LOS ANGELES – The Nationals won Wednesday’s series finale at Dodger Stadium thanks to far and away their biggest power display of the season. They blasted five home runs, including two from Keibert Ruiz, to emerge with a 10-6 victory and avoid a series sweep.
They headed home having finished 3-3 on a very eventful road trip through Kansas City and Los Angeles, one that started with a bang and ended with a bang, with some frustrating moments in between.
“We came in here, we had some young mistakes, but to come out of here after a long road trip and win the last game to go back home now, it feels pretty good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We finished .500 on the road. To come out to the West Coast is never easy. So, I’m proud of the guys, after getting beat the first two games, to come back the way they did today and pull this one out.”
Wednesday’s game was a wild affair itself, the Nats digging themselves into a 3-0 hole in the first, clawing back to take a 5-4 lead in the fifth, giving it back in the seventh, then taking the lead for good in the eighth. Those five homers were the headline of the game, but there were several other developments that deserve further exploration on this day off …
* Luis Garcia bookends a strange trip in style
Garcia’s week got off to an historic start: He went 6-for-6 on Friday night against the Royals, joining Anthony Rendon as the only players in club history to pull off that feat. But then Garcia followed that up with a slump. He went 0 for his next 16 before finally delivering an RBI single in the seventh inning Tuesday night, but then went hitless in his next four at-bats as well, leaving him in a 1-for-21 funk.