How about these Washington Nationals! They just took two out of three in Atlanta to hand the Braves their second series loss of the season. The Nats offense was not firing on all cylinders this weekend, but the pitching staff picked up the bats. This offense deserved the help they got from the pitching this weekend badly.
After back to back shaky starts, Foster Griffin was back to his best this afternoon. He threw 6 scoreless innings against one of the best offenses in baseball. Griffin’s command was absolutely impeccable in this one. He was dotting the corners all game long. Despite pitching in the pouring rain for a chunk of his start, Griffin executed at a very high level.
The sweeper was the star of the show in this one for him. He got 4 whiffs on 7 swings against the sweeper. Griffin was also able to freeze hitters with his big breaking ball. His ERA got over 4 following his last start, but now it is back down to 3.63.
Once again, the Nats offense was fairly quiet in this one. However, they did just enough to get the job done. Nasim Nunez got a big RBI hit in the fifth. Then in the 8th, after a long rain delay, the Nats used some small ball. James Wood walked and then stole second. After Curtis Mead moved him over on a sac fly, Luis Garcia Jr. got a pinch hit knock to score Wood and give the Nats a massive insurance run.
The rain was a big story all weekend, and especially today. From about the 5th inning onwards, the two teams were playing in a big storm. Crew Chief Ron Kulpa kept the game going as long as he could. However, two pitches into the 7th inning, they had to call a delay.
With the storm getting out of control, the grounds crew had a tough time getting the tarp on the first base side of the field. At points, it really felt like the game should have been called off. If the Braves were winning, I have a feeling the game may have been called. The Nats travel to Cleveland, while the Braves are off tomorrow. Whatever the motive, the grounds crew did their thing, and got the field into just good enough conditions to play.
That meant Nats fans were in for an anxiety inducing finish. The Garcia hit cleared some of the nerves, but only temporarily. Keibert Ruiz almost gave the Nats a huge insurance run, but he was robbed by a leaping Matt Olson, who showed why he is such an elite defender at first base.
After getting the last two outs of the 8th, Gus Varland came out for the 9th. However, he put his team in a bind by allowing two straight hits to Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley. Blake Butera turned to Richard Lovelady for a third straight day. Lovelady has dealt with Michael Harris Jr. well this series, and did it again, getting him to flyout to shallow right.
With runners on first and third with one out, it looked like Eli White hit into a game ending double play. However, the usually sure handed Nasim Nunez booted the ball and everyone was safe. With the way he is struggling at the plate, Nunez can’t afford to make those kinds of defensive mistakes.
In the end, this would not cost them though. After Lovelady walked a batter to load the bases, Blake Butera went to Orlando Ribalta, a roll of the dice that paid off in a massive way. Ribalta blew away Friday’s walkoff hero Chadwick Tromp. That set up a matchup with the face of the Braves franchise, Ronald Acuna. Ribalta got Acuna to break his bat and ground out to first. The big right ran over to cover first and received a toss from Luis Garcia Jr. to win the series and get to .500.
This was a statement series win for the Nats. They did not have their A game on offense this weekend, but were able to pitch their way to a series win. This pitching staff has been much maligned, but since about the middle of April, they have been solid. It has not been unbelievable, but they are holding up their end of the bargain.
It is Memorial Day, and the Washington Nationals are .500 and second in the NL East. Seeing how rejuvenated this team looks has me so excited. Nats fans are finally able to dream of a bright future ahead. If this is what the Paul Toboni and Blake Butera regime can do in year 1, I am very excited to see what is to come.