Irvin brushes off six-run first to salvage start vs. Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – The last thing any starting pitcher wants to see is his manager walking up the dugout steps and making his way toward the mound in the first inning. There is no scenario in baseball in which that can be construed as a good thing.

Jake Irvin’s reaction when he saw Davey Martinez make that walk early this afternoon at Clover Park?

“Lock in for the second inning,” the Nationals right-hander said.

In a scene that would never be possible from April through October but is permissible in March, Irvin handed the ball to his manager with two outs in the bottom of the first after giving up six runs to the Mets, then returned to the dugout to mentally prepare himself to re-enter the game in the bottom of the second as if it had never happened.

Major League Baseball instituted the re-entry rule a few years ago for exactly this type of situation. If a starter’s pitch count gets too high in one particular inning, he can be pulled but then re-inserted the following inning and proceed through the rest of his outing.

And Irvin took full advantage of it this afternoon. Despite that disastrous, six-run first during what ultimately was a 7-6 loss, he returned strong to retire eight of the final 10 batters he faced and made it into the fourth inning before departing for good.

“I think that’s kind of the beauty of spring: Getting to go back out there and salvage a little bit,” he said. “Definitely take the positives away from it, learn from the negatives. These are the starts in spring training that are kind of the best in a way, because you get to learn from it and move forward with the stuff you’ve been working on. … It was a lot better going out there and getting 1-2-3 and feeling good.”

Irvin entered having yet to surrender a run in his previous three starts this spring, with a particular knack for completing his first inning in fewer than 10 pitches. This one got off on the wrong foot right from the outset when first baseman Nathaniel Lowe couldn’t handle a short-hop grounder by leadoff man Francisco Lindor and was charged with an error.

Mark Vientos battled Irvin through an eight-pitch at-bat, then hammered a 3-2 sinker deep to left for a two-run homer. Pete Alonso followed with a 106.5 mph laser up the middle for a single, and Jeff McNeil followed that with a double to the wall in right-center.

Irvin responded with back-to-back strikeouts and was on the verge of completing the inning, only to issue a two-out walk to No. 7 hitter Luis De Los Santos. That forced Martinez to get emergency reliever Marquis Grissom Jr. warm in the bullpen. And when Irvin proceeded to serve up a grand slam to former Nats prospect Jakson Reetz on his 38th pitch of the inning, the decision was made.

“I just went out there and said: ‘Hey, you threw a lot of pitches, but stay ready. You’re coming back out,” Martinez said.

So Irvin retreated to the dugout, watched as Grissom completed the bottom of the first and then started mentally preparing himself to return for the bottom of the second.

“You have to try to make it feel like the end of a normal inning,” he said. “Different circumstances, but prepare yourself for the second inning.”

Irvin responded exactly as Martinez hoped he would. Facing the heart of the Mets lineup again in the second, he retired Vientos and Alonso on fly balls to left. He then retired the side in the third and returned to get Lindor to fly out in the fourth before his day was officially done after 81 total pitches.

What was the biggest difference after the first inning?

“More competitive offspeed pitches, for sure,” Irvin said. “I think that was a big thing. And then getting ahead of guys is going to be a point of emphasis moving forward.”

This was Irvin’s fourth start of the spring. His fifth will come not in a big league game, but on a back field in West Palm Beach against teammates. With the Nationals scheduled to play on the other side of the state against the Braves that day, Irvin will stay back and work on some things while still getting his full workload in.

“After an outing like today, the goal is to go out there and get outs,” he said. “Make sure the stuff is crisp, and get outs.”