Souza returns to Nats Park and lifts Rays past his former team, 5-0

It is the trade that is talked about a lot, mostly because the Nationals received right-hander Joe Ross and shortstop Trea Turner in the three-team deal that involved the Padres and the Rays.

The Nationals traded for Ross, who is currently in the starting rotation, and now finally Turner, who had three hits for Double-A Harrisburg Wednesday, in their part of the 11-player deal.

Tampa Bay got power hitting outfielder Steven Souza Jr. in the deal that sent Wil Myers to San Diego.

Nationals fans remember Souza for his ability to hit home runs and his historic diving catch to solidify Jordan Zimmermann's first ever no-hitter on the last day of the regular season last year.

On Wednesday, the 26-year-old Souza met up with Zimmermann again at Nats Park, this time on opposing teams. Souza opened the scoring with a monster solo homer over the left-center field wall and then added a bunt single and came all the way around to score, as the Rays shutout the Nationals 5-0.

Souza finished 3-for-4 with two runs, the homer and an RBI. He is still a good friend of Zimmermann's, but that doesn't mean the Nationals starter was going to make it easy on him.

"Obviously I want to get him out," Zimmermann said. "Couldn't do it tonight. First at-bat he gets a base hit and then the second at-bat I hang a slider and he makes me pay. He's a good hitter and he's still really, really young and he's probably going to turn into being a real good ballplayer. But obviously, if you make mistakes, they make you pay at this level and he did that tonight."

Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond, despite an 0-for-3 night and a costly fielding error, was proud of his former teammate.

"I love the kid," Desmond said. "We're really good friends. Happy to see him having some success over there. That's what you want. You want players to get an opportunity to play and when they do to succeed. He's doing that over there. He's having a nice season. I'm sure not all his numbers where he wants them to be. But he's grinding it out for his team and they're in first place I think in the (American League) East."

Desmond has watched as Souza started off his ride with the Nationals in choppy waters, but then the Everett, Wash., native turned his career around and worked up to the organization's minor league Player of the Year in 2014. He then got a shot with the Nationals.

Does Desmond believe Souza will be a star in this league?

"I do, but I think it's unfair to kind of put it out there," Desmond said. "He's a really talented player and he's got a lot of passion to play the game. He's got all the tools for sure. He could end up being a really special player."

Nationals fans certainly remembered Souza and the play he made on Sept. 28 to rob the Marlins' Christian Yelich of extra bases and protect Zimmermann's no-hitter with a spectacular final out diving catch.

Souza appreciated the fans who gave him a long applause before his first at-bat against his buddy.

"All the way around, the way the fans responded," Souza said. "That was pretty emotional, pretty high moment for me. I know Jordan deserves all of the honor and I deserve nothing really, but to have them do that was pretty cool.

"He's a competitor. Just left a couple of pitches over the middle. I just tried to barrel them. You just can't do too much against him because he can put you down really fast. So it's fun competing against your friend."

On the homer to begin the scoring, Souza said Zimmermann made a slight mistake with his slider.

"He threw a slider earlier, 0-0," Souza said. "He's got a great slider. That one just didn't break as much, it hung up a little bit. Like I said, I just tried to barrel it and a good thing happened."

Later, Souza had another game breaking play when he bunted against Nationals reliever Blake Treinen with a man on in the eighth and the rain coming down. The bunt went to Treinen, who threw wildly to first. The run came around to score and then Souza followed with a second run in the frame after a Bryce Harper throwing error. Suddenly, a 3-0 lead turned into a 5-0 advantage for Tampa Bay.

"If it's dry I'm probably not even thinking about it to be honest with you," Souza explained. "Two outs, it's not normal. But I thought if I could get it down, maybe it could be a close play. It's tough to throw a wet ball in the rain. And then I thought getting off the mound would be tough in general, so I was just trying to make something happen, really."

It was a smart baseball play by Souza. Manager Matt Williams said he knows how good Souza is at his craft.

"He's got good power, he's got speed," Williams said. "Does a lot of things well on the diamond. He's got an opportunity to play everyday and show them what he's got over there. Tonight he got a breaking ball that was out, over and up, and when he connects with it, he can hit it a long way. He's got good power to the middle of the diamond and power the other way as well."