Washington Nationals: Offense Already Chasing History
The Washington Nationals have never scored double-digit runs four games in a row. Here are the times the franchise went back-to-back-to-back.
The Washington Nationals offense is so good we are running out of ways to describe it.
The carnage the Nats did to the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, however, is historic. Scoring double-digit runs three games in a row in a nine-inning game has never happened before since the team moved to Washington.
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In the 49 seasons the franchise started, the Expos/Nationals hit double digits 364 times, according to Baseball-Reference’s numbers. Out of 364, they carry a record of 353-11. The last loss came last summer against these same Rockies 12-10.
Although the Nationals first time for three consecutive 10+ runs came this week, the Expos did it twice.
Over the July 4th weekend of 1986, Montreal pummeled Atlanta at Fulton County Stadium by the scores of 11-5, 12-5 and 11-8. No player had five or more RBI in any one game although pitcher Bryn Smith drove in 3 on July 5.
This was the season the New York Mets won 108 in the regular season. By the first week of the season, everyone else in the National League East was playing for 1987.
The next squad to do it was the 1994 Expos. Those guys were good.
A midweek affair in June at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates, this was a total team effort. By scores of 10-2, 12-7 with Pedro Martinez on the mound and 13-2, the Expos steamrolled past their divisional foes and would have made the playoffs if not for the strike.
As before, no one player dominated in numbers. Nine times in the shortened season did Montreal score over 10. That team was scary good.
So is this team.
No team in Nats franchise history has scored the magic mark four games in a row. With how beat up the New York Mets are overall, there is a realistic chance. Not a good one, but it is possible.
Tuesday, Trea Turner hit for the cycle driving in seven. Daniel Murphy drove five home. Wednesday, Bryce Harper went 4-for-4 while Thursday he saw 29 pitches.
As with the 1994 Expos, the 2017 Nationals are locked in at the plate.
As a team, their OPS+ of 124 leads the league by 15 points over the Milwaukee Brewers and the league average by 30. The raw OPS of .842 tops the second-best Arizona Diamondbacks by 54 points (.788) and the league average by an astounding 112 points (.730.)
Only the Los Angeles Dodgers have walked more, 93 to 90. In a year where the NL is hitting .247, Washington is at .287. When you can score at will, you can pitch around a balky bullpen.
They will come back to Earth sometime, but what we saw against the Rockies was not just beautiful, but legendary.