Schwarber's historic surge keeps Nats red-hot (updated)

You could only laugh at the first one, because it was yet another leadoff homer by Kyle Schwarber, his fifth in 13 games since taking over the top spot in the Nationals lineup on a full-time basis a couple weeks ago.

But the second one? A three-run blast one inning later? His 12th home run in 13 games? His eighth in five games?

What was the appropriate reaction to that? Surely, it included a jaw dropped all the way to the floor, a glazed look in your eyes and an immediate sprint to your favorite baseball stats site to start figuring out just how historic this run by Schwarber really is.

The answer: pretty historic. Schwarber is now doing things only a handful of power hitters have ever done, either for the Nationals or for any other club in major league history.

"When you're doing something like this, you kind of just sit back and laugh, because you don't want it to end," the 2021 version of Babe Ruth said during a Zoom session with reporters following tonight's 7-3 win over the Marlins.

Most importantly, Schwarber is doing this for a Nats club that collectively is as red-hot as its new leadoff hitter. With tonight's victory in Miami, the Nationals won for the 10th time in 11 games, reached the .500 mark for the first time since May 2 and moved to within 3 1/2 games of the Mets for first place in a division that's suddenly there for the taking.

"It's a little more satisfying that we're going out there and we're winning baseball games," he said. "It makes it a lot more satisfying, actually. Trust me, I wouldn't care if I was doing this and we were going out there and losing baseball games. I still wouldn't be happy. But that we're out there winning baseball games ... it's definitely very satisfying. I'm not the only component to this, trust me. This is a team game. This is not a one-person game."

Schwarber hasn't done this alone, even though at times it feels like it. The Nationals have been getting elite work from their pitching staff throughout this June surge, and tonight Joe Ross again did his part with one of his best starts of the season (seven scoreless innings).

On the heels of a rough outing against the Mets in which he surrendered two homers and five RBIs to Francisco Lindor, Ross was back to resembling the best version of himself. He scattered four singles and two walks over seven innings, striking out eight and throwing 101 pitches one day after Martinez needed to use seven relievers during a wild, 13-12 win in Philadelphia.

"I think just the timing all coming together, and keeping the ball down in the zone," Ross said in describing what worked well tonight. "I feel like location, especially, helps out the action of the ball. So staying in that lower half, or lower third (of the strike zone), and them being aggressive and putting the ball in play, and us making good plays on defense."

It was the latest standout performance for Ross in a roller coaster season. The right-hander has now allowed zero earned runs in six of his 14 starts. That his ERA still stands at 4.12 tells you how his other outings have gone.

"Not be afraid to attack the strike zone: He did that tonight," Martinez said. "He made some good pitches tonight. We need to get him consistent with that, every five days. In order to be a starter here, that's what you've got to do. You've got to throw the ball over the plate."

Ross pitched this entire game with a lead, and for that he could thank Schwarber, just as so many other members of the rotation have this month. There's no surer thing in baseball right now than the Nationals' new leadoff man causing damage in his first at-bat.

It happened again tonight when Schwarber crushed rookie Cody Poteet's sixth pitch of the game down the right field line for his fifth leadoff homer in 13 games atop the batting order. That's only four shy of Alfonso Soriano's club record for leadoff homers, and Soriano did it in 131 games in 2006.

But one Schwarbomb a night isn't enough these days. And he wasted no time producing his second, belting an 0-2 fastball from Poteet to dead center for a three-run homer, and that's what sent everyone scurrying to check the record books. So here are some of the pertinent facts and figures ...

* Schwarber's 12 homers this month already are a club record for June, and he's only one shy of Bryce Harper's record 13 homers for any month (May 2015).

* Schwarber's eight homers in the last five games are tied with Ralph Kiner, Frank Howard, Manny Ramirez, Barry Bonds and Josh Hamilton for the second-most in major league history, trailing only Shawn Green's nine-homer barrage in 2002.

* Schwarber's 21 homers for the season now trail only Fernando Tatis Jr. (22) for the National League lead, and those two trail only Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (24) and Shohei Otani (23) for the major league lead.

"I definitely feel like my swing overall is just in a better place than it's been in my whole career," he said.

Despite three opportunities to match Green and really leave everyone dumbfounded, Schwarber did not hit another home run tonight. He struck out in his next two at-bats, then walked in the top of the eighth before getting replaced in left field by Gerardo Parra (as Martinez continues to try to find ways to give his star slugger's banged-up right knee rest whenever possible).

Schwarber did have some help at the plate, mostly in the form of Juan Soto, who ripped a pair of RBI doubles, some of the best-looking contact he's had all week.

Those hits extended the Nationals' lead to 7-0 and provided plenty of cushion for Ross, then Justin Miller (who served up a three-run homer to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the eighth), then Wander Suero, who pitched the ninth to close out their 10th win in 11 games, a red-hot stretch for the club that has very much coincided with a red-hot stretch for their leadoff hitter.

"It helps when it's 1-0 after the first batter every time," Ross said with a laugh. "It's fun to watch. It's kind of hard to believe. I don't know what's going through his mind, if anything at all. I'm just here to enjoy it."