It was more of the same for Harper in his first two plate appearances, which both ended with flyouts to left field, but he finally broke through in the fifth inning. After Eaton sneaked a groundball through the left side for a two-run single and Rendon tacked on another run with a sacrifice fly, Harper stepped into the batter’s box with two on and runners on the corners. Facing a 2-2 count, he tucked a 172-foot blooper inside the left-field line and landed at second base with a game-tying double. It was his first hit since Friday and a timely release for a slugger in need of some luck.<doc-sep>Washington Nationals’ skipper Davey Martinez moved things around in his lineup last night, with Juan Soto batting second, Bryce Harper in the cleanup spot, and Trea Turner hitting in the sixth spot for the series opener with the Baltimore Orioles. Whether it was the movement, the opposing pitching, or just coincidence, the results were positive. Soto went 1 for 3 with two walks, Harper went 1 for 4 with a walk, and Turner, who came into the game 12 for 60 (.200/.262./267) with a double, a homer, four walks, and 12 Ks in 14 June games, went 4 for 4 with a homer, a double, and two singles as the Nationals rallied from a 5-1 deficit for a 9-7 win over the O’s. “I said it yesterday, this team is starting to become relentless,” Martinez told reporters after the win. “When you start doing that you put up runs late, and that’s a good sign. “They kept pounding and pounding and pounding, they were able to have a couple big innings there and score some runs.” Martinez said he thought the move was particularly positive for Turner, and was designed to, “... get him kind of relaxed a little bit, and he did that.” “It’s the perfect spot for him I think,” Martinez said. “He just gets to go out there — and I said in Spring Training, he’s a pure hitter. I don’t want him thinking about taking pitches, getting on base, just go hit. “When he goes up there and thinks about just hitting he usually swings at better pitches, and he’ll draw his walks, but he does what he does tonight.” Another good sign for the offense overall, is that they weren’t all big blasts, but some hits on which players made contact and found holes. “Sometimes you’ve just got to put the ball in play,” Martinez said. “For me it’s just about working counts and when you get to two strikes, just move the ball, good things happen when you move the ball.” Nationals’ GM Mike Rizzo told 106.7 the FAN in D.C.’s Sports Junkies this morning he liked what he saw from Martinez and the Nationals when he was asked about the thinking with moving things around. “That’s Davey being Davey,” he said. “He’s not one to stand on convention, and he wanted to give guys a break, a different look, give them some different partners around them, and he wanted to split up some lefties and righties and drop Trea down to a more run-producing part of the lineup instead of a run-scoring part of the lineup. I think Davey, he mixes and matches and tries to do some new things to get guys jumpstarted.” It worked last night. Will it work again tonight in the second of three with the Orioles in D.C.? HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE 2ND OF 3 WITH THE ORIOLES:<doc-sep>Bryce Harper took two walks around a sac fly in his first three trips to the plate tonight, then got hold of one in the bottom of the eighth inning, lining a double to right to start the home half of the frame. Trea Turner singled in the next at bat, sending Harper around to third, and one out later, Juan Soto split the gap with an opposite field two-run double to put the home team up 4-2 on the Baltimore Orioles. Scherzer vs the O’s: Max Scherzer tossed eight scoreless against the Orioles back on May 30th in Baltimore, striking out 12 of the 27 batters he faced in what ended up a 2-0 win. “He had a really good fastball tonight,” Davey Martinez told reporters after the game. “I should say a great fastball. 96-97, it was over the plate, and the slider was really, really sharp.” “Did a good job of changing our sequencing throughout the lineup, first time, second time, third time through the lineup,” Scherzer added, “and just executed with pitches tonight.” In the three starts that followed, the Nationals’ 33-year-old right-hander put up a 2.57 ERA and a .173/.225/.307 line against, with four walks and 32 Ks in 21 innings on the mound, losing back-to-back games for the first time since 2015 in his last two starts before tonight. Scherzer fell behind early in the finale with the O’s in D.C. when Colby Rasmus hit a knee-high 1-1 fastball out to left-center field for a solo shot with one out in the second. It was tied at 1-1 after three, but Mark Trumbo put the Orioles back on top with a solo shot to center on a first-pitch fastball in the first at bat of the fourth, 2-1. Trumbo’s 6th of 2018. The second blast of the game off the Nats’ starter marked the first two-HR game vs Scherzer since July 21, 2017. Scherzer kept the Orioles off the board through seven, as the Nationals rallied to tie it on an Anthony Rendon homer in the bottom of the sixth inning, working around a two-out walk to end his outing at 102 pitches after seven innings pitched. Max Scherzer’s Line: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 Ks, 2 HRs, 102 P, 72 S, 5/3 GO/FO. If you’re reading this, Max Scherzer *still* leads @MLB in strikeouts. pic.twitter.com/lxvGKy4GrI — Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 22, 2018 Gausman vs the Nationals: O’s righty Kevin Gausman was winless in six starts heading into tonight’s outing, with an (0-4) record over that stretch, a 6.61 ERA and a .341/.388/.585 line against in 31 1⁄ 3 innings, with the Orioles 0-6 in those starts. Gausman’s night started with two scoreless and hitless on 27 pitches, but Wilmer Difo lined a leadoff single to left-center to start the Nationals’ third, and Pedro Severino lined one off the left field wall in the next at bat, sending Difo around to third base with the double. A swinging K from Max Scherzer brought Bryce Harper up, and a sac fly to left field tied it up at 1-1. It was 2-1 Orioles when Gausman took the mound in the fourth, and tossed a quick, 17-pitch frame (after a 34-pitch third), and he kept the O’s up by one with a scoreless, 18-pitch fifth inning in which he worked around a two-out walk to Bryce Harper. Anthony Rendon tied it up at 2-2 in the sixth, however, taking a 1-1 slider for a ride to left for a leadoff home run, his seventh of 2018. Tie ballgame courtesy of Trea Turner's favorite player. pic.twitter.com/y7uso1uGbF — Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 22, 2018 Kevin Gausman’s Line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 Ks, 1 HR, 114 P, 72 S, 6/3 GO/FO. MAT IS B-A-C-K in the lineup: Davey Martinez told reporters that in order to get Michael A. Taylor at bats, he’d considered finding a spot for Taylor (who was drafted as a shortstop) in the infield, though, you know, probably don’t expect that any time soon. Taylor started the night with an 11-game hit streak going, over which he was 16 for 35 (.375 AVG) with a three doubles, one home run, six RBIs, four walks, eight stolen bases, and seven runs scored. Taylor did it the hard way the last two nights, with pinch hits to extend the streak. Tonight vs the Orioles, Taylor was robbed by third baseman Steve Wilkerson, who was in in case the speedy outfielder bunted, but still made a diving play on a chopper that appeared headed for the left field corner. 0 for 1. Taylor got one by the O’s third baseman the second time up, singling with two down in the fourth, 1 for 2, extending his hitting streak to 12-straight games. Michael A. Taylor has extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games! pic.twitter.com/TPdpcWxVRZ — Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 22, 2018 He lined out to right field on a 2-2 fastball to end a seven-pitch at bat in the sixth, 1 for 3. A line drive out in his final at bat left him 1 for 4 on the night. Rendone it again: In his last 12 games before the finale with the O’s, Anthony Rendon was 17 for 44 (.386 AVG) with seven doubles, six walks, and 11 runs scored, and he’d reached base safely in 31 of 38 games since coming off the DL on May 5th, while connecting for multi-hit games in four straight and five of the last six. He hadn’t homered in 85 plate appearances, however, going back to his sixth of the season on May 28th in Baltimore. He got the Orioles again in the seventh tonight, connecting for a solo home run off right-hander Kevin Gausman to tie the game up at 2-2. Get your Juan Soto: Childish Bambino t-shirt from Breaking T: LINK: Juan Soto gets another t-shirt from Breaking T BULLPEN/TOOTBLAN ACTION: Wilmer Difo greeted Orioles’ reliever Mychal Givens with a leadoff triple to right field, but Pedro Severino grounded weakly to first on the first pitch of the next at bat, failing to bring the run in, and Difo got thrown out at the plate on a liner to short right by pinch hitter Daniel Murphy in the next at bat. Difo broke toward home on contact, hustled back to third, then slipped on the bag as he went to tag up, giving right fielder Colby Rasmus enough time to make the catch and fire it back in in time to get the runner at the plate for an inning-ending 9-2 double play. Not good. Still 2-2. Kelvin Herrera retired the Orioles in order in a quick, 13-pitch, 1-2-3 top of the eighth, and Bryce Harper doubled to right on an 98 mph 2-2 fastball form Givens, moved to third on a single by Trea Turner, and one out later (after an Anthony Rendon strikeout), Juan Soto split the game in left-center with a two-run double that put the Nationals up, 4-2. Sean Doolittle came out for the save opportunity and retired the O’s in order in the ninth. Ballgame. Final Score: 4-2 Nationals Nationals now 40-33<doc-sep>
The Orioles had a chance tonight to get out of D.C. with a series win, one that would’ve been their first road series victory of the year in a city other than New York. How do you think things turned out? I’ll give you three guesses. Hold the last two. Oh, the O’s made a game of it. Kevin Gausman battled. Colby Rasmus contributed. The O’s hit some dingers. In the end, though, the Orioles did the same thing they always do: they found a way to lose. The game-deciding inning was the bottom of the eighth, when Mychal Givens — out for his second inning of work — ran into immediate trouble in a 2-2 tie. Bryce Harper led off by pulling a double inside the first-base line, and Trea Turner looped a single to center to put men on the corners. Givens delayed the inevitable with a strikeout, but wunderkind Juan Soto lashed a gapper to left-center to plate both runners and give the Nationals the lead. Soto is now hitting .326 with a 1.024 OPS in 28 major league games. As a reminder, Juan Soto is 19 years old. What were you doing at age 19? Me, I was writing on the internet about a horrific Orioles team, so pretty much nothing has changed. Even before Givens blew up in the eighth, he nearly did the same in the seventh. Wilmer Difo led off that inning with a triple to right field over Colby Rasmus’s head. Rasmus redeemed himself, though, by throwing out Difo at the plate on a Daniel Murphy fly to right. Had the Orioles won this game, Rasmus would’ve been a shoo-in for Most Birdland Player, a poll that barely gets to see the light of day this season. Talk about an unexpected contribution. The O’s activated Rasmus from the DL before the game and immediately plugged him into the lineup for the first time since April 6. He’d gone 2-for-21 with 13 strikeouts in his eight games before his hip injury, and many people — myself included — wondered why the Orioles were even bothering trying to resurrect him. Rasmus immediately silenced the doubters, at least for one game, by hammering a solo homer off three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer in his first-bat, giving him his first O’s dong. That, plus his (temporarily) game-saving defensive play in the seventh, made the Birds’ decision to bring him back seem prescient. Mark Trumbo added a solo blast in the fourth, his sixth of the year and third in his last four games. Aside from those two bad pitches, though, Scherzer was his usual dominant self. He worked seven strong innings, giving up five hits and striking out nine. Scherzer’s counterpart, Kevin Gausman, also wound up with a quality start, but his didn’t come easy. Gausman labored for 114 pitches in six innings and was in constant danger, giving back each of the one-run leads the O’s staked him to. Gausman didn’t help himself by walking four batters. He limited the damage to two runs — one on a Harper sac fly in the third and the other on an Anthony Rendon homer in the sixth — and was the beneficiary of two double plays as well as a fantastic diving stop by third baseman Steve Wilkerson (making his first major league start) in the second inning. Ultimately, Gausman managed to avoid a loss. His team wasn’t so lucky. After the Nationals’ go-ahead rally in the eighth, the O’s went down without a peep against Nats closer Sean Doolittle in the ninth, sealing a rubber game loss and yet another road series defeat. And so it goes for the 2018 Orioles.