Nationals: Takeaways From 14-1 Win Over D’Backs
Check out our three takeaways from last night’s Washington Nationals win over the Diamondbacks
Even though the Washington Nationals (62-44) did not make a move on trade deadline day, their offense got a big piece back in the starting lineup in Daniel Murphy. Murphy only played five innings because the Nats had a big lead, but he went 3-for-3 with a RBI and a walk in last night’s 14-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks (43-63).
When you look at the production of the starting lineup, everybody who was in the starting lineup had at least one hit with six of the nine players having two hits or more. Plus, there were no home runs last night and the offense had only five extra-base hits out of their 19 total hits.
Right out of the gate, the offense gave Stephen Strasburg a 4-0 lead before he even took the mound and he was able to hold Arizona’s offense to one run over six innings as he continues his impressive season. Plus, he had an excellent night at the plate, going 3-for-4.
In addition to the Washington Nationals blowout win, last night was the Nats debut for their new closer, Mark Melancon. Even though it wasn’t a save situation, Melancon struck out two batters in a 1-2-3 ninth inning, even though the Washington Nationals were already up 14-1 at that time.
Before Tanner Roark takes on Robbie Ray tonight in the second game of the series (9:40 p.m ET, MASN2), check out my three takeaways from last night’s win:
Next: Strasburg's Great All-Around Night
Strasburg’s Great All-Around Night
Strasburg continued his winning ways last night against the Diamondbacks, who scored the third fewest runs of any National League team in July (99). Strasburg went six innings, gave up one run on three hits, struck out six, and walked two on 99 pitches (66 strikes) in his 15th win of the season.
With the win last night, Strasburg has tied his career-high for most wins in a season (15 back in 2012) with still a couple months left in the season. His one tough inning last night was the bottom of the first. Jean Segura led off with a double, but he was the lone run in the game to score for Arizona when Paul Goldschmidt hit a RBI groundout.
After that first inning, Strasburg gave up two singles over the final five innings and struck out four of the final seven batters he faced. Even though Strasburg does have one loss in the second half of the season, he has held the opposition to a .168 batting average in his last four starts (eight runs allowed in 27 innings).
Plus, Strasburg has received a lot of run support from his offense this season. After last night’s great offensive performance, the Nats have scored 6.75 runs per game in his outings. That is almost one run higher than the pitcher with the second best run support (Jake Arrieta of the Cubs – 5.86).
Even though Strasburg gets a lot of run support, it should not take away from the great season that Strasburg is having this year. He continues to give the Washington Nationals a chance to win every time he takes the mound. Last night was just continuing to make his case to be a Cy Young winner this year.
Next: Offense Keeps Line Moving
Offense Keeps The Line Moving
When you look at the Washington Nationals offense, you could spotlight a lot of names from the offense, whether it was three-hit nights for Wilson Ramos and Murphy or the fact that nine different hitters drove in a run.
In the first inning, the Washington Nationals scored four runs against Archie Bradley and did not have one extra-base hit in the process. Their first extra-base hit did not come until the second inning when Anthony Rendon hit a two-run double to extend the lead to 6-1.
You know the offense is having a great night when the starting pitcher (Strasburg) goes 3-for-4 and has a RBI. Even without Ryan Zimmerman in the lineup, you can tell the offense was trying to make a statement after their struggles in the final two games against the Giants and that no piece was added to the offense at the deadline.
The player I want to talk about is Anthony Rendon, who was the player of the week last week. Since the All-Star Break, Rendon is hitting .315 with four home runs, 12 RBI’s, and has a .611 slugging percentage. That is the second highest slugging percentage on the Washington Nationals behind Murphy (.854).
Over the last 30 days, Rendon has drove in the second most runs on the team with 15 in 22 games (Murphy has 22 RBI’s in 21 games). Last night, Dusty Baker hit Rendon out of the cleanup spot and he had three RBi’s in the first two innings.
Last night was an important night for the Washington Nationals offense because they were able to string hits together and take the opposition out of the game early. Plus, it allowed the bullpen to have the night off without any high stress innings, which they needed.
Next: Melancon Has Strong Debut
Melancon Has Strong Debut
Even though the new Washington Nationals closer didn’t get into a save situation last night in his debut, that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a good debut. He retired the Diamondbacks in order in the bottom of the ninth while striking out two batters. He threw 11 pitches, with ten of them being strikes.
More from District on Deck
- Latest DraftKings Sportsbook Promo Code in Maryland: Bet $5, Win $200 Guaranteed
- Nationals Claim Jeter Downs Off Waivers
- Washington Nationals Minor League Spotlight: Robert Hassell III
- Washington Nationals Tuesday Q&A
- 3 Free Agents the Nationals Should Gamble On
Melancon threw three pitches last night (four-seam fastball, cutter, knuckle curve) and got a strikeout each on the cutter and knuckle curve. He may not have the velocity on his fastball that everyone would like, but he is still an effective closer, to say the least.
The other aspect of the bullpen that stood out last night was Jonathan Papelbon pitching for the first time since Friday. He threw a 1-2-3 inning of his own on eight pitches as he tries to gain his confidence back.
While no one knows what Papelbon’s role will be down the road, it doesn’t sound like he is going to be in those big moment situations just yet:
Sense is #Nats want to give Papelbon a chance to right himself pitching in low-leverage spots first. This would certainly qualify.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) August 2, 2016
Next: Strasburg Asserts Dominance In Win Over D'Backs
Before Papelbon had that bad week last week, he was having a good month of July after coming back from the intercostal injury. Right now, I still think he is going to be an intricate part of this bullpen down the stretch, especially since the Washington Nationals didn’t add another arm besides Melancon at the trade deadline.
All in all, last night was a good thing for the bullpen because they got the rest they needed after a long week in Cleveland and San Francisco. Plus, they got Melancon to make his debut in a non-stressful situation.