WASHINGTON -- The Nationals’ lineup had been lefty-heavy as of late because of starting pitching matchups. When the Nats faced Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd on Wednesday, it was an opportunity for manager Dave Martinez to get his righty bats back in the lineup.
Right-handers Alex Call and Amed Rosario and switch-hitter Nasim Nuñez got their first starts since May 25 against the Giants.
After Boyd took a perfect game into the sixth inning, the trio sparked the Nationals’ late offense in a 2-0 shutout win versus the second-highest scoring team in MLB.
“These guys don’t play every day, but they know what they need to do when they get a chance to go out there and play,” Martinez said. “They play with their hair on fire, which is awesome.”
In the seventh inning of a scoreless pitchers’ duel between Boyd and MacKenzie Gore -- who threw his second career start of seven or more scoreless innings -- Rosario belted a solo home run into the Nationals' ‘pen. Rosario’s third homer of the season flew a Statcast-projected 350 feet into the glove of Nats bullpen catcher Jarrett Gonzales.
The first-pitch fastball from Boyd was located 1.49 feet from the center of the plate, making it the third-furthest outside pitch a right-handed batter has homered off of under pitch tracking (since 2008).
Even Rosario didn’t think the ball was leaving the park; he sprinted to first base just in case.
But for the nine-year veteran, it turned out to be his fifth career home run to give his club the lead in the seventh inning or later. His batting average against lefties is .360 (18-for-50) this season.
“He’s really smart,” Martinez said. “He understands what he wants to do up there. … He says, 'I’m going to look away, stay on the ball and try to hit it hard … the other way.' He did that. The ball carried.”
With Boyd pitching into the eighth inning on an efficient pitch count, Call singled on a ground ball into right field. Nuñez then worked a 10-pitch at-bat and sliced a double into left field to drive in Call for an insurance run. Nuñez has reached base safely in nine of his 15 games with a plate appearance this season.
“He’s put the work in,” Martinez said. “... That’s a heck of an at-bat with a guy who’s throwing the ball really well. It was awesome.”
The Nationals have a chance to win the series against the Cubs on Thursday night. They showed grit in their sixth win of the season when collecting fewer hits than their opponent.
“We’re mentally strong,” Nuñez said. “We understand the situation that we haven’t played in a while, so we do what we have to do to stay ready and go out and help the team win in some type of way.”