Irvin shines in hometown, Nats win second straight series (updated)

MINNEAPOLIS – Jake Irvin had been looking forward to this day for more than a year, from the moment Major League Baseball released its 2025 schedule during the 2024 All-Star break. The Bloomington, Minn., native had just missed pitching at Target Field the last time the Nationals played here in April 2023, called up to make his big league debut in D.C. less than two weeks later.

And when the time finally came this afternoon, Irvin wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

With seven innings of two-run ball, Minnesota’s own gave a gathering of friends and family in attendance that numbered in the hundreds plenty of reason to cheer. And with a second straight offensive surge from a lineup that had been shut out in its two previous games, the Nationals cruised to a 7-2 victory over the Twins.

That’s now four of six for the Nats over the last week, winners of back-to-back series for the first time in nearly a month. They’re still 19 games under .500, poised to deal away several more veterans before Thursday’s trade deadline. But they are at least starting to play better baseball after a dismal start to their summer that cost their longtime general manager and manager their jobs.

"We're playing with energy. We're doing the little things the right way," said interim manager Miguel Cairo, now 6-9 since replacing Davey Martinez. "We got men on third twice and we got RBIs. So we're doing the little things the right way, what we're supposed to do as a team. It's been good. We're going to keep doing it. We're going to keep preaching that."

Irvin spent the last three days gushing over his hometown. He spent his off-day taking teammates on a boat ride on one of the alleged 10,000 lakes in this state. He spent Friday and Saturday giving interviews to both D.C. and Minnesota media members, showcasing his love for this place and crediting its denizens for molding him into the big league pitcher he has become today.

By the time this morning arrived, the 28-year-old knew he needed to saddle up and focus on the real task at hand. That was easier said than done: A bunch of friends hung out near the bullpen and tried to get his attention while he was warming up for the game.

"The first few warmup pitches, definitely surreal," he said.

When Irvin did take the mound at last on a sweltering Sunday afternoon, he did everything in his power to conserve energy. To wit: His first inning lasted all of four pitches, even with one batter reaching base. He followed up Trevor Larnach’s leadoff single by inducing a double play grounder on his first pitch to Willi Castro, then got Carlos Correa to pop up on his first pitch.

"If I could get through the first on four pitches every time, I'd say it would be my approach every time," he said with a laugh. "It was just being a competitor, throwing the ball in the zone and make them earn it. I like to pitch during the day, and I think hitters are a little more aggressive that way."

Irvin wasn’t perfect. Matt Wallner mashed a 452-foot homer onto the plaza beyond the stands in right field in the bottom of the second, and Larnach drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third. But he continued to work fast, throw strikes and get quick outs.

Irvin’s pitch count after four innings: 46. After six innings: 70. He took the mound for the bottom of the seventh with a most unusual stat line: He had neither issued a walk nor recorded a strikeout, further evidence of his efficiency.

The walk never came, but Irvin did notch back-to-back strikeouts with a pair of beautiful curveballs to Wallner and Brooks Lee. And with his pitch count at 86 (65 of those strikes), he returned to the dugout to a line of high-fives from teammates and coaches, all while his Bloomington crew cheered from the third base stands.

"It's a testament to the people around me and the people in my life," he said. "Because at the end of the day, I wouldn't be here without them. Just a really cool moment, more for them, honestly, than it was for me. Just because I finally got to have all those people here under one roof, just watching a ballgame."

As has been the case more often than not this season for Irvin – as opposed to rotation mate MacKenzie Gore, who often can’t buy a single run of support from his lineup – the Nationals scored early and often in this one. Emphasis on early.

The crowd hadn’t even settled in on this scorching Sunday (heat index 99) before the home team trailed 1-0, with CJ Abrams blasting Cole Sands’ first pitch of the game into the second deck in right field for a tone-setting home run.

"It's always fun," said Abrams, who now has 12 career leadoff homers, five of them this season. "I've done it a couple times. It gets the boys riled up, and it showed today."

Abrams would contribute in all kinds of ways over the course of the game, adding a single, a walk, a hit-by-pitch and three stolen bases to the first inning homer. Two of those steals came in succession in the top of the third, aggressive baserunning that put him in position to score on Luis García Jr.’s sacrifice fly.

"He's been like the energy of the team," Cairo said. "We're going to play aggressive. We're going to be smart, but we're going to put pressure on the other team. It was nice to see. He was on base a lot."

The Nationals got another sacrifice fly, this time from Paul DeJong, in the top of the fourth to bring home Daylen Lile, who ignited the rally with a triple. Then they went to work on Twins bulk reliever Travis Adams with a sustained, four-run rally in the top of the fifth that didn’t include any big blasts but rather a string of quality at-bats.

Walks by Abrams and James Wood (who also struck out four more times to extend his first career slump) set the table for the heart of the lineup. García singled to load the bases, and Josh Bell followed with an RBI single. Alex Call, starting in center field for Jacob Young (who appears to be fine after getting struck by a pitch on his right index finger), then shot a ball back up the middle that skipped off the mound and scooted past a helpless Lee at second base, bringing home two runs. Lile then completed the rally with a sac fly, extending the Nationals’ lead to 7-2 and providing plenty of support for their own starting pitcher on a day he had long waited to experience.

"He kept throwing strikes, and the defense played really good behind him," Cairo said. "Like I said before, we're preaching throwing strikes, get ahead and make them swing the bat. And today he did an excellent job. It was nice to see him pitch seven innings."