Gore, Crews and the kids lead Nats to series win over Yanks (updated)

It's too soon to know if the events of the last 72 hours represent a critical turning point in what the Nationals hope is among the last steps they need to take to close out a long and arduous rebuild and finally start thinking about winning again. They could come back to earth this weekend, or next month or even when they all reconvene next spring.

But for anyone who has endured the pain of the last three years believing there would be a light at the end of the tunnel, these last three nights were for you. It’s not just that the Nationals won a series against the Yankees, capped off by tonight’s 5-2 triumph on South Capitol Street. It’s that they did it with a roster loaded with talented young players, nearly every one of them a potential piece to the long-term puzzle.

For the most part, these weren’t stopgaps performing well against the Bronx Bombers. They were building blocks. And they delivered about as well as anyone could have hoped.

"I think we all understand that we're talented, to be honest with you," left-hander MacKenzie Gore said. "But it's one of those 'You either do it, or you don't' kind of things. This is where we're at. We don't want to be just like: 'Oh, we're going to be good in a couple of years, as a player or a team.' It's our job to be good right now."

Tonight’s victory included the first home run of Dylan Crews’ career (which began Monday). It included two more hits and three more stolen bases by James Wood, fully living up to the hype in his first two months in the majors. It included six standout innings from Gore, who in his last two starts has looked far more like the potential All-Star he was in April and May than the shaky left-hander he had been since.

It included some more harrowing moments late, from a baserunning disaster that killed a potential rally in the bottom of the eighth to another narrow escape act by Kyle Finnegan in the top of the ninth.

And it included plenty more contributions from a lineup that boasted nine players 26 or younger, six of them rookies. What more could a long-suffering D.C. baseball fan ask for?

"They're going to grow together," manager Davey Martinez said. "We're going to do some really good things, and a lot faster than people think."

Or, as Finnegan put it: "We know that we can play with anybody on any night. This proves it."

At the center of it all was Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in last summer’s draft who burst through the minors in 14 months and was promoted to the big leagues this week and thrust into the spotlight against the Yankees. He didn’t look fazed by any of it, going 4-for-11 with three extra-base hits, a walk, two RBIs and a stolen base.

With the slumping CJ Abrams getting the night off, Martinez decided to give Crews his first shot at leading off. This was nothing new for the 22-year-old, who routinely led off in the minors, including during his two months at Triple-A Rochester. The idea: Take advantage of the kid’s good eye at the plate, and maybe even strike gold with one big swing.

"I think it just matches into the way I play: Aggressive, and wanting to get something started early," Crews said. "I led off in college a little bit, then led off in Triple-A, Double-A as well. So, nothing new for me."

And wouldn’t you know what happened. Crews took ball one high from Carlos Rodón, then got a fastball over the plate and destroyed it. The ball soared high in the air, traveling 399 feet to left field, easily clearing the fence and landing in the visitors’ bullpen, giving the rookie all the time he wanted to stroll around the bases as the ballpark lights turned bright red and soak in the adulation of a crowd of 30,190 that for the third straight night included several dozen family members and friends.

"It felt great," Crews said of his trip around the bases. "The whole red lights thing was new to me. It kind of tripped me out in the beginning. But it was awesome. It was a great moment."

The Nats would make it 2-0 before ever making an out, thanks a single and stolen base by Wood, then a wild pitch and balk by Rodón, who argued he was having a problem with his PitchCom device but was granted no leniency by plate umpire Tony Randazzo.

They kept the pressure on in the bottom of the second, with the rookies again coming up big. Jacob Young beat out a bunt single and stole second, and then at long last somebody delivered the first hit with a runner in scoring position after 36 failed attempts by both teams combined in the series. That somebody, believe it or not, was Nasim Nuñez.

Nuñez, the seldom-used Rule 5 Draft pick making only his eighth start at shortstop with Abrams sitting, came through with an RBI single to left, snapping the streak and earning his first career RBI in the process. He would wind up stealing a base and scoring on Wood’s two-out RBI single to left, completing the Nationals’ early four-run rally, with all the runs scored by and driven in by rookies.

"Our plan was, when we got on, to make things happen," said Martinez, whose team stole five bases in the first two innings alone. "We got on base, and guys picked some good spots to steal." 

Surely appreciative of the support, Gore took the mound on the heels of an encouraging start in Atlanta and picked up right where he left off. Actually, he took things up a notch, especially in the velocity department. After seeing a drop in his fastball for much of the summer, Gore averaged 96.6 mph tonight, higher than his season average, topping out at 98.5 mph.

"It's a long season, and you go through periods of time where you just don't feel as good," he said when asked to what he attributed tonight's increase. "Really, that's all I got for you. You keep trying to get your body ready to roll. Credit to the medical staff here. You feel good sometimes, and sometimes you don't."

The left-hander was burned once, when Jazz Chisholm Jr. drove a first-pitch fastball to center for a solo homer in the top of the second. But he otherwise kept the damage to a minimum, allowing a cue-ball RBI single down the first base line to Aaron Judge in the fifth to bring home the only other run he surrendered.

The highlight moments were much more prevalent for Gore. He struck out Gleyber Torres, Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton in the third. He induced a 5-4-3 double play out of DJ LeMahieu to escape a jam in the fourth. And he notched two more strikeouts before departing after 102 pitches at the end of the sixth, walking off the field with a swagger he hadn’t shown in a while.

"That's great," Gore said. "To be able to hold the velo throughout the game is important, when you need to go get something, to be able to get it like we did in the sixth tonight."

And this was no one-off. It was just the latest impressive performance by a Nationals starter. Over the last six games against the Braves and Yankees, the rotation posted a combined 1.95 ERA and 1.144 WHIP, striking out 32 while walking only 11.

The Nats bullpen had to gut out the late innings Tuesday to pull off a tense victory. That group was put to the test again tonight but survived. Jose A. Ferrer retired the side in the seventh. Jacob Barnes got out of the eighth with a big double play. And Finnegan again made it through a harrowing ninth, stranding two runners in scoring position to close out another big night for the organization.

"Maybe I have a have a little flair for the dramatics," Finnegan said with a wry smile. "I would love for it to go 1-2-3, nice and smooth. But I had to battle, dig down deep. I felt like I got better as the inning went on. Sometimes in those situations, when you don't feel great, you've got to find a way to get it done."