Rare home run barrage propels Nats to another win over Marlins (updated)

Maybe it was appropriate today’s game featured a centennial celebration of Washington’s 1924 champions, a club that won the city’s first World Series despite ranking last in the American League with a grand total of 22 home runs that season.

No team in the National League this year has hit fewer home runs than the Nationals, who entered this contest against the Marlins with a grand total of 122 on the season.

Bucky Harris, Muddy Ruel, Goose Goslin and Co. would’ve been proud of Davey Martinez’s current squad, which runs the bases with the kind of abandon more common in the Dead Ball Era than the Modern Era. They might not have known what to make, though, of the three titanic blasts that were on display this afternoon during a 4-1 victory by the home team. (Not to mention the giant scoreboard, flashing lights and instant Statcast data.)

Yes, the 2024 Nationals won a baseball game thanks to three home runs. For that, they can thank Joey Gallo, José Tena and Juan Yepez, who each delivered a solo shot during the course of the afternoon and early evening to send a crowd of 28,175 – just a bit shy of the 31,667 who packed into Griffith Stadium on Oct. 10, 1924 – home happy.

It hasn’t been their typical formula for success this season. But it’s appreciated when it happens.

"Today we were able to connect on a few, but I don't think it's anything different in approach or anything like that," Gallo said. "Obviously, we'd always love to hit three or four in a game. That would be great. It just doesn't work like that."

The power display was especially handy on a day when Patrick Corbin pitched like the version of himself that helped make the 2019 title possible.

Corbin (the only Washington pitcher to win Game 7 of the World Series besides Walter Johnson) had been on something of a late-season surge, at least by his standards, with four straight starts allowing two or fewer runs. That streak came to an abrupt halt Sunday in Pittsburgh, where the veteran left-hander was asked to top 100 pitches no matter what to compensate for the previous day’s doubleheader and wound up giving up seven runs in the process, raising his ERA back to 5.60.

Corbin was back to form this afternoon, taking advantage of a free-swinging Marlins lineup he already beat earlier this month. He surrendered a second-inning run on Jonah Bride’s double and Otto Lopez’s RBI single, but that’s all he allowed over six strong frames.

"He attacked the zone," Martinez said. "He was really good. His cutter was good today. His fastball was good. And he threw his slider when he needed to. But the cutter was really effective today."

Corbin continued to get swings and misses, something that had been in short supply for much of the last four seasons. He did so by relying on his slider (which he threw anywhere from 75 to 83 mph) and that ever-improving cutter, which again came in at a higher velocity (88 mph) than his season average (86 mph).

"I think maybe keeping it around 88-plus seems to help," he said. "It's another pitch to throw to righties, and one less slider. Which can help later in games, or with two strikes to try to get them to chase."

The Marlins managed only two baserunners off Corbin over his final four innings, and neither proved damaging. Lopez drew a two-out walk in the fourth but was quickly thrown out trying to steal second by Keibert Ruiz. And Kyle Stowers reached on a wild throw by shortstop Nasim Nuñez (again replacing the banged-up CJ Abrams) in the fifth but never advanced any farther on the bases.

Put it all together, and Corbin had himself a quality start: one run allowed over six innings. His ERA sits at 5.45 with two starts likely remaining in his Nationals career, but if nothing else he appears to be leaving a slightly better taste in everyone’s mouths here at the end.

"At times, it's been frustrating," he said. "You try to go out there and do your best, and things don't go your way. I think I've just located a lot better, have gotten some more strikeouts, which helps."

Corbin has been the victim of some of the worst run support in the league this season, and he didn’t get a ton today. But he did get enough to depart in line for the win, thanks to a much-needed display of power from one of the league’s least-powerful lineup.

Gallo got it started with his solo blast in the bottom of the second, a moon shot into the second deck down the right field line. It’s the kind of production the Nationals thought they’d get on a regular basis from the 30-year-old slugger, but it’s only the seventh time he’s actually homered in 65 games during a season marred by multiple injuries and a whole lot of strikeouts when he has been able to play.

This homer snapped an 0-for-19 slump by Gallo, who has continued to get regular playing time this month. Not because the Nats need his bat in the lineup, but because they need his glove at first base, which has been a godsend to the team’s erratic young infielders.

"I haven't had the greatest year, at least offensively," he admitted. "I've been hurt, missed a lot of time. So I'm just trying to stay positive and remember that I'm still coming back from missing a significant portion of the season. But for me, I'm older in my career now, and I've been through a lot. With young guys around, you want to be a good example, no matter if you're playing good or not."

One of the young infielders benefitting from Gallo's presence at first base is Tena, whose defensive woes at third base have been pronounced since he joined the club last month. Why does the 23-year-old continue to play? Because his bat looks like it could be legit, and he showed it again today.

Tena had already singled and scored in the bottom of the fourth on Ruiz’s RBI single, which gave the Nationals the lead. He came up to bat again in the sixth and delivered the knockout punch to Marlins starter Valente Bellozo, mashing a 3-2 curveball 412 feet to right-center for his third homer (and eighth extra-base hit) in 28 games.

And when Yepez took reliever George Soriano deep to left to open the bottom of the eighth, the Nats had themselves a rare three-homer game that felt more appropriate for baseball circa 2024 than 1924.

"It was really nice," Martinez said. "The guys hit some homers today, which was awesome."