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>Moved to the six-spot as Washington Nationals’ skipper Davey Martinez mixed things up in the series opener with the Baltimore Orioles, Trea Turner responded with a 4 for 4 game in what ended up a 9-7 win in the nation’s capital. Rodriguez vs Orioles: Jefry Rodriguez impressed in 4 2⁄ 3 scoreless against the Braves earlier this month in Atlanta, when he took over for injured starter Jeremy Hellickson in the bottom of the first inning. Rodriguez, 24, has impressed at Double-A Harrisburg as well this season, with a 3.31 ERA, a 3.63 FIP, 28 walks (3.71 BB/9), and 72 Ks (9.53 K/9) in 13 starts and 68 IP so far. Called up tonight to make his first major league start, Rodriguez looked sharp on the mound early, throwing a fastball from 94-98, which sat 95-96, and a sharp breaking ball that got him his first two Ks in two scoreless on 41 pitches, but Caleb Joseph lined an 0-1 curveball to left to start the Orioles’ third, and one out later, Jace Peterson hit a first-pitch fastball to right and over the out-of-town scoreboard for a two-run blast the put the O’s on top a half-inning after Trea Turner’s solo shot off David Hess gave the Nationals an early lead, 2-1. Mark Trumbo singled to left on a 96 mph 3-1 fastball in the first at bat of the fourth, and two outs later, he scored on a two-run home run to left by Trey Mancini, who took a 95 mph 2-2 fastball for a ride that ended in the left field bullpen, 4-1. Back-to-back walks started the Orioles’ half of the fifth, pushing Rodriguez up to 89 pitches, and a hit-by-pitch on Adam Jones loaded’em up, before a run scored on a 4-6-3 double play off of Manny Machado’s bat, 5-1. Rodriguez struck Trumbo out to end the inning, limiting the O’s to one run in his final inning of work. Jefry Rodriguez’s Line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 Ks, 2 HRs, 96 P, 60 S, 6/1 GO/FO. Hess vs Nationals: David Hess held the Nationals to one run on four hits in six innings on the mound in Oriole Park late last month, in what ended up a 2-1 loss. It was a confidence-builder for the 24-year-old starter, who went head-to-head with Max Scherzer in that start and held his own. “I think that the confidence is definitely growing,” Hess told reporters after the outing, as quoted by MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli. “I think that with every start,” Hess said, “I get a little bit smarter about what I need to do to have success and how to go about my business on an everyday basis.” He followed up on that outing with another strong showing against Toronto (6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER), but Hess got knocked around when he faced the Boston Red Sox last time out before tonight, in a 3 1⁄ 3 -inning start in which he gave up five hits, four walks, and five earned runs. Hess retired the first five batters he faced tonight, but a 1-2 fastball to Trea Turner ended up over the wall in left for a two-out solo home run in the second that put the Nationals up 1-0. Here's a Trea Turner HR. And here's a conveniently placed link: https://t.co/94Tjblm7Np. pic.twitter.com/BcTZXaBok7 — Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 20, 2018 Hess gave up back-to-back singles and a walk in the Nationals’ half of the fifth, loading them up after the Orioles jumped out to a 5-1 lead. Brian Goodwin got a pinch hit opportunity but he popped out to the infield for the first out of the frame, then Adam Eaton sent a roller out to left field via short to bring two runs in and make it a 5-3 game in the O’s favor. Juan Soto got up 3-1 in the next at bat, and walked to load’em back up in front of Nationals’ third baseman Anthony Rendon, who hit a sac fly to center to make it a one-run game, 5-4. Bryce Harper stepped in with runners on the corners and two out, and hit a 2-2 fastball up high to short left for a bloop double that brought in the tying run and ended Hess’s night, 5-5. David Hess’s Line: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 Ks, 1 HR, 80 P, 47 S, 1/6 GO/FO. Turner turns up: June has not been kind to Trea Turner, who was 12 for 60 (.200/.262./267) with a double, a homer, four walks, and 12 Ks in 14 games heading into tonight’s series opener, though he had managed to hit in 22 of his last 27 games. He got off to a good start, however, batting in the six-hole tonight, when he took a 90 mph 1-2 fastball from David Hess out to left for his 8th home run of 2018 to put the Nationals up 1-0 early. Turner was 2 for 2 tonight after he led the fifth off with a single, and he took third on a line drive single to right by Wilmer Difo in the next at bat before scoring on a two-run single to left by Adam Eaton, 5-3. After making a jump throw to home when the Orioles tried some trickery, sending a runner to second with runners on the corners and two out in the top of the sixth, and sending the runner on third home, where he got thrown out, Turner picked up his third hit of the game, singling to start the Nationals’ half of the inning, 3 for 3 ... though he got thrown out trying to steal second. Turner was 4 for 4 on the night after a one-out double to center field off Mike Wright, Jr. in the bottom of the seventh as the Nationals rallied to take the lead... though he got caught up in a rundown and tagged out. BULLPEN ACTION: Miguel Castro took over for the O’s with runners on second and third and two out in the Nationals’ fifth, and the score tied at 5-5, and got the final out of the inning. Justin Miller took the mound for the Nationals in the sixth, and gave up a leadoff triple to right by Jonathan Schoop, that Adam Eaton tracked to the wall but couldn’t catch. Miller walked Danny Valencia in the next at bat, but Schoop got caught in a rundown and got tagged out for the first out of the frame, 1-2-5-1-6. Nats acquire Herrera from Royals for three prospects: LINK: Nats add Kelvin Herrera to bullpen corps; send prospects to KC Miller walked Caleb Joseph to load’em up with one out, and Corban Joseph grounded into a force at second, but avoided a double play, 6-5 Orioles, but Danny Valencia tried for second in the next at bat, and Trea Turner caught the throw from Spencer Kieboom, quickly sent it back to the plate with a jump throw when Trey Mancini broke from third base and got the final out of the inning at home. Miller came back out with a scoreless top of the seventh, and Eaton and Soto hit back-to-back singles off Tanner Scott to start the home-half of the frame, and Anthony Rendon drove them both in with a two-run double into the left-center gap, taking third on the throw home on the play, 7-6. Rendon scored on a pinch hit single off new pitcher Mike Wright, Jr. by Michael A. Taylor, 8-6, and Taylor took third base on a Trea Turner double to center, and scored on an RBI single to center by Wilmer Difo. Kelvin Herrera made his Nationals debut, a little less than six hours after he first arrived in Nationals Park, retiring the Orioles in order (with help from Trea Turner on a great play at short) in a quick, six-pitch frame, 9-6 Nationals. Sean Doolittle came on for the save opportunity in the ninth, and gave up a one-out, solo homer to left by Joey Rickard, 9-7, before getting the final two outs. Ballgame. Final Score: 9-7 Nationals Nationals now 39-32<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.