Gore settles in, Wood homers twice and Ferrer gets first save as Nats finish Fish (updated)

There’s not much to complain about on a Sunday afternoon in mid-September in Washington, D.C. The summer’s heat and humidity have departed the region for the year. And there were matters of sport of all kinds happening in the area on a lovely sunny, 70-degree day in the District.

As it pertained to the local baseball club, this afternoon went as easily as a Sunday morning to wrap up the penultimate homestand of the 2024 season. With a 4-3 victory in front of 18,265 fans on South Capitol Street, the Nats finished this homestand 4-2 and the season series 11-2 against the Marlins.

MacKenzie Gore set the pace en route to his ninth win of the year, despite a prolonged first inning.

“Just command wasn't there from the get-go," Gore said after the game. "And then we got going.”

After issuing a leadoff walk and a two-out walk, the southpaw needed 31 pitches, only 16 of which were strikes, to get out of a scoreless top of the first. But he settled in from there to produce yet another strong stat line against the Marlins.

Gore finished six innings with only one unearned run, two hits and two walks charged against him while striking out five. The unearned run came in the third inning after Jacob Young allowed the leadoff hitter to reach second by dropping a deep fly ball while battling the sun. A single and a sacrifice fly off Gore gave the Marlins a 1-0 lead.

“I just thought we just did what we needed to do after that," Gore said of his long first inning. "Just kind of came out slow. But we figured it out and that's what it's all about.”

But the lefty was solid for most of the outing. Even with a 31-pitch first frame, he kept his pitch count down to get deep into the game. And he kept the Marlins off-balance with a good mix of his fastball, curveball and changeup.

“He settled down after the first inning," manager Davey Martinez said. "I think everything was quick on him in the first inning. He was able to come back and settle down a little bit. He slowed things down a little bit and was really adjusted to just pumping strikes once again. Throwing his breaking ball, keeping balls down. They didn't really hit the ball that hard on him today, which was awesome.”

This was Gore's 30th start of the season, the first time he's reached that milestone in his young career. And it went as well as it could have as he looks to finish this season strong after being shutdown in early September last year.

“Yeah, that's big," he said. "That's just something important just so when you get back in these situations, you've been there. So yeah, that's a big deal, but we're not done yet.”

Then the offense did just enough to put Gore in line for the win, as it has done in each of the four wins this homestand.

Facing right-hander Adam Oller, the bats came right back to give the Nats a lead in the fourth inning with four straight one-out hits. Andrés Chaparro doubled into the right field corner and scored on Luis García Jr.’s RBI single. Then José Tena and Keibert Ruiz both singled to push García across the plate.

James Wood then provided an insurance run with his first home run since Aug. 18 in Philadelphia. The rookie hit an outside fastball 109 mph off the bat and 435 feet to center field for his sixth homer of the year.

“You try not to (think about the homer drought), but sometimes you're like, 'I feel like I've hit one in a while,'" Wood said. "So it felt good to get one today and get the win after.”

That homer was also the longest of his major league career. When informed of the distance, the quiet and humble slugger replied, "That's not bad."

It also turned out to be important after Eduardo Salazar gave up a leadoff home run to Jonah Bride in the seventh as the first reliever to come in after Gore.

But as the one-run game entered the late innings, Wood stepped up again to provide some more comfort. Leading off the bottom of the eighth, he hit a slider right down the middle 107.7 mph off the bat and 426 feet to left-center field for his first multi-homer game of his career and a 4-2 lead.

“It felt good," Wood said of the multi-homer outing. "I kind of have just been, not like trying, but I don't know. It just felt good to kind of have some things click for me today and was just able to see the results on the field.”

“That's awesome," Martinez said. "Hopefully, that doesn't stop today, right? I love the swings. He was behind the balls really well. He stayed in the middle of the field, which was awesome. So let's see if we can keep him there til the end of the year and he hits a few more for us.”

The second longball proved to be the game winner after Jose A. Ferrer gave up one run in the ninth. But the young lefty reliever recorded the first save of his career while stranding the trying run at third and go-ahead run at second in the ninth.

“It's hard to explain it with words," Ferrer said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "It definitely is very different than any other innings I've pitched so far. The energy was very different. And it's just hard to describe it. Very, very different.”

After a day of firsts for three of their young players, the Nats now embark on their final road trip of the season happily before returning home to finish the 2024 campaign with six games at Nationals Park.

“It's gratifying to see them getting better every day," Davey Martinez said. "To see them doing the things that we think that they can do and have success doing it, it's awesome. I can go back and get on the train now, be happy and get ready to go 1-0 tomorrow.”