Six weeks ago, the Washington Nationals were 12 games under .500. After a 5-1 homestand, the Nats enter the All-Star break atop the NL wild-card ladder.
An RBI double by Anthony Rendon broke a 2-2 eighth-inning tie, and a two-run, pinch-hit Howie Kendrick double provided insurance in a 5-2 Washington win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
The win was the 10th in 12 games for the Nationals, who have the best record in MLB since May 24 at 28-11.
Entering play that day, the Nats were a woeful 19-31, with writers waxing philosophic about Rendon and ace Max Scherzer being prepped for a trade-deadline fire sale, and general manager Mike Rizzo and field manager Dave Martinez being on their way out the door.
Sunday’s win was a microcosm of the way the last six weeks have gone for Washington, which got another quality start out of free-agent addition Patrick Corbin, who put in seven shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out 11 without issuing a walk.
Another free-agent addition, Brian Dozier, hit a solo homer, his 14th, in the second, and Victor Robles, a highly-touted rookie called upon to fill the void left by the loss of star Bryce Harper to free agency, added a solo shot in the seventh, his 13th, to make it 2-0 Washington.
Corbin (7-5, 3.34 ERA) wouldn’t get the win, though, as Fernando Rodney and Sean Doolittle couldn’t get out of the top of the eighth before the Royals tied the game, the big blow a two-out RBI double by Alex Gordon that tied the game at 2-2.
Rendon plated Adam Eaton from first with a one-out double to the gap in left-center, and one batter later, Kendrick doubled down the left-field line to score Rendon and Juan Soto.
Doolittle (6-2, 3.13 ERA) picked up the win in relief, despite also recording his fourth blown save of 2019.
The Nats (47-42) enter the All-Star break six games back of Atlanta in the NL East race.
Atlanta has posted a 26-14 record since May 24, so even with the Nats long hot stretch, they’ve only been able to gain two and a half games in the standings.
Story by Chris Graham
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