Big blasts for Soto and Adams, for different reasons

Let's ignore, tough as it may be, the Nationals bullpen for just one night. Yes, this remains the biggest topic of discussion on a team that too often is seeing the good work of others overshadowed by ineffective work in the late innings by the majors' worst relief corps.

Tonight's 9-6 victory over the Giants was that close only because of a near ninth-inning collapse, rescued only by Sean Doolittle's hurried appearance to record the final two outs with the tying run at the plate.

But the victory also only was possible because of the performance of the Nationals lineup, which not only scored four early runs but tacked on what proved to be five huge runs late.

"It's really important," left fielder Juan Soto said. "You see the game. If we don't score those runs late, if we just sit on our heels, it's going to be worse."

So let's spend some time recognizing the offense for a change, because this was an effort worth recognizing.

The Nationals scored eight of their nine runs via four home runs. Soto and Howie Kendrick took starter Jeff Samardzija deep in the bottom of the first. Matt Adams and Kurt Suzuki took reliever Travis Bergen deep in the bottom of the seventh.

And of those four homers, the Soto and Adams blasts were perhaps the most significant, for different reasons.

Soto's two-run homer off Samardzija came on a 1-0 fastball. That's notable because Soto simply isn't getting a chance to hit very many fastballs these days. The best hitter in the majors against heaters as a rookie last season, he is now seeing the lowest percentage of fastballs of any qualifying batter in 2019.

The 20-year-old didn't expect that to be the case three weeks ago.

"I never think of that," he said. "But now I see the stats and I see they throw me more off-speed than anybody. I just try to sit on it. I go to the plate sometimes and I just sit on the slider. I know they're going to throw it. So I try to see it and hit it the other way."

So what did Soto think when he saw Samardzija's first-inning fastball over the plate tonight?

"I was a lot excited," he said, his eyes opening wide as he spoke. "I was waiting for that for a couple days."

Soto didn't get many more fastballs during the course of the game, but he did manage to connect on a slider for a third-inning single, and he also drew a walk in the eighth, allowing him to reach base three times in five plate appearances.

Adams, meanwhile, had no luck against Samardzija despite entering the game having completely owned the right-hander in his career (9-for-17 with three homers). No problem, because the big lefty slugger did his damage against, of all people, a lefty reliever in a key spot late in the game.

With the Nationals clinging to a 4-2 lead at the time, Adams came up to bat against Bergen with two on and two out in the seventh. It was a rare plate appearance against a lefty, but with Ryan Zimmerman already used as a pinch-hitter the previous inning, manager Davey Martinez decided to stick with Adams, believing the matchup against a fastball-curveball lefty like Bergen played to the slugger's strength.

Adams proceeded to crush a 1-2 pitch deep to right-center for the three-run homer that broke the game open (if only for a few moments). It was only his second homer off a left-hander in 46 plate appearances the last two seasons.

"Just a confidence builder," Adams said. "In spring training, I faced a bunch of lefties and just got comfortable with it. I think that's all it is with lefties, just seeing them more times, you know? It's tough when you see them once or twice and get thrown in there every once in a while, but the more you see them the more comfortable you get. I think that's a big thing for me."