Washington Nationals Recap: Nats Settle For Tie in Final Spring Training Game
By Matt Weyrich
The Washington Nationals tied the Minnesota Twins 8-8 in their final exhibition game before the regular season begins. Joe Ross got the start for the Nats while Minnesota sent Ricky Nolasco to the hill.
Minnesota kicked off the game with a bang. Brian Dozier smacked a leadoff homer on Ross’s second pitch of the game to make it 1-0 early. The Nats would not go down quietly in their half of the inning, however. Ryan Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy hit back-to-back home runs with two outs, bringing in three to put Washington up 3-1.
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Neither team was able to get anything going in the second, but both would come up swinging in the third. After Byron Buxton and Dozier reached on a pair of singles, Joe Mauer tipped the momentum back in Minnesota’s favor with a three-run homer to left center. Left fielder Eddie Rosario drove in Trevor Plouffe with an RBI-double three batters later to push the score to 5-3, but was tagged out trying to stretch the hit into a triple to end the frame.
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Michael Taylor would lead off the bottom of the third with a deep home run into the left field seats, and Danny Espinosa would follow suit with a longball of his own an inning later to tie the game at five runs apiece. The score would not remain locked for long. The Twins were able to load the bases quickly in the fifth, and Rosario smacked a bases-clearing double that gave Minnesota an 8-5 lead.
That would close the book on Joe Ross for the day. He finished five innings of work, allowing eight runs on 12 hits while striking out eight in what was his final start before games begin to count.
The Nationals’ bullpen combined to throw three scoreless innings to close out the game. Rafael Martin worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning and retired the first batter in the seventh. Dusty Baker opted to use Oliver Perez as a situational lefty, but he allowed a walk and a hit to the only two batters he faced. Nick Masset closed out the inning without any damage. Aaron Laffey and Trevor Gott blanked the Twins in the eighth and ninth, respectively.
While their bullpen was keeping them in the game, the Nats’ offense clawed their way back in the final three innings. Scott Sizemore drove in Ben Revere with an RBI-single in the seventh, and Revere brought home Jose Lobaton with a single of his own an inning later. Chris Heisey, who has been handed the final bench spot after a solid spring, hit a home run to lead off the ninth that tied the game at 8-8. The Nationals would not score again in the inning, causing the game to end in a tie.
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Next Up: The Nationals will travel to Atlanta, Georgia to take on the Braves on Opening Day (Monday, April 4) for the first game of the regular season. Max Scherzer will make his second straight Opening Day start for the Nats against Julio Teheran for the Braves. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 p.m and you can watch the game on MASN