Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: Rookies shine in Nats’ win over Brewers
By Pablo Roa
The Washington Nationals’ 6-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers last night was a great, all-around team effort. The pitching was phenomenal, the defense held its own, and the offense put up more than enough runs to lead the team to victory and snap a two-game losing streak.
But last night’s win wouldn’t have been possible without two young players—starter Joe Ross and outfielder Michael Taylor—who continued their impressive rookie campaigns with dominant performances in last night’s game.
Taylor got things started for the Nationals’ offense in the bottom of the second inning. With Wilson Ramos on first base and two outs, the outfielder connected with a 92 mph fastball from Brewers’ starter Taylor Jungmann and crushed it over the wall in right-center field. It was a two run blast for Taylor—his 13th homer of the year—and it gave the Nationals an early 2-0 lead.
Of course, the Nationals ended up scoring enough runs that Taylor’s homer may not have seemed all that important. Later in the game, Ramos drove in a run, Anthony Rendon drove in a couple, and Jayson Werth drove in another one. But Taylor’s homer got everything started for the Nationals, and for an offense that has been grossly consistent all season long, getting a crooked number on the board early in the game is crucial.
For those who have been following Taylor and the Nationals this season, last night’s homer wasn’t at all surprising. The centerfielder has hit several homers in key situations all season long and has proven to be one of the most ‘clutch’ players on the roster. Last night’s homer wasn’t as high-leverage as some of his other blasts have been, but it got the game off to a good start for the Nationals and they never looked back.
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With last night’s blast, Taylor has now homered in three straight games. Over the last month, the 24-year-old is hitting .271 with seven home runs, seven stolen bases and 23 RBIs. For a player who wasn’t supposed to be in the big leagues until next season, Taylor has done a phenomenal job filling in for the injured Denard Span in center field. Taylor is hitting .244 with 55 RBIs on the season, to go along with the 13 home runs.
The 2015 campaign has been frustrating for the Nationals, but there have been several bright spots and Turner’s rapid development into a capable big leaguer is certainly one of them. Given what we’ve seen from Taylor over the last few days and throughout his rookie season, it’ll be fun to watch him continue to grow as a big leaguer down the stretch and over the next several years.
Now, Taylor wasn’t the only reason the Nationals won last night. As I said earlier, the offense was productive all-around and several players chipped in for the win. But if there’s one player who should get the most credit for last night’s victory, it should undoubtedly be Ross.
Ross, also in the midst of an impressive rookie campaign, dominated all night long for the Nationals. The right-hander pitched seven brilliant innings, allowing just one run on six hits while striking out four batters. It took Ross 82 pitches to get though seven frames, 58 of which were strikes.
Last night’s win was Ross’ fourth of the season, and it was probably one of the most impressive. Ross is another player who wasn’t supposed to play in the big leagues this year, but after essentially skipping Triple-A to join the big league rotation, he has put together a season that has made Nationals fans excited to have him in the rotation for years to come.
With last night’s performance, Ross is now 4-5 with a 3.56 ERA, 58 strikeouts and a 1.05 WHIP in 60 2/3 innings of work. The right-hander’s numbers would be far more impressive had it not been for the two rough starts he had prior to last night’s. In those starts, Ross gave up a combined nine runs and didn’t make it out of the fifth inning in either. Ross’ start last night was great bounce-back effort after his two-start slump, and there’s no reason to believe that the right-hander can’t stay hot down the stretch.
Ross and Taylor weren’t expected to play major roles with the big league club at all this season, but they’ve proven to be two of the most important players on the roster several times this year. Last night’s game was no exception.
Next: Washington Nationals Put It All Together To Get A Win