Wood homers twice to carry Nats to fourth straight win (updated)

He had already hit 11 home runs in the big leagues, more than a few of them jaw-dropping in nature whether because of exit velocity or distance traveled. D.C. already knows what James Wood is, and what he can be.

Perhaps tonight, thanks to a jaw-dropping performance against the most-watched ballclub in the world, any portion of the baseball community that didn’t already know learned what everyone here had long since come to accept: This kid is special.

With two titanic home runs, not to mention an infield single and a bases-loaded walk for good measure, the 22-year-old outfielder drove in five runs to carry the Nationals to a convincing 8-2 victory over the Dodgers to clinch a series win over the defending World Series champions.

A Nats team that lost six of seven to begin the season has now won four in a row against top competition and remarkably will have a chance to sweep L.A. on Wednesday afternoon before embarking on a 10-game road trip to Miami, Pittsburgh and Colorado.

"I just think it kind of proves we're really not far," Wood said. "Even when we were losing games, we weren't off by much. Being able to put these games together, I think it just proves that."

Wood has been front and center in making these two wins over the Dodgers possible. His seventh-inning homer off Anthony Banda on Monday night proved the difference in a 6-4 victory. And his pair of blasts off Justin Wrobleski – plus his other exploits tonight – allowed his teammates to cruise to their most lopsided win of the young season.

Wood’s first blast came in the bottom of the first when he ambushed a first-pitch fastball from Wrobleski and sent it flying into the red seats in deep left-center, a nearly identical location to Monday night’s homer.

One inning later, Wood (who served as designated hitter for the first time) showed the patience to draw a bases-loaded walk, "driving" in another run in the process. Keibert Ruiz would continue the rally with a two-run single that extended the Nats’ lead to 5-0.

"He picked us up right away early, which we really need," manager Davey Martinez said of Wood. "And the guys took off after that."

And then Wood put a final stamp on the best night of his burgeoning career when he again ambushed the first pitch he saw from Wrobleski, this time a curveball, and launched it to right-center for a rare pulled home run, not to mention an 8-0 lead.

"I just feel like the game dictates that," he said of his out-of-character, first-pitch damage. "Sometimes you've got to be patient and earn your pitch. And sometimes it comes early. Today was just a little bit earlier than usual."

Thus completed a remarkable string of four plate appearances over two nights in which Wood went homer, homer, bases-loaded walk, homer, each of those plate appearances coming against a left-hander.

"He's totally engaged when it comes to hitting," Martinez said. "He has a plan every time he goes up there, every at-bat. And he understands the strike zone. And he continues to get better."

Before Wood and his teammates ever stepped to the plate, the story on this 46-degree April evening figured to be Brad Lord’s first major league start. The 25-year-old right-hander, who already made three relief appearances, was now back in his familiar role, even if the plan was to limit him to 45-50 pitches because he hasn’t had a chance to get stretched out to a full workload.

Lord, the 18th-round pick who spent his offseason hauling Christmas trees at Home Depot, took the mound in the top of the first and immediately had the honor of staring down Shohei Ohtani. He didn’t flinch, striking out the Dodgers superstar with a 95 mph fastball.

Lord would get through the first on 13 pitches. He would labor in the second, issuing back-to-back walks, but he rebounded to escape the jam without suffering any damage. Then he stared down Ohtani again in the third and proceeded to strike him out again, this time with a slider.

"Just go right after him," he said. "He's a great player, but just go right after him and make him hit the baseball."

All told, Lord completed three-plus scoreless innings on 55 pitches, allowing four baserunners but striking out four. With Michael Soroka on the 15-day injured list recovering from a biceps strain, it seems safe to say his replacement in the rotation will get another shot this weekend.

"When he's throwing strikes, it's a good thing," Martinez said. "And today, he didn't shy away from the strike zone."

Martinez was dealing with an overtaxed bullpen again tonight after going all-in to win Monday’s game. But the big early lead allowed the Nats manager to summon his less-used relief arms for multi-inning appearances and save the top guys for Wednesday’s finale.

Colin Poche enjoyed his best outing of the year, striking out all three batters he faced in the fourth. Orlando Ribalta then churned out three innings on 58 pitches, allowing a relatively insignificant solo homer to Andy Pages. And then Jackson Rutledge, called up from Triple-A Rochester four days ago but finally making his season debut, pitched the eighth and ninth to close out a most enjoyable night at the ballpark for the home team, which recorded 15 strikeouts in total against a feared lineup.

"We knew we had to cover a lot of innings," Lord said. "Me starting first, I'm going to try to eat as many innings as I can. I want to lessen the load on the other guys in the bullpen. And it helps, too, when the offense scores a lot of runs. It definitely makes it a lot easier to pitch."