The Washington Nationals are currently 4-4 in Grapefruit League play after some very close contests. Here is a recap of their past four games.
Red Sox at Nationals, February 28th
This past Wednesday, the Nats got their third win of Spring Training with a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Washington overcame an early 2-0 deficit when two RBI singles from Victor Robles and Jesse Winker tied the game at 2-2 in the third inning. New National Joey Gallo broke the tie in the fifth when he doubled to right field and sent home Robles and Lewin Diaz to make it 4-2.
Kyle Finnegan was the winning pitcher while Joe La Sorsa recorded the save. Jackson Rutledge got the start at the mound, but allowed four hits and two earned runs in two innings pitched. Finnegan and Rutledge each had three strikeouts.
Nationals at Cardinals, February 29th
Washington then improved to 4-2 in Grapefruit League play with a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Leap Day. The Nats quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Lane Thomas and James Wood led off the game with back-to-back homers. Washington then improved the lead to 3-0 the next inning when Jacob Young scored on a wild pitch.
Veteran Patrick Corbin got the start and the win, striking out four Cardinals batters in three innings, while Robert Garcia and Jose Ferrer each had two K’s, and Amos Willingham recorded the save.
Astros at Nationals, March 1st
The Nationals faced the Houston Astros for the third time this Spring Training, but fell in an offensive slugfest by the score of 10-8. Washington originally led 4-0 in the fourth inning after CJ Abrams hit a home run and an RBI single, Robles scored on a fielding error, and Thomas hit a sacrifice fly to center. However, that lead soon evaporated when the Astros went on to score 10 consecutive runs via homers, RBI knocks, and errors. Houston went on to lead 10-4 in the top of the eighth.
The Nats did attempt to rally after that when Alex Call hit a 2-run dinger in the eighth, then grounded into a fielder’s choice which allowed two more runs to score in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough in the end.
Nationals at Red Sox, March 2nd
Washington faced Boston again three days later, but it was the Red Sox who came out on top for the 4-2 win. The Nationals put up the first two runs early on when Carter Kieboom grounded into a double play, which allowed Wood to score, while Riley Adams reached on an infield single and Call made it to home plate. However, Boston put up four unanswered runs after that.
Josiah Gray has continued to look promising in Spring Training, as he struck out five Red Sox batters in his first three innings pitched.
However, a scary moment occurred when Nationals prospect Daylen Lile went over the short wall in right field trying to rob Tyler Miller’s home run in the seventh inning, but landed hard on his back. According to Mark Zuckerman of MASN, Lile went to a local hospital for a CAT scan of his lower back, and thankfully had movement in his arms and legs.
