Irvin goes eight scoreless to lead Nats to win (updated)

Whatever concern there may have been a few weeks ago about Jake Irvin and his surprisingly sudden inability to strike guys out, feel free to ignore that.

Two strong outings later, Irvin has put any fears to rest. And then some after today’s brilliant outing at Nationals Park.

With eight scoreless innings, Irvin dominated the Giants with relentless efficiency. And thanks to James Wood’s two-run blast in the bottom of the first and Robert Hassell III’s first career RBI in the seventh, the Nationals coasted to a 3-0 win before an enthusiastic crowd of 36,873 that came to see Jayson Werth and Howie Kendrick on their bobblehead day and departed with a rousing victory to celebrate as well, one that was completed a scant 1 hour, 52 minutes.

"It was sweet," Irvin said. "Nats Park was freaking packed. Fans came out. You can feel that energy, and we fed off of it."

Irvin was in peak form all afternoon, recording strikeouts when given the opportunity but more importantly recording quick outs when San Francisco’s hitters were aggressively putting everything in play.

Some questions had been raised when Irvin recorded only three total strikeouts over a recent three-start stretch, an out-of-character trend for the 28-year-old. But he fixed the glitch, first during a win over the Orioles last weekend and again this afternoon on his home grounds, with more life than usual on his fastball.

"We've been working on some things, and he finally kept his head behind his arm today, and the ball was coming out good," manager Davey Martinez said. "Very efficient. The big thing with him was he was pumping strikes with everything."

Irvin struck out seven, relying less on his bread-and-butter curveball and instead using both his fastball and changeup to get swings and misses. It worked exceptionally well.

The Giants’ overaggressive approach also helped. At one point late in the game, Irvin needed only five pitches to record four outs, giving himself the chance to take a shot at going the distance.

"You're out there for, like, five seconds," he said with a laugh. "And then you get to go sit down for a bit and catch your breath again. Getting a few of those in a row, especially, it feels like the time between innings is a long enough time to just catch your breath, regroup and go back out there."

A bit of a longer top of the eighth raised his pitch count to 96 and spoiled that opportunity, but Irvin still managed to finish with a flourish, saving his best curveball for last to get Heliot Ramos as the crowd stood and roared with approval.

"I was trying my hardest not to think about it, but in the seventh I told (pitching strategist Sean) Doolittle we were going to do it," Irvin said of the possibility of the first complete game of his career. "I thought we were going to do it."

Irvin returned to the dugout and tried to plead his case to pitch the ninth. His manager wasn't having it.

"He was a hell of a lawyer, I can tell you that. He tried to go back out in the ninth," Martinez said. "I'm a better judge."

So when the top of the ninth arrived, it wasn’t Irvin taking the mound. Nor was it Kyle Finnegan, who ranks third in the majors with 15 saves and hasn’t pitched since Thursday. Instead, it was Jorge López who recorded the 32nd save of his career, with rookie Daylen Lile making a diving play in right field to snag the final out.

"I already knew I was going to be closing the game," López said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. "Everybody in the bullpen was watching the game and would've been ready to come in. We know Finnegan is our closer, and he's been doing a great job. But I feel good with the opportunity to close this game."

The reason for the surprise change of closers: Finnegan has been dealing with shoulder fatigue since his last appearance Thursday night against the Braves. Imaging of the shoulder came back clean, according to Martinez, and Finnegan said he expects to be pitching again within days.

"Knock on wood, I've felt good throughout my career," said the veteran closer, who has never spent a day on the injured list in five-plus big league seasons. "It's not something I'm concerned about. We had an opportunity to take an extra day off. I just wanted to wait until I fully bounce back."

With Justin Verlander injured, the Giants turned to starter-turned-reliever Kyle Harrison for a fill-in start this afternoon, hoping to get as much as possible out of the young lefty until he ran out of gas. Harrison did pitch well overall through four innings, but he couldn’t overcome two big swings back-to-back in the bottom of the first.

Amed Rosario, who hasn’t seen much playing time recently because of a cut near his knee and the lack of opposing left-handers on the mound, got the chance to start and bat second today. The veteran immediately delivered with a one-out double down the left field line, putting himself in scoring position for Wood. You knew what was going to happen next.

Supremely comfortable in the box against lefties, Wood usually looks to drive the ball the other way against them. (Well, really, against any type of pitcher.) In this case, though, he got a breaking ball from Harrison on the inner third of the plate and proved he absolutely can pull the ball when appropriate.

"He reacts to the balls inside, which is awesome," Martinez said. "He's trying to stay in the middle of the field. But when they do throw it in like, and he's got his foot down, he can turn on the ball."

This ball shot off Wood’s bat at 109.4 mph and made a beeline for right field. The only question: Would it ricochet off the 12-foot-high wall back onto the field, or would it stay just enough to the right to clear the lower 8-foot-high wall and land in the bullpen? The answer: Both, sort of. The ball did ricochet off the higher wall but at an odd angle that allowed it to carom to the right and safely into the bullpen for a quick 2-0 lead.

Wood rounded the bases for the 13th time this season, his RBI total now up to 35. There are still two games left to play before the season reaches the one-third mark. Do the math and realize what kind of pace the young man is on.

"I think it just helps the starting pitcher out," Wood said of the early offense. "Going out and just having a lead, I think it just makes them relax a little bit and lets them do their job, really."

That would represent the extent of the Nationals’ offense today, not only against Harrison but reliever Tristan Beck as well. They put only two other runners on base, both in the fourth, and could not drive either in. They did finally tack on an insurance run in the seventh when Luis García Jr. singled and took third on Lile’s second career hit, then scored on Hassell’s grounder back to the mound, good enough for his first career RBI.

With Irvin humming along, they didn’t need more.

"Him going eight innings, and real quick ... I think we all appreciate it, really," Wood said. "He kind of put us on his back today."