Washington Nationals: Juan Soto steals some votes as well as bases
The Washington Nationals evened the series against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday with rookie Juan Soto walking and running all over the diamond.
On a sweltering Saturday afternoon, the Washington Nationals defeated the Atlanta Braves 7-1, improving their season record against Atlanta to 8-10. Nats pitchers combined to two-hit Atlanta with the lone run scored on a sacrifice fly from Freddie Freeman.
Jeremy Hellickson started the game, throwing 60 pitches over three innings. After the game, Hellickson revealed he re-injured his wrist during his second at-bat and will likely miss the rest of the season.
However, rookie Jefry Rodriguez stepped right in and continued his torment of the Braves. He threw 4.2 hitless innings while issuing three walks. He also recorded his first career RBI in the seventh inning.
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Adam Eaton, Anthony Rendon, and Mark Reynolds contributed the big hits, tallying a combined five RBI’s on three doubles.
As a team, the Nationals drew 14 walks. That surpasses the previous team record of 12 but ties the Expos for the franchise record for walks in a single game.
Juan Soto Runs Wild
National League Rookie of the Year candidate Juan Soto recorded only one hit, but that was because the Braves wanted nothing to do with him.
Soto walked three times, including once intentionally, raising his BB% to 16.8%. That mark would rank 4th in the MLB if Soto had enough AB’s to qualify.
Coming into today’s game, Soto had two steals in his career. He added three to that total today, becoming the only teenager in MLB history to steal three bases in a game. According to the Nationals PR team, Soto is the youngest player in MLB history to steal three bases in a game, edging Hall-of-Famer Ricky Henderson.
Rodriguez Regroups
After a pair of bad outings against Milwaukee and Chicago, Jefry Rodriguez found a groove against Atlanta. While he only recorded one strikeout, he threw the ball beautifully and spared the Nationals bullpen after Max Scherzer’s four-inning effort on Friday.
In Rodriguez’s three outings against Atlanta, he’s been phenomenal. In 14.1 IP against them, he’s allowed one run with a WHIP of 0.97. His strikeouts are down (4.4 K/9), but the effectiveness is still there.
With today’s victory, the Nationals stave off elimination for just a bit longer. Their elimination number now sits at six.
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The Nationals will go for the series win tomorrow at 1:35 pm ET at SunTrust Park. Tanner Roark will attempt to find some momentum while opposing Sean Newcomb of the Braves.