Fedde returns from COVID-19 IL, leads Nats to win (updated)

A long day of baseball for the Nationals began with a flurry of roster moves, moves necessitated both by pitcher usage and pitcher injury in the last 48 hours. After Max Scherzer departed Friday night's start 12 pitches in with a tweaked groin and Daniel Hudson had to go on the 10-day IL this morning with right elbow inflammation, they had no choice but to summon whatever healthy arms they had available to them just to get through the 14 innings on today's schedule.

Really, though, the Nationals' best hope for getting through the day and night in one piece rested on Erick Fedde's ability to provide quality and depth in the doubleheader opener.

Which he did with aplomb, returning from a four-week stint on the COVID-19 IL to toss five scoreless innings and lead his team to a 2-0 victory over the Giants.

"That was a really frustrating month to miss out on," Fedde said during his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "Just to be able to get out and compete again made me realize how much I missed it."

Behind Fedde's strong start, a leadoff homer from Kyle Schwarber in the first and an RBI double from Josh Harrison in the fourth, the Nationals positioned themselves to win their first seven-inning game in six tries this season, provided a remade bullpen could close it out.

Kyle Finnegan, taking over a setup appearance normally reserved for Hudson, did his part with a scoreless sixth. And Brad Hand finished it off in the seventh for his 11th save in 13 opportunities.

Fedde, though, was the key to the whole operation, his start setting a positive tone for the entire day and night. It was no given he would do that, considering the right-hander last pitched in a big league game 27 days ago, shutting out the Diamondbacks over seven sterling innings only to find out two days later he had tested positive for COVID-19.

Though he was vaccinated and never showed any symptoms, Fedde nonetheless was required to spend 10 days in quarantine, after which he needed to rebuild his arm back up through a simulated game and a five-inning rehab start for Single-A Wilmington that twice was postponed due to rain.

"When they called me and told me, I was shocked," he said of his positive test result. "Obviously, I'm not a scientist, but I was vaccinated and I felt great. It was unfortunate. I'm more thankful I didn't pass it around the team."

So who really knew what to expect when Fedde took the mound this afternoon against the Giants? Turns out he didn't miss a beat.

Though he allowed a leadoff single to Lamonte Wade Jr. on his first pitch of the game, the right-hander responded with three straight strikeouts of Mike Yastrzemski, Buster Posey and Brandon Belt, setting the tone for the afternoon.

Fedde would eventually allow four hits, but all were singles. He did not issue a walk. And when confronted with a potential jam, he calmly got of it with a double play grounder in the second. By the time he walked off the mound at the end of a 1-2-3 top of the fifth, Fedde had retired nine batters in a row, completed five scoreless innings on 82 pitches and lowered his season ERA to 3.86.

"Two things that stick out: One is his confidence and two is his ability to throw all four of his pitches when he wants to," manager Davey Martinez said. "He throws strikes. That's huge. For a young pitcher as he is, things are starting to come together for him. It's good to see."

And he was in position to earn the win thanks to some early run support from his teammates.

Schwarber, placed into the leadoff spot for the second time in a week, jumped on Kevin Gausman's second-pitch fastball in the bottom of the first and sent it flying into the second deck in right field for a 1-0 lead.

"That was really quick," Martinez said, who plans to lead off Schwarber in the nightcap as well. "It was kind of nice."

The Nationals couldn't capitalize on a chance to add more that inning, stranding a runner on third, but they did convert in the fourth when Juan Soto walked and eventually came around to score on Harrison's double to the wall in right field, which eluded a twisting Yastrzemski.

It was only two runs, but for this lineup against this pitcher, that felt like significant production. And thanks to the effort of their ever changing pitching staff, the Nats made them hold up for a rare seven-inning victory.

The nightcap is set to begin at 7:15 p.m., with the just-promoted Jefry Rodriguez starting for the Nationals and hoping to provide some quality innings himself before handing it over to the bullpen.

"I'm not going to put any limitations on it," Martinez said. "As long as he's throwing strikes and pounding the strike zone and getting outs, we'll see how far he can take us."