-1745819772711.png){kind=logo}
Life was oh so different the last time the Nationals swept a three-game series. Set the wayback machine to May 18 – if your memory banks go that far back – and recall when the Nats won three straight over the Orioles at Camden Yards. They would win their next two over the Braves, as well, for a season-best five-game winning streak that carried some legitimate optimism with it for a franchise attempting to prove it was ready to be a winner again.
The ballclub that put itself in position to sweep the Marlins this afternoon bears little resemblance to that one. The general manager and manager are long gone. A sixth consecutive losing season has already been clinched. Most of the veterans have been traded or released. The entire bullpen has been remade.
The 28 players who dressed for today’s game had no qualms about celebrating a 10-5 victory, one that completed a series sweep over Miami. It may have come before a season-low announced crowd of 11,190, but it was nevertheless meaningful for these young guys, especially the 25-year-old shortstop who enjoyed the greatest game of his life.
Nasim Nuñez, the former Rule 5 Draft pick acquired from the Marlins, launched both the first and second home runs of his major league career in his first major league appearance in three months. Starting in place of CJ Abrams at shortstop, he also delivered a run-scoring single, giving him four RBIs on the afternoon. (He entered the day with six RBIs in 74 career big league games.)
"I see the comments. I see the things people say: 'Can't hit,'" Nuñez said. "And even for myself, it's not about proving to everyone else. It's about proving myself right. I really proved myself right. I have to be the one to believe I can hit. When you go out there and see it, it gives you a little more belief."
The entire Nationals lineup jumped all over Eury Pérez to begin this matinee, scoring five quick runs in the span of their first 11 batters against the Marlins starter. The hits came from all over, including two more from rookie Daylen Lile (batting second for the first time), a two-run single from Luis García Jr. and an RBI single from recently signed catcher Jorge Alfaro in his first major league plate appearance in two years.
The most surprising blast, though, came two batters into the bottom of the second, when the Nats got a much-needed jolt of power from an unlikely source: Nuñez. The 5-foot-8 defensive whiz and baserunning threat owns only nine home runs in 1,820 career minor league plate appearances (most of them coming for the Marlins organization that drafted him), and he had yet to clear the fence through his first 127 major league plate appearances. But when he connected on a 97 mph fastball from Pérez, he and everyone else in the park knew where that ball was headed.
It landed in the right field bullpen, giving Nuñez a long-awaited opportunity to circle the bases in style and return to a dugout full of elated teammates ready to celebrate with him.
"I'm just glad it went over the fence, because I pimped it a little bit," he said with a sheepish grin. "I was a little scared when I saw the ball in the outfield, like, 'Oh, no.' But off the bat, I knew it."
And if that wasn’t enough, Nuñez did it again in the bottom of the eighth, taking reliever Luarbert Arias deep to the opposite field for another two-run homer to complete a remarkable performance.
"I'm not surprised at all, because I hit in his BP group yesterday," third baseman Brady House said. "And I saw him putting balls almost in the second deck every other swing. I was just like: 'He's got it.' Today, seeing it from me, I'm honestly not surprised at all."
The two-homer game may have surprised everyone in attendance, but it really was the culmination of a longer hot streak at the plate by Nuñez, who over his last 19 games at Triple-A Rochester hit .365 with a .425 on-base percentage, 18 RBIs and (yes) even a home run. That surge helped remind the young switch-hitter of his offensive potential, something he had questioned himself earlier in the summer.
"I had a lot of work to do on my left-handed swing," he said. "There was a time in Rochester where I wasn't going to hit lefty no more. I didn't want to do it, and the Nats and a couple people told me to keep going. Don't throw in the towel. ... The last month in August, it worked. It's good to see it."
Nuñez's blasts were a thrill to witness, but no less significant was House’s blast in the bottom of the fourth. The rookie third baseman, long considered one of the organization’s top power threats, had homered only twice since his mid-June debut, both of them coming in the same July 12 game in Milwaukee. Nearly two months later, the 22-year-old finally connected again, sending a slider from Pérez deep to left to extend the Nationals’ lead to 7-0.
"It's a good feeling to put the ball in play, especially when I have runners on," House said. "And I feel like everyone did that today, especially Nas. Crazy work from Nasim today."
Handed that sizeable cushion, Mitchell Parker got to work and was well on his way to his best start in months until he ran into a wall in the fifth. Four innings in, the left-hander had posted four zeros on the scoreboard, tested only in the fourth when he needed a double-play grounder to escape a bases-loaded jam.
Parker, who struck out four and even successfully fielded two grounders hit back to the mound, could not ultimately complete the fifth. A two-run homer by Joey Wiemer put a dent in things. The Marlins got two more hits, but it looked like Parker would get out of the jam when he got Otto Lopez to send a grounder up the middle, right to García. The Nats second baseman, though, made a careless flip to Nuñez covering the bag. The inning should have been over. Instead, the error prolonged the frame. And when Parker immediately served up a two-run single to Heriberto Hernández, his afternoon was over without even having qualified for the win.
No problem, because the remade and resurgent Nationals bullpen closed out the final 4 1/3 innings, allowing only one run which came on a passed ball charged to Alfaro on a wayward slider from Mason Thompson.
"We were able to get ahead in the counts, attack hitters," Parker said. "Obviously there was the one inning, but that's baseball. We were able to limit the damage and give us the best chance of winning."
Thus did the Nationals complete their first three-game sweep in 3 1/2 months. It won't erase the sting of the eight-game losing streak that preceded it. But given the way this season has gone, they aren't in a position to get picky.
"They're doing everything they're supposed to do to win a ballgame," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "Pitching, defense, hitting. It's teamwork. They're fighters. We lost eight in a row, and they didn't give up. We talk about finishing the season strong. And so far ... (knocking on the wood desk he was sitting behind) ... September has been good."
Note: During the game, the Nationals announced they claimed right-hander Sauryn Lao off outright waivers from the Mariners, a move that led to the designating of infielder Darren Baker for assignment.
Lao, 26, is a former corner infielder whom the Dodgers converted into a pitcher two years ago. He joined the Mariners this season and posted a 3.13 ERA and 1.159 WHIP across 69 innings for Triple-A Tacoma. He also made the first two big league appearances of his career for Seattle, allowing three earned runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings.
The Nats immediately optioned Lao to Triple-A. Needing to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for him, they DFA’d Baker, the son of former manager Dusty Baker who made his major league debut late last year and went 7-for-14 with two doubles. In 98 games this season with Rochester, Baker hit .260 with a .348 on-base percentage and .673 OPS.
