Washington, D.C. - After losing the first game of the three-game series against the Houston Astros last night, the Washington Nationals aimed to even up their weekend series with a win this afternoon. Thanks to some late-game heroics from Jesse Winker and Joey Meneses, the Nationals pulled off a 4-3 victory.

The scoring began in the bottom of the first inning when CJ Abrams hit his sixth home run of the season—a 405-foot fly ball to right-center field off Ronel Blanco. It had an exit velocity of 105.9 mph. Entering today's game, Abrams ranked third in the National League in slugging percentage (.662) and sixth in OPS (1.014). His slugging percentage also ranked third in Major League Baseball, and his three triples tied for the most in the league.

Today’s leadoff homerun by Abrams was his second leadoff home run of the season and fourth of his career. Nine of Abrams’ last 10 hits were for extra bases (42B, 2 3B, 3 HR). Abrams finished the day 2-4 with a solo home run and a double.

In the bottom of the first, Riley Adams recorded an RBI when he hit a sacrifice fly to center fielder Mauricio Dubón, scoring Joey Gallo and giving the Nationals a 2-1 lead until the top of the seventh.

The Astros regained the lead in the top of the seventh when reliever Robert Garcia allowed two runs on two hits before being pulled from the game. This gave the Astros a 3-2 lead. They extended the lead in the bottom of the eighth when Kyle Tucker singled on a ground ball to center fielder Eddie Rosario off Jordan Weems, scoring Yordan Alvarez from third and advancing Alex Bregman, who had walked, to third base.

After drawing a walk in the seventh inning, Jesse Winker has reached base in 16 of his 19 games he has played this season, including 10 of his last 11 games. In his last 16 games, Winker is hitting .314 (16-for-51) with two home runs, seven RBI and 11 runs scored. Winker went 1-4 with two RBI and a walk this afternoon.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Nationals had an opportunity to take the lead. Luis García Jr. hit a ground ball to left fielder Chas McCormick after Joey Gallo walked. Unfortunately, the Nationals couldn't capitalize. Joey Meneses struck out, Luis García Jr. was tagged out at third base while attempting to tag up on an Eddie Rosario flyout, and catcher Riley Adams struck out to end the inning.

Perspectives

Whose Kids on the Block?

Owen Ranger • Apr 18, 2024

For the fourth consecutive winter, Mike Rizzo and the Nationals filled the holes in the major league roster (well, most of them, anyway) with relatively inexpensive veterans on one-year deals, hoping that later this summer at least one or two of them can be sent off to a contender for mid-range prospects or lottery tickets. In 2021, that strategy brought back Lane Thomas, Riley Adams, Drew Millas, Mason Thompson, and others who are still kicking around in the minor league system. It did not work in 2022, as no one was the least bit interested in noodle-swinging César Hernández or the decomposing Nelson Cruz. In 2023, Jeimer Candelario’s four strong months netted DJ Herz and Kevin Made.

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The Nationals tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. The inning began with catcher interference while Nick Senzel was at bat, followed by CJ Abrams' fourth double of the season—a line drive to right fielder Kyle Tucker, bringing Nick Senzel to third. Jesse Winker then singled on a ground ball to center fielder Mauricio Dubón, scoring Nick Senzel and CJ Abrams to tie the game.

In the top of the tenth, a crucial throw by Lane Thomas in right field to throwout Jose Altuve, who was attempting to tag up from third, allowed the Nationals to keep the score tied.

In the bottom of the tenth, Nasim Nuñez replaced Joey Gallo on second base, and Joey Meneses hit a line drive single to right fielder Kyle Tucker, scoring Nuñez to win the game 4-3. With the hit in driving in the winning run, Joey Meneses (3-5 with an RBI) recorded his fourth multi-hit game this season, and it was his 70th multi-hit game since making his debut with the Nationals on August 2, 2022. Meneses trails only Ryan Zimmerman (71) and Trea Turner (76) in current Nationals history (2005-pres) for most multi-hit games in a player’s first 2226 career contest.

Joey Meneses's walk-off hit was Meneses’ second of his career and the Nationals’ first of the 2024 season.

Kyle Finnegan got the win for the Nationals, earning his first victory of the season. He now has a record of 1-2.

The Nationals started RHP Trevor Williams, seeking his third win of the season. Williams went six innings, allowing one run on three hits with 77 pitches—52 of which were strikes. This afternoon’s outing was the longest outing since he threw 6.0 innings last year on August 20, 2023, against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 4-3 win.

Now with a 9-11 record, the Nationals will play the final game of their weekend series against the Astros tomorrow afternoon. The Nationals will send LHP Mitchell Parker (1-0; 3.60 ERA) to the mound in his Nationals Park debut. Parker won his Major League debut at Dodger Stadium by allowing two runs over five innings and striking out four. The Nationals will face RHP Cristian Javier (2-0; 1.54 ERA).

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