Nats topple Cards to keep September surge going (updated)

ST. LOUIS – The 2022 season was never going to be about wins and losses for the Nationals. It was always going to be about development, and the hope that there would be more reason to be optimistic by season’s end than there was at the outset.

It’s still far too soon to declare anything in that regard, and the current roster has a whole lot of work still to do to try to erase the foul stench of April through August. But there is no doubt the last couple of weeks have offered as many encouraging developments as anyone around here has seen all year, peaking this Labor Day weekend.

Today’s 6-0 victory over the Cardinals was the Nationals’ third straight over a first-place opponent, coming on the heels of back-to-back, 7-1 road wins over the Mets. They’ve now won six of eight for only the second time this year, and they’ve won nine of 16 for the first time in 2022.

"I think it shows you what we can do when everyone's clicking at the same time," outfielder Lane Thomas said. "It's been fun. The last 10 days or so, it's been awesome."

The results, of course, are welcomed by everyone, but just as encouraging are the primary players who are making these results possible. The young core general manager Mike Rizzo is trying to assemble in the wake of the massive sell-off of the last two summers is beginning to take shape and beginning to look like something worth building around.

"I love what I'm seeing right now, and it's been a lot of fun working with these guys," manager Davey Martinez said. "They're starting to get it, as you can see. They're starting to understand what we're trying to do, and it's been a lot of fun. It's been a lot of fun for me, it's been a lot of fun for my coaching staff. Watching these guys grow together, it's been good."

That includes CJ Abrams, who today recorded his first career four-hit game and first career triple and is now 7 for his last 13, all while playing a clean shortstop that has allowed the pitching staff to breathe easy and not fear contact.

"Every time I'm at the plate, I'm getting more and more comfortable," Abrams said. "I'm just going to keep going."

It includes Keibert Ruiz, who on the heels of a three-hit afternoon at Citi Field was right back behind the plate today for his fourth straight start and proceeded to reach base four times and launch his seventh homer of the season.

It may include Thomas, who is making a late-season case to be considered part of the future around here by reaching base 31 times over his last 17 games, including four times this afternoon.

"He's seeing the ball well, he's swinging the bat well," Martinez said. "When he can do that, he gets us going. He feeds our offense."

It may include Joey Meneses, who as a 30-year-old rookie just keeps on hitting, delivering three more base knocks today to give him 40 in total in his first 29 major league games.

And it may include Mason Thompson, the 24-year-old reliever who missed considerable time this season with a biceps injury but has returned strong in this final month, closing out today's win three scoreless innings to earn a surprise first career save to give him an 0.75 ERA and 0.750 WHIP over 11 big league appearances in 2022.

"It wasn't something that I woke up expecting to do today," Thompson said, "but it was pretty awesome."

It does not include Aníbal Sánchez, who at 38 cannot be considered a long-term piece of the puzzle. But that doesn’t mean the wily veteran can’t still find a way to savor however much time he still has left in the big leagues with another impressive pitching performance.

When he took the mound at Busch Stadium for the first time since Oct. 11, 2019, Sánchez had to do so with a smile on his face. A lot has changed since he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning of Game 1 of the National League Championship Series – both for Sánchez individually and the Nationals collectively – but that night has long stood as one of the pinnacles of the right-hander’s long and productive career. And though he won’t be sniffing any postseason baseball in 2022, he suddenly is pitching like the guy who was so instrumental to the Nats three Octobers ago.

"That game was spectacular," Sánchez said. "I feel really good all the time I remember that game, because especially, that's the year we won the World Series. This year is different. Today is way different. They've got a lot of power in the lineup, and last time I pitched against them at home, it wasn't good for me. So today I tried to be more aggressive and tried to not let those guys get too comfortable at the plate."

This start got off to a shaky start for Sánchez, who loaded the bases with one out in the first via an infield single and two walks. But when he got out of the jam by striking out Albert Pujols (with 45,779 fans pleading for the retiring slugger to launch career homer No. 696) and getting Corey Dickerson to line out to left, Sánchez immediately found his groove.

He would proceed to retire 12 batters in a row before Yadier Molina singled in the fifth. And after retiring the subsequent pair of Cardinals who came up to bat, he departed on a high note, having tossed five scoreless innings on 81 pitches to continue a dramatic turnaround to his comeback season.

Owner of a 7.20 ERA after his first six starts, Sánchez has since allowed a grand total of two runs and eight hits over his last four starts spanning 21 1/3 innings, lowering that ERA to a respectable 4.56.

"I know that I can do games like today," the veteran said, adding later he hopes to continue pitching somewhere in 2023. "I know that I needed time, especially because I was out last year. But I'm here, and I just need to work every day hard like I can to show that I can still pitch at this level."

And thanks to plenty of run support, Sánchez found himself in line for his second straight win, the fifth win for a Nationals starter in their last eight games following a major league record slump of 43 consecutive winless starts.

"We've got a pretty good team," Sánchez insisted. "I know we don't show it in the numbers, but I think we've got really good pitchers."