Gray, bats come up big for series win in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO – Josiah Gray had been here before. An otherwise dominant start was now teetering on the brink, often spoiled by an untimely home run surrendered.

Here, then, was Gray in the bottom of the fifth this afternoon at Oracle Park, having just finally allowed his first hit of the game, now having subsequently loaded the bases with Darrin Ruf stepping to the plate for the Giants with a chance to ruin everything.

What proceeded to take place perhaps will be looked back upon as a turning point for the 24-year-old in his ascension from highly touted prospect to legitimate frontline starter. Just when he could have folded, Gray bore down and put out the fire. He struck out Ruf on four pitches, hopping off the mound with glee after he got him to whiff at a slider, preserving the Nationals’ lead in what ultimately would be an 11-5 win that saw way more late action than anyone anticipated.

"Making that pitch, after not making my pitches that whole inning, being able to make that pitch to that kind of hitter was huge," Gray said. "It was just an exclaim for joy and raw emotion. There's nothing like it."

A weekend series that included plenty of action and nothing but lopsided games saw the Nats emerge victorious twice in three attempts. After getting swept by San Francisco only seven days prior in D.C., they bounced back in impressive fashion here to win the series and begin this nine-game West Coast trip on a decided high note.

The Nationals did so thanks to a five-run explosion in the top of the first that included contributions from Yadiel Hernandez, Victor Robles and even Lucius Fox. They survived a near-implosion from a bullpen that gave up five runs in the bottom of the seventh to keep a crowd of 38,451 energized throughout. Then they extended their lead with a bounce-back top of the eighth, with Hernandez delivering the final blow via bases-loaded double that gave him five RBIs and sent fans scurrying to the exits. 

"They had gotten close to us the previous inning, and the momentum kind of shifted," Hernandez said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "The excitement was on their end. The game was very close. They could've easily won the game at that point. It wasn't just the fact we scored three runs. It could've been one run, two runs. It gave us momentum on our side and basically gave us a little exhale."

Above all else, they got a big-time performance from the most important young member of their rotation.

Unlike many of his previous starts, Gray wasn’t blowing away hitters; he recorded a season-low three strikeouts. What he did do was throw strikes, induce mostly weak contact, rely on his defense to make plays and most importantly avoid the one big mistake that has defined too many of his previous outings.

“Obviously strikeouts are nice, but zeros are nicer," he said. "Keeping us in the game is my main mentality, and I did just that.”

Gray actually carried a no-hitter into the fifth. Not until Jason Krizan’s single past a diving Josh Bell at first base did the big zero under the “H” column on the scoreboard flip from zero to one. Then came the potential for trouble. Gray followed up the Krizan single by issuing back-to-back walks on nine total pitches, and now the bases were loaded with Ruf stepping to the plate.

That’s when Gray dug deep and decided not to let this one slip from his grasp. He got ahead in the count with back-to-back fastballs. Then with the count 1-2 he dropped a well-placed slider in there to get Ruf and end the inning and let out a celebratory howl as he stalked off the mound.

Gray would return to the mound in the sixth and retire the side, after which he was the recipient of a handshake and a big hug from his manager following a standout, 93-pitch performance.

"I talked to him between innings and let him know: 'This is the inning where you've really got to focus on shutting the hitters down,' " Martinez said. " 'Go out there and make your pitches. I know your pitch count is up there, but I think you can make it through this.' And he went out there and did great. I'm proud of him."

The Nationals couldn’t have put Gray into a better position to succeed than they did today, staking their young starter to a 5-0 lead before he ever took the mound. That top-of-the-first rally saw them send 11 batters to the plate, eight of them reaching safely, none of them on anything more than a single.

The small ball worked, though, thanks to well-placed hits by César Hernández, Juan Soto and Yadiel Hernandez, not to mention Nelson Cruz’s chopper that slipped under Jason Vosler’s glove for what initially was scored an RBI single but was later changed to an error on the third baseman. Three two-out walks issued by Giants starter Alex Cobb helped keep the inning alive, and a run-scoring balk left Cobb cursing at himself in frustration.

But the emotional highlight of the five-run rally came when the Nats’ ninth hitter, Fox, beat out a grounder to short. After 20 big league at-bats without finding paydirt, the 24-year-old infielder finally had his first career hit. The visiting dugout roared with approval when Fox was called safe and immediately motioned for the ball for posterity.

"Those are my guys," Fox said. "Since day one, they've been rooting me on. The support here is amazing. I'm happy to come to work every day to battle with these guys. ... They help me to relax. The support is amazing. I can't thank them enough."

Fox, like so many others in the Nationals lineup, would record another hit before the day was complete. He also stole a base and swiped home on a ball in the dirt that didn’t drift particularly far from the plate but was far enough for the speedster.

It all made for an enjoyable Sunday at the ballpark, capping off a weekend that might have been the Nationals’ most encouraging of the season to date.

"It was a very good weekend series for us," Yadiel Hernandez said. "A very good series offensively, as well. We got a lot of base hits, drove in a lot of runs. I think part of it has to do with focusing more at the plate. We just need to keep doing the same thing: Better pitch selection, and continue the offense like we did this weekend."

Note: Following the game, the Nationals optioned relievers Sam Clay and Francisco Perez to Triple-A Rochester. All major league clubs are required to reduce their active rosters from 28 to 26 by Monday, with teams limited to only 14 pitchers throughout May (then 13 after that). These moves leave the Nats with only one left-hander in their bullpen for now: Josh Rogers.