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Two Stick Out for Washington Nationals in Saturday's Win
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- Two Stick Out for Washington Nationals in Saturday's Win
Two Stick Out for Washington Nationals in Saturday's Win
(© Anna Carrington-Imagn Images)
The Washington Nationals did just enough to take down the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3, on Saturday to even the series , but it was Nasim Nunez and Dylan Crews who managed to stick out in the win.
The two accounted for four of the team's ten hits and half of the team's four runs and RBIs.
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It's been a hot stretch for Nunez, too Over his last six games, the starting second baseman is hitting .625 with ten hits, four RBIs, three walks and six runs scored with a six-game hit streak heading into Sunday. His 27 stolen bases this season still narrowly ranks second behind Royals shortstop Bobby Witt with 28.
His first at bat of the day produced his lone RBI of the day, helping the National also grab its first lead of the game, after his double into left field brought in Dylan Crews to put Washington ahead, 2-1. Nunez then followed up a single from Jorbit Vivas with his own single to put runners on the corners in the ninth inning, though it amounted to nothing after the frame ended with James Wood popping out to shortstop.
Yet the second hit from Nunez also followed up a home run from Dylan Crews, a welcomed sight for the bounce back outfielder. Crews, who also shifted to centerfield after Jacob Young exited the game in the eighth inning, blasted a 442 foot home run of an 89 mph cutter for the longest home run of his career.
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It also marked the second run he accounted for on the day after his second inning single set up the Nationals taking the lead after none other than Nunez brought him in to cross the plate.
After going 2-for-4 in the win, Crews has now reached base safely in 23 of 27 games since being recalled on May 19 while his average spring speed (29.4) ranks in the 95th percentile across baseball. Maybe most encouraging is a stark cutdown on his biggest issue: strikeouts. Despite striking out on over 22% of his attempts heading into the month with a chase rate just above league average, Crews has just two strikeouts over his last 23 at bats.
Yet they weren't the only ones with one unsurprising hero emerging on both nights after CJ Abrams notched his second home run of the series to even the game on Saturday afternoon. He's now hit safely in nine of his last 11 games with a team-leading .283 batting average heading into the rubber match, adding to his All Star resume .
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Washington will now look to parlay that into success on Sunday with a chance to secure the sixth consecutive road series win, tying a franchise record for the longest streak and first since the team moved to the city after the Expos did so during the 1994 season.
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