Schwarber starts with a bang, Hand hangs on late (updated)

It's not quite on par with Dodger Stadium, but Nationals Park typically takes a couple innings to fill up most nights. Such is life in this traffic-infested town we call home.

If you've got a ticket to watch the local nine, though, you might want to start budgeting some extra commuting time to make sure you're in your seats well before the first pitch of the bottom of the first. Because if you're not here, there's a good chance you're going to miss something memorable from the hottest power hitter on the planet.

Kyle Schwarber doesn't waste any time putting on his nightly fireworks show, and tonight he made anyone who showed up late regret that fact when he launched Rich Hill's very first pitch off the façade of the third deck for his 16th homer in 18 games, seven of them leading off the first.

Not that what happened next - Juan Soto's first home run in D.C. this season, Victor Robles' first home run in any park this season, Joe Ross' solid start and the injury-depleted bullpen's finishing act during a 4-3 victory over the Rays - wasn't entertaining for the crowd of 17,117 as well.

But let's be honest. Schwarber has, is and will continue to be the story as long as this historic run continues. As it did tonight for a club that has now won 13 of its last 16 and moved above the .500 mark for the first time since it won on opening day.

"Like I said yesterday, I've really never seen nothing like that before," manager Davey Martinez said during his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "Once again, I just hope he keeps it going."

Schwarber has been the talk of the baseball world for more than two weeks now, and the attention and accolades only grow with each passing day. They'll grow even more after his latest power display, which came on the very first swing he took in this game.

Jumping all over Hill's 83 mph sinker up in the zone - not exactly a difficult pitch to hit - Schwarber launched the ball to right field and clanked it off the façade of the third deck, some 434 feet away. He circled the bases for the 25th time this season, with 12 of those remarkably coming over his last 10 games. (Only Albert Belle, for Cleveland in 1995, has ever matched that 10-game barrage.)

"Just keying on your pitch, and not trying to hit a homer," Schwarber said of his mindset for the first pitch he sees in a game. "That's the biggest thing. I've caught myself trying to do that, where I've swung and missed at a first-pitch fastball that could've been hit. You find yourself trying to do too much with the pitch. So it's just taking it just like you're in a 1-1 count or a 2-1 count, whatever it is, taking the same swing and honing in on your pitch."

As thrilling as the latest Schwarbomb was, there's a good case to be made the two homers that followed by Soto and Robles were more important for the Nationals in the big picture. Each young star had been on a serious homer drought, and each desperately needed tonight's blast.

Soto's two-run shot came only moments after Schwarber in the first inning, a frozen rope into the right field bullpen for only his ninth homer of the season and incredibly his first at Nationals Park in 2021.

"I think Soto's ball went out at about 118-119 mph," Martinez said. "That ball was crushed. It was good to see him get to the pull side, get the ball up and hit it hard."

Robles' leadoff blast in the second also came on Hill's first pitch, this one landing in the visitors' bullpen. Forgive the young center fielder if he needed a reminder how to circle the bases, because he hadn't had a chance to do it yet this season.

"To be honest, you go out there and you try not to think about it," Robles said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez, of his homerless streak that lasted nearly three months. "But obviously, day by day, it's hard not to focus and put it into your mind a little bit. Luckily, I was able to do it today, and there was a sigh of relief."

So it was that three of the Nationals' first eight batters homered off Hill. And yet, in a pattern not unfamiliar here this year, they did nothing else against the opposing starter the rest of the night. The 41-year-old Hill would retire 13 of the last 15 batters he faced, keeping the game within striking distance for his teammates.

Ross made sure the Rays didn't come all the way back with a highly effective start that opened with four zeros and then included one run apiece crossing the plate in the fifth (on Brandon Lowe's homer) and the sixth (on doubles by Austin Meadows and Kevin Kiermaier).

And because he was so efficient (76 pitches through six innings) Ross was given a chance to re-take the mound for the seventh. He would issue a leadoff walk but then struck out dangerous pinch-hitter Randy Arozarena on a slider to end his night on a high note.

"I think just settling in and finding a groove," said Ross, who finished June with a 1.95 ERA. "I've been able to be more efficient and pitch longer in the games."

Sam Clay would finish the seventh, beating the Rays' attempt to get the platoon advantage by pinch-hitting for both their No. 1 and No. 2 hitters with a couple of groundouts. Now it was time for the rest of this pieced-together bullpen to try to finish it off.

With Tanner Rainey joining Daniel Hudson, Kyle Finnegan and Will Harris on the injured list earlier today, Martinez's reliable options for the late innings are running thin. Tonight, he gave Austin Voth the opportunity to pitch the eighth, and the converted starter delivered with a 1-2-3 inning on 13 pitches.

That might've given some reason to believe Voth might return for the ninth. But instead it was Brad Hand, who threw 10 pitches Sunday and another 25 during a five-out save Monday, entering for the final three outs. And though the lefty surrendered a leadoff homer to Mike Zunino off the left field foul pole, he got the job done after that, recording his 18th save in 20 attempts and sealing yet another win for the resurgent Nationals.

"I had a conversation with him (pregame) and he said he was good," Martinez said of his workhorse closer. "The conversation was: It's only going to be ninth inning, save situation. You're only going to pitch the ninth inning today to get three outs. It worked out perfect."