Post-Game Notes: Nationals 6, Rangers 4
TEXAS failed to recover after falling behind, 6-0, following the 2nd inning…suffered a loss in this 3-G series vs. WAS (1-2), but finished with a 3-2 record on this 5-G homestand (also 2-0 vs. PHI)…has still gone 8-6 over last 14 G after opening with a 2-7 record in first 9 G in June.
THE BULLPEN: Texas relievers Garrett Richards (3.0 IP), John King (2.0 IP), José Leclerc (1.0 IP), and Josh Sborz (1.0 IP) combined for 7.0 shutout innings following starter Glenn Otto’s early exit (2.0 IP, 6 R-ER)…marked the most combined scoreless innings by Texas relievers in a single game since 8/28/19 at LAA (8.0 SHO IP)…TEX relief pitchers last 2 G: 15.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R-ER, 9 SO…bullpen posted a 1.07 ERA (3 ER/25.1 IP) this homestand.
JONAH HEIM drove in 3 of Texas’ 4 runs today on a sacrifice fly (7th inn.) and 2-run home run (9th inn.)…has home runs in 3 of his last 7 G…10 HR this season are already tied for his career high (10 HR in 2021) and his 29 RBI are just 3 short of his career high (32 in 2021)…switch-hitter homered today as a right-handed batter, as he has hit an equal 5 HR as a RHB and LHB this season.
ADOLIS GARCÍA extended his season-high 8-game hitting streak with a single in the 7th inning, matching the longest hit streak by a Ranger this season (3x, last Seager from 5/14-21)…advanced to 3rd base on a double by Kole Calhoun, and eventually scored on Jonah Heim’s sacrifice fly…García has scored a run in a career-best 8 straight games (10 total runs), the longest such streak by a Texas batter since Rougned Odor from 7/22-30/18 (also 8).
GARRETT RICHARDS entered in the 3rd inning and tossed 3.0 shutout frames, his longest outing of the season and longest scoreless appearance since 9/2/21 at TB w/ BOS (also 3.0 SHO IP)…has posted a 1.29 ERA (2 ER/14.0 IP) over his last 9 G (beg. 5/24) to drop his season ERA from 5.84 to 3.42.
WASHINGTON scored six runs in the first two innings after scoring 4 in their first two games of the series combined…the three first-inning runs are their most in a game since 5/26 vs COL…improved to 21-4 when scoring 5 or more runs and 19-16 when scoring first…secured their 6th series victory and first since 6/10-6/12 vs MIL…4 of their 6 series victories have come on the road this season…WSH have won 4 of their last 6 and improves to 5-6 in interleague games.
JACKSON TETREAULT made his first career road start and his third career start today…allowed 0 R on 2 H in the first 6 innings before getting pulled out of the game after allowing 2 H to begin the 7th inning…improved to 2-1 (4.24 ERA) after tossing 6.0 IP, 4 H, R-ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 99 pitches/57 strikes…tallied 4 SO after tallying only 4 in his previous 2 starts…lowered his ERA from 5.73 to 4.24 after today’s outing.
NELSON CRUZ singled in the first Nats’ run of the game in the 1st…drove in two more runs the next inning after driving a ball down the right field line, was thrown out at second base by Garcia while trying to stretch it into a double…was 2-5 with 3 RBI and a R…went 4-for-12 (.333) with a HR and 5 RBI in this 3-game set.
JOSH BELL went 3-5, 2B, RBI, 2 R, extending his hit streak to 5 G and has now hit safely in 9 of his last 10 G…came into today’s game ranking 4th in OBP (.386), T5th in multi-hit games (23), T7th in hits (79), T9th in RBI, and 9th in AVG (.303)…owns a .464 batting average against TEX in 7 career games after today’s 3-for-5 performance.
JUAN SOTO reached base a season-high 5 times with 4 of those coming via BB…those 4 walks match a career-high, which last happened on 10/1/21 vs BOS…it is the first time in GLF history that a batter has walked 4 times in a game.
MISCELLANEOUS: The Rangers went 0-fer in their first 19 AB with runners in scoring position in this series before Nathaniel Lowe’s RBI single in the 9th inning today…Josh Smith worked a leadoff walk in the 1st inn. and has now reached base via H/BB/HBP in each of his first 10 career games…it is the longest career-opening on-base streak by a Ranger since Nick Solak set the club record by reaching in each of his first 11 career G from 8/20-30/19…Kole Calhoun recorded a pair of doubles today, his 5th G this season with multiple extra-base hits (last 2 2B on 6/11 at CWS)…Steven Duggar made his Texas debut this afternoon, entering as a defensive replacement in CF in the 8th inning (0-for-1 in lone PA).
