The Washington Nationals may have begun June with a 3-1 loss at Arizona, but the club finished a 15-12 May with consecutive offensive extravaganzas.
The Washington Nationals may have begun June with a 3-1 loss at Arizona, but the club finished a 15-12 May with consecutive offensive extravaganzas.
The team scored nine runs in its last two games against Seattle, and then plated nine and 11 in its first two games at Arizona. And even though the offense ran dry Sunday, the Nats have moved into third place in the NL East. And even though they’re 28-31, we’ll be the king of wishful thinking.
Digesting the Division: The New York Mets (37-22) moved into first place of the NL East thanks to their sweep of Colorado (let’s not hang a banner as the Rockies are 9-50 to start the season) while Juan Soto ended a 17-game home run drought by going yard Saturday.
Philadelphia (36-23) stands one game back, although I feel that allowing 17 runs (as they did Saturday against Milwaukee) should merit more than one loss.
Washington (28-31) moved into third place as Atlanta (27-31) dropped two of three over the weekend to Boston. Miami (23-34) brings up the rear, with Max Meyer’s three wins, 63 strikeouts and 4.53 ERA standing as the best on the staff — one of many reasons the Marlins are in last place.
O’s Woes: Even with a sweep of the Chicago White Sox (who might not be as bad as the Rockies but are still 18-31) the Birds are 22-36, deep in the AL East cellar. But they are 7-8 since ditching Manager Brandon Hyde, which might be a very small sample size but still represents a step. Is this step in the right direction? We have 105 game to determine that.
Diamonds Direct Diamond King: Manager Davey Martinez has rationalized keeping Josh Bell’s bat in the lineup this season by maintaining, “when he gets hot, he stays hot.” And while it took almost two months, Bell’s bat blew up last week by hitting .391 with three homers and seven RBI.
Last Week’s Heroes: James Wood batted .304 with three homers and eight RBI while Luis Garcia Jr. hit .346 with a team-high seven runs scored and six RBI. MacKenzie Gore struck out eight while tossing six scoreless innings in a no-decision.
Trevor Williams threw six scoreless in his best outing of the season, Jose A. Ferrer pitched 3.2 scoreless out of the bullpen and rookie Zach Brzykcy notched three scoreless frames.
Last Week’s Humbled: Mitchell Parker went 0-2 while allowing seven earned runs over 9.2 innings, while Jackson Rutledge coughed up six runs over two frames in relief. C.J. Abrams hit .130 while Keibert Ruiz batted .182.
Game to Watch: On Wednesday, MacKenzie Gore (2-5, 3.16 ERA) pitches against the Chicago Cubs’ Matthew Boyd (5-2, 3.08 ERA), who’s off to the best start in his career.
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