With two outs in the sixth inning, Foster Griffin did something he hadnβt done all evening β walk a batter. It was a sign that he was fading as his outing neared its end Tuesday night.
Manager Blake Butera walked to the mound. Catcher Drew Millas patted Griffin on the back. Griffin put his head down, resigned to his fate. But after saying a few words, Butera walked off the mound and put his faith in Griffin to get the final out of the frame.
Griffin rewarded that faith, getting Mauricio DubΓ³n to ground out to second base. Butera applauded from the dugout as the Nationals went on to beat the Braves 11-4 at Nationals Park.
βFelt really good about having him out there,β Butera said. βJust wanted to talk to him, see where he was at, make sure he was in a good spot. Just felt a lot of confidence with him on the mound.β
One night prior, in a tie game, Butera opted to remove Jake Irvin in the sixth inning. His logic was, with two left-handed hitters due up, lefty reliever PJ Poulin matched up better with that part of the lineup. That decision backfired when Drake Baldwin hit an RBI double that sparked a five-run frame.
Butera faced a similar predicament Tuesday. Griffin retired the first two batters in the sixth inning. Right-handed reliever Gus Varland was warming in the Nationals bullpen to face two Braves righties (Austin Riley and DubΓ³n).
Griffin thought the manager was coming to remove him from the game. DubΓ³n was 2-for-2 against him to that point. His teammates were split.
βUsually when you see Blake, you kind of just assume itβs a change,β right fielder James Wood said. βI got out to center field pretty much and J[acob] Y[oung] was like βHey, go back.ββ
βBy the way he was walking, I kind of knew he wasnβt going to take him out,β first baseman Luis GarcΓa Jr. said. βI think out of everybody that was there, I was only one that thought that.β
Griffin recalled Butera asking him if he wanted to face this guy. He replied, βAbsolutely,β and joked that he didnβt give Butera a chance to respond. The decision paid dividends.
Griffin had a game plan to get DubΓ³n out. In his first two at-bats, Griffin felt DubΓ³n was trying to swing at off-speed and breaking pitches away and go to the opposite field. So he threw a cutter inside that jammed him.
βMore than anything, itβs ... showing our bullpen like βHey, we got you,ββ he said. βYouβve been working hard for us in this long stretch.β
Griffin, who signed a one-year, $5.5 million deal this offseason after spending three years in Japan, has been as advertised. His lack of velocity is balanced by his pitch sequencing and pinpoint command. To this point, heβs been the Nationalsβ most consistent pitcher.
Of Griffinβs 96 pitches, 65 were strikes. He allowed three runs, including a pair of solo homers to Drake Baldwin in the third and Eli White in the fifth. Griffin joined Cade Cavalli as the only Nationals starter to complete six innings.
βHeβs like an artist out there, painting and putting balls on the edges, mixing speeds and keeping all the hitters off balance,β Butera said.
He also outlasted Braves starter Reynaldo LΓ³pez, who found himself in a jam before he could get comfortable.
The first six runners reached base in the following order: walk, single, RBI single, walk, RBI walk and RBI single. Just like that the Nationals had a 3-0 lead. By the end of the first inning, theyβd forced LΓ³pez to throw 46 pitches.
The Nationals have preached plate discipline from the beginning of spring training. So far, the Nationals rank 24th in walk percentage. Theyβre seventh in chase rate. Thereβs work to be done. But Tuesdayβs performance as a group was a step in the right direction β the Nationals walked 12 times, a season-high.
βItβs big,β Wood said. βYou can kind of see the results of that, making good decisions. I feel like thatβs something weβve been working on a lot and taking a lot of pride in.β
After Michael Harris II hit an RBI double in the second inning, Wood responded with his third homer of the homestand. All three have landed in the visitorsβ bullpen, but Tuesdayβs homer was his hardest hit at 114.5 mph. The Braves, who wanted no part of Wood in the ensuing innings, walked him three more times.
Yet the Nationals struggled early on to turn their walks into runs. Washington finished 5-for-20 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base.
βWe had them on the ropes, didnβt realize capitalize in a couple situations where wouldβve maybe broken it open a little bit earlier,β Butera said. βBut that was the message: Stick with it, stick with it.β
In the fifth inning, the Braves intentionally walked Wood to face GarcΓa with two outs in a one-run game. GarcΓa hit an RBI single. They walked Wood to load the bases in the seventh. GarcΓa hit a two-run double in a three-run frame.
βI definitely needed a game like this to regain the confidence that I always have,β GarcΓa said.
Even in the eighth, the Nationals worked two walks. Then, Curtis Mead launched a three-run homer into the night sky to cap off a dominant victory for the Nationals.
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