“I felt comfortable going out there — I saw the guy yesterday,” Wood said of Reds left fielder Justin Wilson. “Sometimes [the first pitch] “It’s the best thing you’ll see all day. You just have to be prepared for it.”
As Wood circled the bases, his mind was blank. But the two teams’ close wild-card standings were on his mind in the locker room. With five wins in their past six games, the Nationals’ record was tied with the Reds’ — 47-53.
“We’re on the same level with them, we try to do our best as well, and every game is important,” Wood said.
“This is a time when things can go either way,” said head coach Dave Martinez. “You either start the game strong and try to make your way to something special, or you start the game off with a good start. I’m happy the guys chose to start off with a good start.”
To name the moment Best Rookie in American Baseball But that doesn’t reflect Wood’s leap from third to fourth. In his first three weeks in the majors, Wood has been in a number of situations that could have derailed his season.
Suppose he batted seventh on Sunday, under the guise that it might relieve the 21-year-old who always relaxes in the outfield. Or that since his first major league hit, he has entered the eighth inning striking out nine times to strike out the last 44 (.205). Or that between Rochester and Washington, Wood has shown a patient approach that served him well in the minor leagues but has led to a bunch of double-doubles in the majors.
Martinez spoke to Wood before the game and told him to be aggressive.
“The team comes in with a game plan. He finds out your weaknesses,” said the manager. “But do you talk to him? He’s really smart. He understands what he wants to do. He showed that today.”
It didn’t matter that Wood had hit two hard outs earlier Sunday—he’d done it so often in his young career that he had an automatic “this is baseball” response. In the second inning, the first ball he put into play left his bat at 107.2 mph, and he narrowly reached for a single into the outfield after it bounced off Reds starter Andrew Abbott. In the fourth, he hit an even harder ball, 109 mph to left, which, at Wood’s speed, would have reached three bases had it not been for a catch by Will Benson. And in the sixth, Wood fell victim to another incident when center fielder Stuart Fairchild leapt over the wall to steal the ball back from him.
He returned to the field, speechless. At least he was hitting the ball in the air—hitting the right balls, hitting fastballs. Wilson’s first pitch was a high-speed one, hitting 94.2 mph. Wood sent it 105.9 mph, 404 feet into the seats. As he walked to the field, he shook hands with center fielder C.J. Abrams, a gesture that knocked his home run cap off his head.
The Nationals were in this position only because of Irvin’s prowess; he allowed two earned runs in seven innings with seven strikeouts and no runs. After allowing six earned runs in each of his previous two starts before the All-Star break, he was back to his old self.
“I think the break was a refresher, a reminder to stay on the ground, stay where you are, and live in attack mode,” Irvin said.
Irvin is used to getting into trouble early, so Noelfi Marte’s big second-inning home run didn’t stress him out. Nor did the stress of trying to survive with a reduced relief bullpen, the usual lack of run support he received, or the brief visit from athletic trainer Paul Lessard in the third after he appeared to sprain his right leg while blocking a ground ball. He’s had better points and Use four layers of his threads. More than usual, resulting in poor connectivity.
The Nationals responded in the third, when Juan Yepez (1.007 OPS since arriving July 5) pushed Jacob Young to third. A few pitches later, Reds ace Austin Wens tried to catch Young between third and home base, but he threw Marte out at third base, allowing Young to score; Marte was charged with the error. Harold Ramirez, another midseason starter, struck out Yepez to give the Nationals a 2-1 lead before Irvin allowed another solo shot to Fairchild in the fifth. Wood scored the final three outs.
“He’s a special player,” Irvin said of Wood’s powerful strike.