Ruiz comes up big twice as Nats rally to win in extras (updated)

HOUSTON – For 26 innings over three agonizing nights, the Nationals tried like might to hit a baseball high and far at the home run haven that is Minute Maid Park. For 26 innings, they could not get anything to clear the fence.

And then, at last, in the 27th inning of this series against the Astros, Keibert Ruiz finally broke through and delivered the big blast his team had so desired all week.

But because Hunter Harvey couldn't record the 27th out without surrendering the tying run, the series was extended to a 28th inning and the Nats found themselves in extras for the first time this season.

And thanks to some long-awaited offensive execution by several members of the lineup, they emerged at the end of the night with a well-deserved 4-1 victory over the defending World Series champions.

"It always feels good to win," Ruiz said. "I feel really good for the team. We've been playing really good, coming from behind. We lost yesterday, but we've come from behind and we've been playing better. Don't give up, keep the head up and keep playing hard."

Lane Thomas' RBI single up the middle scored automatic runner CJ Abrams to give the Nationals the lead in the top of the 10th. And they didn't stop there. Luis García singled. Jeimer Candelario was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Corey Dickerson drew a four-pitch walk off a highly ineffective Phil Maton to force in a run. Ruiz then added another RBI with a single to left, forcing Dusty Baker (celebrating his 74th birthday) to make a pitching change. 

"I think we were starting to get balls up in the zone that we could hit," manager Davey Martinez said. "We stayed up the middle of the field, which was huge. We've got to focus on doing that. Not trying to do too much with guys on base. Try to stay in the middle of the field and get a good pitch to hit."

Carl Edwards Jr. then finished it off in the bottom of the 10th for a rare save and an even rarer victory of this type by the Nationals, who were 5-18 in extra innings over the last two seasons but are happy to be 1-0 this year.

"I don't want to play any more extra innings, honestly," Martinez said with a smirk. "Let's win in nine."

Ruiz’s leadoff blast to right in the top of the ninth off Houston closer Ryan Pressly produced the first run of this tense pitchers' duel. It was the 24-year-old catcher’s eighth of the season, establishing a new career-high, and it was perhaps his biggest yet.

"I was just trying to hit a line drive to the middle," said Ruiz, who wound up hitting a 109-mph laser into the right field bleachers. "I got a good pitch to hit, and the home run happened."

"Great at-bat by him right there," Martinez said. "Stayed on a breaking ball. And the way he hit it, it was a line drive. That's awesome."

On a night in which nobody could touch the Astros pitching staff, at the end of a series that had seen them score in only three of the previous 26 innings, one towering homer by Ruiz stood tall and put the Nats’ pitching staff in position to be rewarded for its impressive effort.

But after getting 5 2/3 scoreless innings from MacKenzie Gore, then four big outs from Mason Thompson in the sixth and seventh, then a dominant performance from Kyle Finnegan (who in his first major league appearance in his hometown struck out Martín Maldonado, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman on 99 mph fastballs) in the eighth, Harvey couldn't quite seal the deal.

The right-hander, who was on the mound during the wild conclusion of Wednesday's 5-4 loss, nearly wriggled out of a jam created by Kyle Tucker's leadoff double, but with two outs and two strikes on pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz, he surrendered a groundball single up the middle to bring home the tying run and ultimately send this one to extras.

Turns out neither bullpen could pitch as well as its respective starter did. Both Gore and Christian Javier were effective, but neither was particularly efficient. Each ran up high pitch counts, each surrendering a boatload of foul balls. But nobody could argue with the results.

Gore retired the side in the bottom of the first. That he went to a full count on all three batters faced was annoying, but not harmful. He allowed two singles in the second but got out of that jam thanks in part to a 4-6-3 double play. He got Bregman to tap a comebacker to the mound to escape a third-inning jam. He picked off Tucker to prevent the fourth inning from going sideways.

"I just made enough pitches," Gore said. "I've been, the last few outings, fighting the delivery. And it was kind of that way tonight. But zeros, no matter what they look like, they're good."

Javier, meanwhile, cruised through all but one of his six innings, never issuing a walk and never allowing any hit more significant than a single. The Nationals did string together three straight hits to open the top of the second, but in a sequence all too familiar this season failed to score.

The critical moment there was Dickerson’s surprise stolen base attempt, something the veteran outfielder hadn’t tried since 2021. He was easily thrown out by Maldonado, then could only watch as Ruiz (who perhaps missed a hit-and-run sign) and Dominic Smith each singled after him.

So the game remained scoreless into the sixth, at which point both managers finally had to make a decision on their starters.

Gore did seem to fade in that frame, allowing a single to Chas McCormick, then issuing a four-pitch walk to Bregman, then falling behind 3-0 to Tucker before getting him to line out to center. Martinez opted not to push the lefty any further and signaled for Thompson from the bullpen.

Thompson, whose April was as stellar as his May was frightful, entered on something of an upswing in recent outings. And the Texas native only bolstered the belief he’s made it all the way back by blowing away José Abreu on three pitches, all 96 mph sinkers on the inside corner, then retiring the side on 10 pitches in the seventh.

"That's big for his confidence," Martinez said. "He's doing everything he can. He's working real hard with (pitching coach Jim Hickey) and he's throwing the ball really well. We've got to keep him right there now."

The Nationals finally gave themselves another good scoring opportunity in the eighth when Thomas doubled off the wall in left and Candelario drew a two-out walk. But in the game’s first plate appearance by either team with a runner on third base, Dickerson grounded out to short, leaving this affair scoreless until someone from either side could break through at last.

When the Nats finally did it, and finally emerged victorious after a string of close losses to elite opponents, the emotional release was real.

"We've had a lot of those," Finnegan said. "To come out on the winning end just shows that you stick with the process and keep doing what got you in that tight game. The ball bounced our way tonight. Guys came up big. Carl came up huge in that last inning and sealed the win. We got big hits in extra innings. And obviously Keibert, you need a play like that to win a game like this."