Meyer back to grooving; notes on Garcia and Perez

Just in case you were worried Alex Meyer's six runs allowed in his last start would be habit forming, the 6-foot-9 right-hander was back to his normal self Thursday. Meyer allowed just one run on five hits in six innings, notching the victory over Carolina, 7-5. Meyer struck out three batters and walked two, leaving with a 6-1 lead. He is now 3-2 with a 2.31 ERA in seven starts for the P-Nats. Overall, he has tossed 129 innings and has struck out 139 batters. The next step will be the Arizona Fall League and I believe he will start next season in Double-A Harrisburg. He should be named the franchise's minor league pitcher of the year. At Triple-A Syracuse, Christian Garcia (0-1) allowed his first run in 20 years (OK not that long, but still), allowing his first earned run in almost two months. Taking the loss, Garcia went 1 1/3 innings, giving up three hits, one earned, two walks and one strikeout. His ERA went up to 0.61. Yea, that's right. He still has 11 saves and 36 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings. Outfielder Eury Perez has hit .351 in his last 10 games. He went 3-for-5 with a stolen base last night against Gwinnett. Perez is hitting .341 in 34 games for the Chiefs with seven doubles, seven RBI and 17 stolen bases. He has been caught only five times, increasing his stolen base percentage to .773. His stolen base percentage was .722 with Double-A Harrisburg (26-of-36). A few comments on Perez getting a shot in September. That has always been the goal is a fleet-footed center fielder who can get on base. Perez is trending quickly towards that reference. His on-base percentage is .387 with Syracuse. Also, in case you missed it, Nationals' viewership has increased big time this season on MASN.