Nationals wait out the rain to earn a drama-free win over the Braves
For a few hours wrapped around a couple of rain delays Sunday, the Washington Nationals were not in disarray. Two days after the Atlanta Braves had thoroughly outclassed them and their two star pitchers bickered for the cameras, they resembled the team they expect to be. There was no drama. Their ace did his job, and their bullpen held up. The middle of their lineup produced runs, and the defense helped prevent them.
The Nationals played sound baseball in defeating the Braves, 6-2, in a rain-delayed series finale at Nationals Park to reach .500 again. Besides the maddening weather making for a workday that ended more than seven hours after the scheduled first pitch, it all went as planned. And that — a win over a playoff-contending division rival — constitutes a step in the right direction for a team needing to string together victories rapidly.
“Those are the best type of wins,” right-hander Max Scherzer said, “when everybody goes out and plays as a team and we win like that.”
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Before the game, Manager Dave Martinez reiterated that Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg had put Friday’s dugout spat behind them and hugged it out. He downplayed it. It was, after all, just one heated argument between teammates that happened to have gone public, though it required a postgame meeting between the parties with Martinez as mediator.
“Look, it was miscommunication,” Scherzer, Sunday’s winning pitcher, said after the game. “Settled it. It’s over. End of story.”
Strasburg had been called on to give the Nationals some length in his first start in more than a month Friday — and failed. After Saturday’s rainout, that responsibility shifted to Scherzer, who hasn’t been his usual dominant self in July but has been consistent in eating innings nonetheless. The Braves, as familiar with Scherzer as any opponent, tested him. They worked counts to inflate his pitch count and succeeded.
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They were on pace to chase Scherzer (13-5) before he could log six innings — as he at least had in 19 of his previous 20 starts — but Scherzer battled to finish his minimum six. He allowed two runs while going 1 for 2 at the plate to raise his batting average to .267, rendering the Nationals’ output against fellow all-star Mike Foltynewicz (7-6) enough.
“He started to get ahead of hitters,” Martinez said, “and he started to get a little more contact early.”
Producing well-timed big hits, particularly ones with runners in scoring position, has been a problem for the Nationals (49-49) for stretches this season, but Anthony Rendon supplied one in the first inning after the start of the game was delayed 1 hour 55 minutes. His triple down the right field line — initially ruled a double — scored Adam Eaton and Bryce Harper, who raced around from first base to beat the relay throw at the plate. Moments later, luck was on Washington’s side as Juan Soto, who went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a walk, hit a soft chopper to first baseman Freddie Freeman. Usually sure-handed with the glove, Freeman, seeing Rendon gambling with a dash home, charged the ball and bobbled the transfer. He was forced to throw to first instead, and Rendon scored.
Three-run leads in Scherzer’s starts usually stick. Early on, though, the Braves (53-43) were on to him.
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By the end of the fourth — after Dansby Swanson hit an RBI single with the pitcher on deck to make it 3-2 — Scherzer’s pitch count had reached 86. There was a strong chance he would be chased before completing six innings for the first time since April 4. But he efficiently pushed through with some help.
Charlie Culberson gifted him an out to end an 11-pitch fifth inning by getting caught trying to steal second base. In the sixth, Scherzer got Tyler Flowers to ground into a double play on the first pitch after surrendering a leadoff single. He then struck out Johan Camargo with his 107th and final pitch.
Scherzer exited in line for his 13th victory. Harper padded the margin in the sixth with a two-out single to right field off left-hander Sam Freeman. The skies opened a couple of minutes later, and the game entered its second delay.
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“They were all pretty loose in the clubhouse, honestly, watching Shark Week,” Martinez said. “It started tonight. So it was good.”
One hour 38 minutes later, play resumed again, and Ender Inciarte welcomed Matt Grace with an infield single. Swanson followed with a deep drive to the wall in center field. Michael A. Taylor had just been inserted out there, shifting Harper to right field. The change was prescient; running at full speed, Taylor leaped into the wall to corral the baseball and rob Swanson of an extra-base hit. It saved the Nationals a run.
Taylor’s prowess was the flashiest example of the tidy defense the Nationals played as their matinee game stretched into the night. An inning later, Kelvin Herrera, asked to pitch more than inning for the first time since 2016, struck out Inciarte on three fastballs — 98, 99, and 99 mph — to strand runners on the corners en route to a five-out save before Harper launched his 24th home run to dead center field for the final insurance.
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On Friday, Martinez implored the Nationals to play fundamentally sound, clean team baseball. On Sunday, they delivered, and it produced their first win against a team with a record over .500 since June 29.
“We’re a great team,” Scherzer said. “I know we can play with anybody. Hey, this is what we needed. We’re looking up at them. We need to chase them down. So we got a great game. Now we can turn to a new week.”
Note: The Nationals announced that Saturday’s postponed game has been rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader Aug. 7.
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