The moment called for James Wood, and Wood rose to the occasion.
On Wednesday, in the seventh inning at Nationals Park, the Washington Nationals were rallying from a five-run deficit against the New York Mets. With two outs, moments after Lane Thomas tied the score with a double, Wood had a chance to give the Nationals their first lead. Against another tough lefty, the rookie singled up the middle, allowing Thomas to score in what would become a 7-5 victory that snapped a three-game losing streak.
Wood, the 21-year-old prospect who officially arrived Monday, got his first RBI with a knockout of Jake Diekman. Moments earlier, he chatted with Jesse Winker in the on-deck circle, listening to the veteran’s advice on how to handle Diekman’s slicing sweeper. The left-hander used the pitch on each of his final four pitches of the at-bat. On the last, Wood followed Winker’s advice.
“I didn’t pay attention to the first few pitches,” Wood said with a smile in the locker room. “It was great. He explained the process to me a little bit… I was just trying to figure it out.”
The Nationals’ bullpen held up after that, and Luis Garcia Jr. added his second homer of the night an inning later for insurance. But after a hitless night following his debut, manager Dave Martinez moved Wood to the No. 3 spot in the lineup, and the rookie added another first to his growing list of them — this was his first multi-hit game (2-for-3 with that RBI, a run and a walk). He also stole his first base after beating out Diekman.
“Just looking at him, he’s a big guy,” Garcia said. “He looks huge out there, but he’s a very good baseball player. … We had confidence in him. We knew he was going to drive in that run.”
On Tuesday, Wood was responsible for the Nationals’ two hardest balls, both ground balls. After the game, he said he wasn’t worried; sometimes, he said, the ball just doesn’t find a hole. On Wednesday, it did.
“He’s got a good two-strike approach, which is great, and he stayed in the middle of the field, which is what we preach all the time with two strikes,” Martinez said. “He’s going to show the power. He’s doing it. But for him to come out here and do what he’s doing … it’s huge.”
The timing coincided with Martinez placing his top hitters at the front of his lineup: C.J. Abrams at the top, followed by Thomas, Wood and Winker. Three of those hitters have an OPS above .800 since June 1. The fourth was named the top prospect in baseball by Baseball America on Wednesday.
The hypothesis that that lineup could match the Mets, baseball’s best offense since June 1, was shakier given the limitations of the second half of the lineup. That seemed even more tenuous when left-hander Mitchell Parker was tagged for five runs and three homers in six innings, putting his team down 5-0.
But tonight, the bottom of that lineup produced. Ildemaro Vargas, who has a sub-.500 OPS since early June, lined an RBI single through the infield to make it 5-1 in the fifth. In the sixth, after Wood and Winker singled, Garcia launched a three-run homer to right to make it 5-4.
On May 31, the Nationals were four games under .500, while the Mets were nine games under. New York has moved to 42-42 since then and is the only team in MLB to average more than six runs in that span. The Nationals now have a 40-46 record, the byproduct of a shaky offense and a bullpen in free agency after a series of late-inning collapses.
But on Wednesday, the bullpen answered the call. Jacob Barnes, Robert Garcia, Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan — all of whom had played a role in recent disappointments — combined to pitch three scoreless innings. And Wood’s hit ultimately made Barnes the winner.
“I didn’t want him to go to extra innings, let’s put it that way,” Martinez said. “I was just making a joke: Vargas should have pitched tomorrow… But I have confidence in all those guys. They’ve been pitching well. The last two days shouldn’t dictate who they are.”
Grades: Before Wednesday’s game, the Nationals recalled catcher Riley Adams from Class AAA Rochester and sent catcher Drew Millas to the Red Wings in a corresponding move. The Nationals are hoping Adams can inject some life into the offense. In 25 games with Washington, he had a .635 OPS; in 22 with Rochester, his OPS stood at .946. Millas, a defense-first catcher, had a .519 OPS in 11 games.
The Nationals optioned Adams to the minors in June to give him consistent at-bats and some experience at first base amid their limited depth at the position. However, since he played just four games at first base with Rochester, Martinez said he would be used there only as a backup. He is scheduled to start at catcher on Thursday.
“Getting the swing and rhythm back that I wanted was definitely a big goal,” Adams said. “I felt pretty comfortable (at first base).”
The Nationals optioned left-handed reliever José A. Ferrer (strained right hamstring) to Class AA Harrisburg for a rehab assignment. The Nationals want to see him pitch on consecutive days before calling him up. He has been topping 99 mph without issue, but has yet to pitch in a game at any level this season.
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