Nats storm out to big lead, weather storm before winning (updated)

Forgive anyone who sat through today’s proceedings at Nationals Park and worried things were going to end up just like they did the previous five days here. It was hot again. It was humid again. It rained again. A first-place team was in the visitors’ dugout again. Surely, another loss by the home team was forthcoming again, right?

Not so fast. The conditions may have felt familiar, but the end result was most unfamiliar. The Nationals actually won.

Yes, for only the second time in their last 17 home games, the Nats emerged victorious, storming out to an early lead against the Rangers, then weathering another rain delay before cruising to an 8-3 win before a crowd of 29,042 that barely remembered how to celebrate such an occasion.

That crowd was treated to a 4-0 lead by the Nationals before they even made an out in the first, an 8-0 lead by the time the third inning came to a close.

"I talk about it all the time: It's a lot different ballgame if you go out there and score first," manager Davey Martinez said. "I hope these guys learned today by going out there and putting some runs up on the board early, our pitcher gets to relax a little bit, and they get to relax a little bit and have some fun. Hopefully, we come out tomorrow and do the same thing." 

So many things had gone wrong through the first five games of this homestand, but none more so than the Nationals’ lack of offense. They entered this one having scored a total of 14 runs the previous five days, giving their pitching staff no breathing room of consequence.

So the best possible scenario played out this afternoon when the Nats exploded out of the gates against Rangers starter Andrew Heaney. And did so not only with a steady succession of hits, but with home runs.

CJ Abrams (once again looking quite comfortable in the leadoff position) and Lane Thomas set the table with back-to-back singles in the bottom of the first. Jeimer Candelario then stepped to the plate for the first time since he was drilled in the right knee with a pitch in the 10th inning Thursday afternoon and looked like he hadn’t missed a beat. Candelario drove a changeup from Heaney to right-center for a quick 3-0 lead that set the tone for the day.

"It's really important for us, scoring first," Candelario said. "With that team, you've got to really dominate the game from the first inning to the ninth inning. That's what we did today. The guys, we had confidence and security from the first inning. And then we just kept going and kept going."

Indeed, they kept going. When Joey Meneses followed Candelario with a blast to left, his third homer in less than 24 hours after he went two months without clearing the fence once, the large Harry Potter Day crowd had plenty of reason to celebrate the home team.

Even better, the Nationals didn’t let up. They kept the pressure on Heaney in the bottom of the second, with Luis García drawing a walk and then Alex Call launching his second homer since his recall from Triple-A Rochester three days ago. With that, six of the team’s first nine batters reached base, all of them scoring via three homers.

And they still weren’t done. Meneses added an RBI double in the second, and García scored on a Little League home run (triple plus error) in the third as the rain began to start coming down with some ferocity.

"It's obviously something very good for the offense to get going early," Meneses said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "Very good to get it all started off from the first inning since we've been having a few bad games, a little losing streak. It gives our offense some confidence to get off to that hot start."

Even though fans had been instructed to take cover on the concourses a good 15 minutes earlier, the game continued as the rain came down, until crew chief Dan Iassogna finally called for the tarp just as Irvin was finishing up his warmup tosses prior to the top of the fourth.

In a scene that bore plenty of resemblance to the one that played out Thursday afternoon with MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin’s promising start came to an abrupt halt due to rain. To that point, he had thrown 40 pitches over three scoreless innings, and like Gore, he would throw two simulated innings in the bullpen during the delay to try to stay warm.

The Nats wouldn’t let Gore return after a 1-hour, 43-minute delay, putting an immense strain on their bullpen for the remainder of their series finale against the Reds. This time, they did let Irvin re-take the mound when play resumed after a 1-hour, 17-minute delay.

"We have a system that we kind of go by," Martinez said. "We get guys up every 20 minutes, let them throw about 8-10 pitches in the bullpen. After about an hour and 10 minutes, then we know we have to pull the plug. We were right on the cusp. He got up twice. We were right about 20 minutes. They called and said we're going to start in 20 minutes. He was good. He was adamant about going back out. He felt good, and he did a great job." 

It looked at first like the move might backfire when Irvin opened the fourth with a leadoff walk and then a two-run homer to Josh Jung, but the rookie bounced back and made it through five innings of two-run ball on 79 pitches before Martinez decided not to press his luck any further.

In doing so, Irvin qualified for only his second career win. The rest of his teammates then ensured he would get credit with the win at the end of another long day at the ballpark.

"It basically feels like I threw a complete game," Irvin said with a laugh. "With the amount of time that you spend mentally locked in, it drains you out just as much as it does physically. I'm gonna get some good rest tonight."