Nats open road trip with comeback win in Miami
The Washington Nationals put the sting of a 2-4 homestand behind them with a come-from-behind 3-1 win Friday in Miami. Trevor Williams (2-0, 2.70) continued his excellent 2024 campaign, pitching five innings of one-run ball, but the Nats failed to score while he was in the game. Derek Law relieved Williams, pitched two shutout innings and got the win as Washington plated a run in the sixth to tie the score, then added two more in the eighth on a Joey Meneses single. Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan blanked the Marlins in the eighth and ninth to secure the victory.
Mixed bag at home
The just-concluded homestand featured a celebration of the Nats’ 2019 World Series win. The Houston Astros, losers of that World Series, won the opening game, but the second game brought back memories of 2019. Jesse Winker’s two-run single tied the game at 4 in the bottom of the ninth, and Washington earned a walk-off win in the 10th inning when a Joey Meneses drive to right-center brought Nasim Nunez home. In the rubber game, Washington blanked Houston, 6-0, to take the series. Rookie phenom Mitchell Parker held the Astros to three hits in seven innings, and Meneses and Luis Garcia each drove in a pair of runs.
Unfortunately, the Dodgers then came to D.C. and swept three from the Nats. Washington’s offense against L.A. was anemic; only four Nationals runners managed to cross the plate against Los Angeles. To make matters worse, Lane Thomas suffered an MCL sprain in his left knee and went on the 10-day injured list.
The road ahead
After three more games in Miami, Washington heads to Texas for a three-game series before returning home to host the Blue Jays and Orioles. Washington’s win Friday put the last-place Marlins six games behind the 11-14 Nationals in the N.L. East. Still, this could be a long trip if the Nationals can’t find a way to wake up the slumbering bats of Eddie Rosario (.100), Joey Gallo (.122) and Keibert Ruiz (.158). That’s a lot of middle-of-the-order hitters producing next to nothing.
