Adams, Harper return healthy and productive in win over Tigers

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - As happy as he was to see Matt Adams launch a ball off the right field wall in the bottom of the second today, Davey Martinez also couldn't help but cringe a little once he realized Adams was going to have to try to stretch the hit into a triple.

"I'm going: 'Oh lord, stop,'" the manager said. "He said he felt fine. My biggest thing about spring training is the fear of injuries. Every day we get through a game and nobody gets hurt, it's a good day."

Chalk up today as a good day, then. Adams' right heel, despite a nasty blister that hasn't come close to fully healing yet, held up just fine in his first game in a week. The big first baseman wound up going 3-for-3 during the Nationals' 6-2 split-squad victory over the Tigers, adding a pair of singles to his earlier triple.

"We just kind of took it slow, didn't want to push it too much," he said. "But it felt good the last couple days. Davey just wanted to give me a couple extra days to make sure we didn't tear it back open. Today was the day. Got it wrapped up pretty good in there, and it felt good out there playing."

Adams thinks the blister developed because he only wore one pair of socks last week instead of his customary two.

"And by the time I felt it, it was already ripped open, so it was too late," he said. "But you live and you learn. I know next spring training to make sure I've got the right stuff."

Bryce Harper had the right stuff in his second at-bat of the day, during which he launched a towering home run off the back wall of the right field bullpen, cutting right through a 14-mph wind. The star outfielder added an opposite-field RBI single the following inning, which appears to have impressed his manager more than a homer.

Harper and Adams combined to drive in four of the Nationals' six runs which were more than enough for their pitching staff. Five relievers collectively tossed six scoreless innings, and nobody on the staff issued a walk.

Only starter Gio Gonzalez labored during the course of the afternoon, allowing six hits (five singles and a double) and pitching out of the stretch most of his three innings. Even then, the left-hander found the silver lining in his outing.

"A lot of positives in today's game," he said. "There were a lot of things I was working on with (catcher Matt Wieters). It was tough to get a feel for certain pitches, things were a little flat, a little straight. That's why I say it's a positive day: Stuff I wanted to work on in certain counts."

Though he threw 53 pitches, the most by any Nationals starter so far this spring, Gonzalez said he felt strong after he departed the mound at the end of the third and tried to convince Martinez to let him come back out for the fourth.

"I actually felt great. I really did," he said. "It's just the competitor in me, I wanted to go out there for another inning. It's just getting the feel for it. I understand. There's other guys that gotta work, too. Can't be selfish. That's a good feeling, knowing you want to go back out there and keep working. I felt great. Arm felt great."