https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WAS/WAS202404210.shtml
Time: 2:20
Attendance: 23,193
The home team provided a satisfying conclusion to the weekend’s
5-year-anniversary celebration of the 2019 championship team by conquering the much-loathed
Houston Astros, their World Series opponents that year, for the second straight
day.
Unlike Saturday, when the victory required a two-run 9th
inning rally and some heroics in the 10th, the Nats easily disposed of their
rivals on a chilly Sunday afternoon. They wasted no time taking a quick
first-inning lead off Hunter Brown, who was filling in for the just-injured Cristian
Javier. CJ Abrams led off with a single, stole second, and scored on an RBI
single from Jesse Winker. After Lane Thomas walked, a balk advanced both runners,
who scored on Luis García Jr.’s base hit.
Brown blanked Washington for the remainder of his 4-inning
stint, but the Nats plated two more in the 5th on a two-out bases-loaded single
by Joey Meneses, who had also provided the walk-off hit that won the previous
game. Nick Senzel completed the scoring with a solo homer the following inning.
Meanwhile, previously-unheralded rookie Mitchell Parker
turned in his second straight strong start, blanking the Astros through 7 innings
that required a mere 73 pitches, 57 of which were strikes. He allowed just three
hits (all singles), walked no one, and fanned eight.
Two friends of mine, who had graciously provided me with transportation for the day, waited in line for 45 minutes before the 12:15 gate opening so they would have a shot at getting autograph vouchers. (Fortunately, they succeeded.) I decided to stay warm and instead had lunch at Rasa, two blocks from the park.
