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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Davey 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.