April 28, 2019 – Nats 7, Padres 6 (11 innings) – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/padres-vs-nationals/2019/04/28/565908#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=wrap,game=565908

 

Weather: 70 degrees, Sunny.

Wind: 6 mph, Out To CF.

Umpires: HP--West, 1B--Cooper, 2B--Fletcher, 3B--Little.

Time: 4:03

Attendance: 30,186

 

To put it kindly, things did not start out well for the home team this afternoon.

 

Noted San Diego “slugger” Greg Garcia homered off Nats starter Jeremy Hellickson in the top of the first, and the visitors pushed across another run an inning later. Things really went south in the 3^rd: infield single, error, RBI single, 3-run 1-out homer by Eric Hosmer.

 

With a 6-0 deficit and an overworked bullpen, the initial plan seemed to be to let Hellickson absorb a few more innings, so he was allowed to hit for himself to lead off the bottom of the 3^rd. After Robles beat out an infield single (the Nats successfully challenged the initial “out” call) and Dozier singled, Juan Soto changed the course of the game with a 3-run shot to center. Washington pushed across another run and loaded the bases with 2 out, leading Davey to pinch-hit Adam Eaton (who struck out) for Hellickson the second time around.

 

With Hellickson now gone after just three innings, the Nats turned to Erick Fedde, who had been called up earlier in the day for just this sort of emergency. He more than rose to the occasion, pitching four scoreless frames while facing only one batter over the minimum.

 

Meanwhile, Washington completed its comeback on solo HRs by Robles in the 4^th and the recently-promoted Carter Kieboom in the 5^th, making MLB history along with Soto as the only trio of teammates under 22 years old to all homer in the same game.

 

With men on first and second and one out in the bottom of the 7^th, Martinez rolled the dice by pinch-hitting for Fedde, who had thrown only 49 pitches, far fewer than the 88 he tossed in his minor-league start 5 days earlier. Unfortunately, Yan Gomes and Robles fanned to end the inning, meaning that the Nats weary (and largely ineffective) bullpen guys would have to cover the rest of the game.

 

Kyle Barraclough, Joe Ross, and Tony Sipp kept the visitors off the board for the next 3 innings, although Ross had to retire Manny Machado with the bases loaded and 2 outs. Washington missed a great scoring chance in the bottom of the 10^th, when their first two batters reached base and the Padres were forced into a makeshift defensive alignment after shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. had to exit due to injury. San Diego reliever Matt Wisler, however, retired the next 3 Washington batters to keep the game going into the 11^th.

 

Fortunately, there would be a happy ending, as Justin Miller retired the side in the top of the inning, and Matt Adams led off with a massive homer to right field to send what remained of the crowd home happy.

 

A cluster of dark clouds passed ominously over the field in the middle innings, but there was no rain, and much more sun that we had expected. For the last several innings, the wind was blowing hard from left to right, knocking down several fly balls hit to left and almost blowing Adams’ game-winning shot into foul territory.