For the first time in three weeks, the Washington Nationals won a series as they took 2/3 against the Seattle Mariners at home with a 6-1 win on Friday night and a 3-1 victory on Saturday.
The last series victory for the Nats came against the Blue Jays at home the weekend of May 3-5, but since then they had a two-game split with the Orioles, followed by four consecutive series losses to the Red Sox, White Sox, Phillies, and Twins.
With the two wins and loss on Sunday, Washington now sits at 23-28 on the season and in third place in the NL East (ahead of the Mets and Marlins), as hitting was truly key and came in handy against the Mariners.
In Friday’s win, MacKenzie Gore pitched a dominant performance as he went seven innings and struck out eight Seattle batters for his third victory of the year. It was the first time this season and first time in almost a year (May 28, 2023) where he completed seven innings.
The Nationals also totaled eight hits in the contest, as Luis Garcia Jr. launched a three-run homer to deep left center to put the team up 3-1 in the fourth, while Keibert Ruiz hit a two-run homer in the sixth, and Eddie Rosario homered in the eighth.
In Saturday’s win, Ruiz picked up where he left off the previous day to go 2-for-2 at the plate for one RBI and one run, as he hit a sacrifice fly to score Garcia early on. He had been 7 for his last 20, but more importantly with three doubles and a homer.
The other two Nationals runs came when Ildemaro Vargas grounded out to shortstop and drove in Victor Robles, while Joey Gallo, who hasn’t been too hot lately, singled to drive in Ruiz.
Pitching-wise, Trevor Williams got the start on the mound in the game and had eight strikeouts, but left after five innings. Robert Garcia then struck out a couple Seattle batters, while Dylan Floro was credited with the win, and Kyle Finnegan recorded his 14th save of 2024. Finnegan is currently tied for fourth place in the MLB in terms of saves this season.
Washington was unable to complete a sweep and fell to Seattle 9-5 on Sunday afternoon. The Nats trailed 4-0, but overcame that deficit with a couple runs, followed by a three-run homer from C.J. Abrams to give the home team a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh.
However, the Mariners went on to add five more runs to claim the lone victory in the series and snap their four-game losing skid. Seattle reliever and former National Austin Voth was credited with the win.
In terms of individual batting stats after this series, Abrams currently leads Washington with eight home runs and 50 hits, while Garcia has 26 RBIs and a .273 batting average, and Jesse Winker leads the ballclub with a .345 OBP.
Next up, the Nationals will head back on the road for a four-game series against the NL East division rival Atlanta Braves on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
