It hasn’t happened much this year, but the Washington Nationals won a game Saturday night via the long ball.
“We want to be able to control the game,” Candelario said. “We score early, then Lane came with another home run there to help us get some security and score some runs. ... We were playing a really good team. Got to be able to make pressure and then control the game. That’s what we did today.”The Nationals entered Saturday 29th in the major leagues in home runs, ahead of only the Cleveland Guardians, a major reason they have been unable to score consistently this year.
Two innings later, Thomas swung at a first-pitch fastball and sent it to left-center field. It bounced off the top of the wall and into the seats to extend Washington’s lead to 2-0. In the first inning, Gray allowed a pair of base runners but struck out Xander Bogaerts to escape. His last high-leverage situation came in the fifth in the same situation, but Manny Machado popped up to second on the first pitch, and the inning was over.
The Padres had few answers for Washington’s pitching Saturday night. The Nationals didn’t have many for the Padres’ staff, either. But the Nationals did have Candelario and Thomas — and that was all they needed.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Padres knuckle under, get shut out by Nationals despite Matt Waldron's solid debutPadres, who had scored 23 runs in the previous two games, can't score a single run in support of Matt Waldron, who was making his big-league debut
Read more »
Padres rout Nationals at start of another important stretchXander Bogaerts backs up words with three-run homer that is part of six-run inning, as Padres embark on a stretch of games against struggling teams
Read more »
Padres knuckleballer Matt Waldron to make MLB debut vs. NationalsThere's been a recurring theme for the San Diego Padres this season.
Read more »
Home runs lift Nationals in shutout of PadresJeimer Candelario and Lane Thomas hit solo homers to spoil Matt Waldron's major league debut and Josiah Gray and three relievers combined on a four-hit shutout as the Washington Nationals defeated the host San Diego Padres 2-0 on Saturday night.
Read more »
Candelario, Thomas homer in the Nationals' 2-0 victory over the PadresJeimer Candelario and Lane Thomas homered, Josiah Gray pitched into the sixth inning and the Washington Nationals beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 on Saturday night.
Read more »
Padres pregame: Nelson Cruz at DH; Reiss Knehr recalled for series finaleFormer Padres left-hander MacKenzie Gore on the mound for Nationals in series finale
Read more »