Call makes first MLB homer a memorable one

SAN DIEGO – As he watched the chaos unfold before his eyes from his perch in the on-deck circle, Alex Call saw the Nationals take the lead against the Padres in the top of the ninth and saw his opportunity to expand on that lead with Lane Thomas now standing at third base after Josh Hader’s three-base throwing error changed the entire complexion of Friday night’s game at Petco Park.

“OK, time to drive this guy in,” Call thought to himself.

Davey Martinez had the same thought, and with the count 0-1 on Call, the Nats manager gave the safety squeeze sign, hoping the 27-year-old rookie could get the bunt down and get Thomas home to extend the lead to two runs.

Except Call proceeded to foul the squeeze attempt straight back into the backstop, leaving himself in an 0-2 count and taking the bunt out of the equation altogether.

“When I didn’t execute, there’s a lot of things that go through your mind,” he said. “So you’ve really got to step back, take a deep breath and then get into my normal two-strike mode, which is: ‘I believe I’m the best two-strike hitter there is. He’s got to bring a good pitch.’

“I got a good pitch.”

Uh, yeah, he did. Hader’s 0-2 fastball was 97 mph but over the plate. And Call proceeded to drive it deep to left, over the fence and into a fan’s well-placed glove for the home run that extended the Nationals’ lead not to 5-3 but to 6-3, the eventual final score of the game.

“I didn’t execute the pitch before that,” he said. “But then to be able to come back and be able to do something even more spectacular, it’s definitely a load off.”

It was the first homer of Call’s major league career, and it came at a most opportune moment against a big-name closer (albeit one currently in a major funk that left the Padres faithful booing him off the mound).

Call, a right-handed batter, knew entering the series he might face the left-handed Hader at least once this weekend. Prior to Thursday night’s game, he used a virtual reality system to take some practice swings against the Padres closer, getting some sense of what the real thing would be like.

“So, I saw several pitches off of him yesterday and felt like I was ready to come in,” he said. “Obviously, he’s a left-handed pitcher, I’m a right-handed hitter. For my role on the team, that’s always a potential option. I was just ready for it.”

Claimed off waivers from the Guardians at the beginning of the month, then called up from Triple-A Rochester on Sunday, Call has been through a whirlwind stretch here. Friday represented his second start for the Nationals, and he wound up making good by night’s end.

“His first couple days here, he started chasing,” Martinez said. “And we tried to tell him: ‘We know you don’t chase. We know you’re excited because you’re here and you want to contribute. Do the things you’re good at: Get the ball in the strike zone. When you do that, you put the ball in play, and you put the ball in play hard.’

“Tonight was a good example. Last night was a good example. He’s starting to see a lot of pitches, and he’s making good contact.”

None better than the contact that produced the first home run of the 27-year-old’s major league career, and a meaningful one at that.

“I’ve definitely visualized it hundreds of times,” he said. “It felt so good rounding the bases. I mean, the ninth inning? Off Josh Hader? Definitely something you’ll remember for the rest of your life. I enjoyed every step around the bases, that’s for sure.”