If you missed Tuesday night's Nationals game against the New York Mets, this might be the one time all season long that I actually feel sorry for you for not watching. The Nationals easily had their win of the year last night as Josiah Gray had one of the best starts in his young career. The 25 year old righty was hitting the strike zone (renamed the Gray Area) early and often in counts, using all four of his pitches to do so effectively. Gray would go 6 innings allowing zero runs against the potent Mets offense, with only 4 hits given up and 1 walk to NINE strikeouts. He capped off his night with this electric strikeout of Starlin Marte with the bases loaded in the 6th inning.
PUT SOME RESPECT ON JOSIAH GRAY’S NAME pic.twitter.com/VWLQbOGthJ
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) April 26, 2023
Gray's performance was nothing short of dominant and he deserves nearly all the credit for the win against the Division-leading Mets. However, arguably just as big of a storyline is the fact that the Nationals offense, for the first time this year while Gray was pitching, were able to score a run for him. Gray had gone through his first 4 starts of the year without his team scoring a single run with him on the mound (they did score one run after he departed the game against the Braves). Keibert ruiz got the part started with a second inning, no-doubt home run off Mets' spot starter José Butto.
Josiah really said “I only need one run” and Keibert Ruiz obliged. You love to see it. pic.twitter.com/RUCpYiK0aH
— District on Deck (@DistrictOnDeck) April 26, 2023
Joey Meneses and Luis Garcia were responsible for the remaining Nationals runs as they had two RBIs each. Meneses had a pair of RBI singles in the 3rd inning and 6th inning and Luis Garcia got the Nationals some important insurance runs with his two RBI double in the 6th. In total, the Nationals tallied 11 hits and added 6 walks to beat the Mets by a score of 5-0. Despite the score being a non-save situation, reliever Mason Thompson earned the save by throwing 3 innings of relief. Thompson was dominant himself as he faced 9 batters and recorded 9 outs, needing only 28 pitches to get through 3 innings.
Nationals Game Review
What went wrong?
Honestly? Nothing. We're going to keep this purely positive.
Yes, there are things the Nationals should improve upon before their next game, there always will be. But that should not be the focus. The Nationals will only have convincing wins every so often during this season that we should enjoy them while they last. We'll leave it at - let's get the entire lineup hitting and having the pitching be just as dominant tonight as it was last night.
What went right?
How much time do you have???
- Josiah Gray: DAWG (6 IP, 0 R, 9 Ks, W)
- Mason Thompson: DAWG (3 IP, 0 R, 4 Ks, S)
- Keibert Ruiz: DAWG (3-4, HR, BB)
- Joey Meneses, Alex Call, Luis Garcia, Victor Robles all had timely hits that led to runs. Call in particular was much better today as he was on base 4 times from the leadoff spot. Luis Garcia also got the 2 spot in the lineup and did not disappoint either.
- Lineup: More Walks than Strikeouts
Long story short, there was a lot to like about Tuesday's game.
Washington Nationals Record: 8-14
When is the next Nationals game?
The Nationals will go for their second series win in a row on Wednesday night in Queens as they will send out star LHP MacKenzie Gore (2-1, 3.43 ERA) to face Mets' phenom Kodai Senga (3-0, 4.29 ERA) in what will be a must-watch pitching matchup. First pitch is scheduled to be at 7:10p ET.