The Washington Nationals beat the Minnesota Twins on Monday night by doing something they rarely do, then by doing the things they do best. And when it was over, they walked off with a 12-3 win at Nationals Park that snapped a five-game losing streak.
“It definitely brings a different kind of energy and excitement to the team in the dugout,” García said through an interpreter about hitting a home run. “Especially after coming off a tough road trip. So it definitely adds a bit of motivation and excitement.”
What they do best? String together hits and wreak havoc on the bases. They went into their bag for that and poured things on with seven runs over the fifth and sixth to allow starter Mitchell Parker to cruise through six innings, striking out seven en route to his third win of season. Parker allowed three runs — he has yet to allow more in his seven starts — and left with a 7-3 lead before the hosts tacked on five late runs.
“We talk about it all the time; when you score early, things start to fall into place,” Manager Dave Martinez said. “They start to relax a little bit. The at-bats get better. … You get that, and then you get another good outing from Mitchell, and it becomes a good day.”
The 12-run eruption reversed a trend that saw the Nationals score 10 total runs over their previous five games. Washington (21-25) entered Monday’s game ranked 29th in slugging (. 350) and 28th in homers (37).
Those power numbers included just eight home runs in May — five from Eddie Rosario. Joey Meneses, García and Winker had the others. And while García and Winker got off to strong starts in April, García was 3 for his past 33 and Winker was 2 for his past 33.
“A lot of us have had a tough week offensively,” Rosario said through an interpreter. “It’s adding to the confidence. Having several base hits in the game today, it’s going to add up to us playing a lot better.”
The Nationals fell behind 1-0 in the second inning on Kyle Farmer’s single that hit off the third base bag and over the head of Nick Senzel, allowing Willi Castro to score from second.
The deficit didn’t last long. García stepped up in the bottom half of the inning with a runner on, kept his weight back and turned on a sweeper from Twins starter Pablo López that caught too much of the plate, sending it over the Nationals’ bullpen in right for his fourth home run. Three of his home runs and over half of his extra-base hits have come on breaking pitches.
Two innings later, Winker stepped up and blasted his second home run in as many games into the red seats in left-center.
In the fifth, the Nationals returned to their formula and opened the inning with three straight hits, the last of which — Jacob Young’s single up the middle — plated Joey Gallo and Keibert Ruiz. Meneses and Garcia added RBI singles before the inning was over.
The Nationals finished with 14 hits while dealing the Twins (24-23) their seventh straight loss.
The Nationals pulled away in the sixth by flummoxing Minnesota on the base paths. With two outs, Rosario singled to score Ruiz and move Young to third. When Rosario took off to steal second, Twins catcher Christian Vázquez threw errantly to third, allowing Young to score and Rosario, who never stopped, to come in right behind him, making it 10-3.
“Rosario settling down and hitting the ball hard a couple times and running the bases the way we’re supposed to run the bases, to me, that’s a great day,” Martinez said. “So let’s build off that, come back tomorrow and do it again.”
Notes: Cade Cavalli threw 44 pitches in his first affiliated baseball game of the season Monday afternoon for the Florida Complex League Nationals. He threw 2⅔ innings, struck out five hitters, walked a batter and allowed a single to former AL MVP José Abreu. Martinez said that Cavalli will pitch every five days and will gradually build up his pitch count in his return from Tommy John surgery.
Cavalli’s outing Monday begins his 30-day rehab clock; pitchers are allowed up to 30 days in the minors before they must be activated off the injured list. …
Lane Thomas will begin a rehab assignment with Class AA Harrisburg on Tuesday and get three or four at-bats after missing nearly a month of game action with a medial collateral ligament sprain. Martinez said if Thomas recovers well, he will play again the following day before the team makes a decision on when to activate him. …
Josiah Gray, who has been sidelined for more than a month with a right flexor strain, threw another bullpen session Monday afternoon. Gray will throw a live bullpen session next time out if he recovers well from Monday.
