The Morning Briefing: August 7

Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, August 7.

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Welcome to the Morning Briefing!

Leading this Morning's Briefing: Wood Opens Some Eyes

James Wood strode to the plate in the bottom of the eighth - for what had to be one of the tallest matchups in MLB history against 6'11" literal Giant Sean Hjelle - having already tripled, walked twice, and stolen two bases. He then hit a jaw-dropping home run to the second row of picnic tables behind the Red Porch seats 423 feet away, territory that is rarely visited by left-handed hitters. According to Statcast it would have been a home run in 29/30 parks, although I feel very confident that a ball with a 108.4 mph exit velocity and a 30 degree launch angle would have found a way to leave Coors Field too. Wood is now hitting .270/.364/.424 through his first 31 games, with 3 doubles, triples, and home runs, 23 RBI, and 5 stolen bases. He turns 22 next month, folks. Buckle up.

Last Game Out

Things looked pretty grim when the Giants batted around in the top of the first against MacKenzie Gore, scoring two runs thanks to bolts from Heliot Ramos (solo) and Michael Conforto (three runs, after Gore walked Matt Chapman and plunked Mark Canha with two outs). But the Nats all those runs back plus one more in the second inning courtesy of Wood's triple, an RBI groundout, two walks and a single from the bottom of the lineup, and then a CJ Abrams home run to take the lead that he very much admired on its way over the scoreboard in right field. That turned out to be a lead the Nats would never relinquish en route to an 11-5 slugfest win, as Gore and three relievers (Derek Law, Robert Garcia, and Tanner Rainey) retired fifteen of the final sixteen Giants in innings five through nine.

Nationals Headline of the Day: Abrams Hosting Chat Today on MLB Website

CJ Abrams, whose pivotal home run yesterday came on a pitch up around his chin, will be chatting with fans this afternoon at 3:15 PM in advance of the third game against the Giants.

Down on the Farm

AA outfielder and organizational top-fifteen prospect Robert Hassell III, on the injured list since June, begins a rehab assignment with Wilmington this week, although he did not play in their series opener against the Jersey Shore Blue Claws yesterday.

Featured Baseball Story of the Day

Billy Bean, MLB's Senior Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and one of the first openly gay former major leaguers (most pro sports clubhouses are very intolerant of homosexuality, but baseball might be the worst in this regard), died at home yesterday of acute myeloid lukemia. He was 60 years old. Read Mark Feinsand's column about him here.

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