https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WAS/WAS202308130.shtml
Time: 3:09
Attendance: 19,240
For Jeter Downs, once a highly-regarded prospect, 2023 hasn’t
exactly been a banner season, divided into brief periods with the Nationals during
which he seldom left the bench, and an extended stay in AAA, during which he
registered a sickly batting average of .175.
Things changed for at least one day Sunday, when he both
started (by leading off with a 6-pitch walk) and ended (with a walk-off single
over the infield) the home team’s improbable 6-run 9th-inning rally to complete
a weekend sweep of the (admittedly pathetic) Oakland Athletics.
The rally validated two well-known baseball sayings:
1.
“Keep the line moving” – as outs were precious,
everyone played it safe and advanced one base at a time, except when
pinch-runner Blake Rutherford scored the tying run from second base on an error
by the Oakland shortstop.
2.
“Take what they give you” – in this case, 3 walks
and a passed ball, in addition to the error.
Prior to that, not a lot had gone right for the home team. Starting
pitcher Trevor Williams dug a 3-run hole for his teammates in the top of the
first and wound up not making it through the 5th, taking the MLB lead in homers
allowed in the process. Relievers Robert Garcia and Andrés Machado conspired to
allow the final two Oakland runs in the 7th. Meanwhile, the Washington offense managed
just two tallies, while stranding numerous runners in scoring position.
The Red Line down was less crowded than for Saturday night’s
bobblehead giveaway game*, but it was noticeably slower than usual due to
weekend single-tracking. I still arrived in plenty of time to have a leisurely
lunch at Chopt. I can’t speak for Metro on the way back, since a couple of
friends graciously offered me a ride back to Shady Grove.
* - I also attended the Saturday night game, but left as planned after about two hours to get a good night’s sleep prior to the Sunday afternoon game. For the record, Keibert Ruiz hit the first pitch of the bottom of the 9th out of the park to give the Nats a 3-2 win.
