The game wasn’t in doubt, but CJ Abrams had a chance to put his stamp on it and delivered.
With an eight-run Nationals lead and the bases loaded in the eighth, Abrams jumped on a 2-1 sinker and cleared the bases with a grand slam. The Nationals’ offense exploded in their 15-2 win over the Twins.
After going scoreless over the first three innings, the Nationals scored in each of the next five.
Abrams was spectacular, going 3-for-5 (two doubles and a homer) with five RBIs. Five Nationals (James Wood, Jacob Young, Abrams, Brady House and Drew Millas) recorded at least two hits. The Nationals were making loud contact on most pitches in the strike zone.
Aside from the numbers they put on the scoreboard, the Nationals played the brand of baseball they want to sustain. The pitching did enough to keep them in the game, the offense cashed in runs to give them the lead, and some heady baserunning put runners in scoring position.
Because of their attention to detail, the Nationals hammered the Twins’ pitching staff repeadetly when they made a mistake in the zone.
It was also a needed performance for starter Miles Mikolas, in particular. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits with no walks.
Mikolas took a step forward on Wednesday, resembling the innings-eating pitcher the Nationals envisioned when they signed him to a one-year contract. Manager Blake Butera said pregame that Mikolas made some mechanical changes, widening his base. Butera also said Mikolas has been pitching more freely, not feeling the pressure to throw at least seven innings.
On Thursday, Mikolas was adept at navigating the Twins’ lineup, inducing 12 groundouts with no walks and three strikeouts. Mikolas limited the barrels and stayed in the zone.
The offense was also opportunistic and downright lethal. With the Nationals trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning, Wood stole second base to give them a runner in scoring position with no outs. After Daylen Lile struck out, Curtis Mead drew a walk to bring Abrams to the plate. Abrams rocketed a double to center field to tie the game before back-to-back flyouts by House and José Tena.
In the fifth, Young hit a leadoff single, followed by Millas’ homer that gave the Nationals a 3-2 lead. The Nationals knocked Twins starter Bailer Ober out of the game in the sixth after back-to-back doubles by Abrams and House. Tena also added a double, and Nasim Nuñez recorded a two-out RBI triple.
Butera had said that the big hit had eluded the Nationals of late, but he was confident in his team’s ability to deliver with runners in scoring position, which is notably volatile. The Nationals were 7-for-15 with RISP and recorded 14 hits overall.
The team was prepared for the Twins’ breaking pitches in the zone and made them pay. The Nationals set themselves up to win the series Thursday.
Comments
Welcome to The Banner's subscriber-only commenting community. Please review our community guidelines.