3-1 win over the Mariners in D.C. on Saturday…

SERIES WIN!!!!:

Trevor Williams took the mound on Saturday afternoon with a 2.35 ERA, a 2.80 FIP, 14 walks (2.74 BB/9), 35 Ks (6.85 K/9), and a .220/.276/.274 line against in nine starts and 46 innings pitched on the year, a significant improvement from the numbers he put up in the first year of his 2-year/$13M deal with Washington’s Nationals (5.55 ERA, 5.66 FIP, 3.30 BB/9, 6.92 K/9, and a .300/.359/.533 line against in 30 starts and 144 ¹⁄₃ IP).

Perhaps the biggest difference, was the fact he allowed just one home run in the first 46 IP this year, after he led the NL with 34 allowed in 144 ¹⁄₃ innings in 2023.

“He’s really understanding who he is,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters before taking on the Seattle Mariners in the second game of three this weekend in D.C.

“He’s utilizing all his pitches really well. He’s keeping the ball down, and this is all by design from him.”

Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

“We talked a lot about him at the end of the year,” the skipper explained. “About how he needs to pitch moving forward, but he went home and he really decided to change his whole routine, and what he needed to do, and we’re seeing the benefits right now, and it’s awesome that he did that.

“But he’s throwing the ball down. He’s using both sides of the plate. His changeup is really effective, his slider has been really, really good.

“It’s good to see that he’s going out there and competing the way he is.”

When Williams was done for the day on Saturday, after he threw five+ innings, in which he gave up five hits and one run (on a solo home run, just his second allowed this season), he had a 2.29 ERA and a 2.78 FIP. He matched a career high with eight Ks, and as noted in the club’s post game report, the 32-year-old veteran had a 2-0 record and a 1.85 ERA, with six walks, and 24 Ks in fie starts and 24 ¹⁄₃ IP in May.

Williams tossed four scoreless to start, then gave up a leadoff home run by Julio Rodriguez in the first at-bat of the top of the fifth, leaving a 1-2 change up inside the Mariners’ center fielder hit 433 ft. to center in Nationals Park, tying things up at 1-1 after Keibert Ruiz got the scoring started with a sac fly to drive in Luis García, Jr. in the bottom of the second.

Ildemaro Vargas drove in a run with a groundout in the seventh, and Joey Gallo hit an RBI single later in the inning to drive Ruiz in for a 3-1 lead, which held up.

Robert Garcia took over for Williams in the sixth, and struck out two in a scoreless frame.

Dylan Floro’s scoreless seventh extended his scoreless inning streak to 21 2/3 innings, “the longest by a reliever in a single season in Nationals history (2005-pres.),” as the club noted after the game.

Hunter Harvey in the eighth, and Kyle Finnegan in the ninth locked down the second win in a row over the Mariners, earning the Nationals the series win.

“Our pitching and defense are keeping us in the ballgame,” Martinez said after the game. “

“And right now we’re scoring enough runs to win these games, so the last two games we played really well. Pitching was good. Bullpen came in and did their job. Our defense was good, and we’re scoring runs, so it’s a good day.”

And it was another good day for Williams.

“He was good. He’s been pitching really well. The biggest thing is mixing all his pitches in and keeping guys off-balance. His fastball up played well today with two strikes. He did a great job,” Martinez said.

AND THIS: