ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Nationals clung to a one-run lead in the sixth inning. For the five innings prior, their matchup with the Rays had been a seesaw affair.
Yet, when Brad Lord entered in the sixth inning from the bullpen, things seemed to steady. As Lord has many times this season, he delivered in a high-leverage situation. And in the end the Nationals won 4-3 on Saturday at Tropicana Field to even the series.
“Just seems like, no matter what situation you bring him into, he has a slow heartbeat and he has a tremendous amount of belief in his abilities,” manager Blake Butera said. “He just goes out there and pitches.”
No one has asked more of his bullpen this season than Butera. And on Saturday, after Cade Cavalli could complete only 2 2/3 innings, he asked for more.
Mitchell Parker tossed 2 1/3 scoreless frames. Lord added three, allowing two hits and striking out five.
“Every time you see him come in, you know he’s going to lock it down for the boys,” Parker said of Lord. “He’s been grinding.”
In the top of the ninth, Dylan Crews homered to double the Nationals’ lead. In the bottom, Clayton Beeter allowed a walk to Taylor Walls, who stole second and third and scored on a Yandy Díaz single. But Beeter stranded a pair of runners on base.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to keep giving these guys opportunities to pitch,” Butera said. “It’s our job as a staff to pump these guys’ tires and make them feel good when they’re on the mound. ... Today went really well for our ’pen.”
The Nationals’ bullpen also benefited from stellar defensive plays, as when Crews made a sliding catch to strand a pair of runners in the third.
In the eighth, center fielder Jacob Young made a leaping catch to rob an extra-base hit but slammed into the wall and exited with a side injury. Butera said Young had “strong soreness and tightness” in his side but his ribs should be OK. Young is day to day.
“It was a lot of good timing plays that happened today,” Crews said. “That’s a really good team. I think when you have really good timing with the plays that you make in the field, and good timing with the bats, good things happen.”
The Nationals rank first in the major leagues with 370 innings pitched by the bullpen. They’ve shuffled through 17 relievers, trying to exploit matchups. Still, Washington’s bullpen has an ERA and a WHIP that rank in the bottom third of baseball. Even amid the inconsistency and changes, Lord has been perhaps the most consistent reliever of them all.
Following Saturday’s outing, he has pitched to a 2.29 ERA over 23 appearances.
Over his last 15 outings, Lord is 4-0 with a 1.10 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP and 31 strikeouts to just 10 walks. Opponents are batting just .175. Two of the four runs he’s allowed in that stretch were surrendered in his prior appearance.
Lord was an 18th-round pick in the 2022 draft who rose quickly through the Nationals’ system as a starter. Ahead of last season, he worked at Home Depot. He made the opening day roster a season ago as a reliever, though his role fluctuated between spot starter and reliever.
“It’s been a journey,” Lord said. “Multiple different roles. Just kind of take everything in stride and work your hardest at any opportunity.”
This season, the Nationals kept him in the bullpen as a multi-inning reliever. He’s thrived. Lord has dropped his four-seam fastball usage by 11% and added a sweeper that hitters are batting .095 against.
“The sweeper is good itself, but it’s made my fastballs better just because they have to honor more separation in the pitches,” Lord said. “Just another pitch for them to worry about and a different look.”
Through the first five frames, both teams squandered countless opportunities to swing the game in their favor. The teams combined to leave 11 runners on base and were 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position.
The Rays loaded the bases in the first inning after Cavalli allowed three straight singles but scored only one run on a sacrifice fly.
CJ Abrams launched his second homer in as many days to even the score in the second. The Nationals added a run on a double from Nasim Nuñez but could’ve had more. Daylen Lile didn’t score from first because of a miscalculated read. Then the two hitters after Nuñez left a pair of runners stranded in scoring position.
Washington’s first two batters singled in the third, but Andrés Chaparro was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. The Nationals didn’t drive in Curtis Mead from third. Tampa Bay tied the game on a Chandler Simpson single but left two runners stranded in that frame.
Cavalli didn’t have his best stuff, giving what he could after dealing with food poisoning after eating in Tampa on Wednesday.
He struggled with command. In the rare instances he was in the strike zone early, he struggled to put hitters away and allowed base hits. Four of the six hits Cavalli allowed came in counts when he was ahead 0-2 or 1-2.
But, with the game tied in the fifth, the Nationals jumped ahead on a Chaparro groundout that was hit 2 feet in front of home.
Given how the game began, it seemed that margin wouldn’t last. And yet, during the three innings before Crews’ homer, Lord kept the Rays at bay until the Nationals could strike.
“We were able to hold it down and get it to the finish line,” he said. “It means a lot. Every win means a lot.”
This article has been updated.
Comments
Welcome to The Banner's subscriber-only commenting community. Please review our community guidelines.