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Will Washington’s 18-hit, 15-run offensive explosion in the series finale against San Francisco on Wednesday be the spark that gets the Nationals going at the plate? Will it carry over into the 10-game homestand that starts tonight? Davey Martinez has been talking about good at bats and solid contact all season, but they finally got big results in the third of three in AT&T Park.
“Like I said, the boys have been swinging the bats well,” Martinez said after the 15-2 win over the Giants in which 14 runs scored on two-out hits.
“Trea [Turner] with a big day. [Matt] Adams big day. [Andrew] Stevenson. I mean they all swung the bats really well so this could actually jumpstart our offense and we’ll keep it going.”
Turner’s 5 for 6 game left him 15 for 42 (.357/.372/.500) with four doubles, a triple, one walk, six Ks, and four stolen bases in nine games on the road trip through New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
On the year, the 24-year-old shortstop has a .267/.362/.366 line, five doubles, a triple, one home run, 15 walks, and 20 Ks in 116 plate appearances.
Stevenson went 2 for 4 with two doubles, a walk, and four RBIs in the finale, in what was his first start of the season for the Nationals.
Adams, in limited time early this season, was 7 for 37 with two doubles and two home runs in 45 PAs heading into the final game of the trip, then he went 3 for 5 with an RBI single in the first, a three-run home run in the fourth, and a two-run double in the eighth.
“He’s been outstanding,” Martinez told reporters. “He’s a professional. And he gets it. We’re going to try to get him as many at bats as possible, and he knows that and to have a game like he did today, was good for his confidence.”
Andrew Stevenson thankful for opportunity after four-hit game in AT&T:
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LINK: Stevenson’s hard work paying off according to Davey Martinez
“Stevenson had a huge day, especially there in the first, to get that three-spot there early, that’s always huge,” Max Scherzer said after earning the win with six innings of work, over which he gave up five hits, two walks, and two earned runs.
“And then Matty Adams hitting that bomb to go up 6-1, that really does the number for the team, that really gets momentum.”
Will it carry over into this weekend’s series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who arrive in D.C. 17-7 overall on the season with a 4.0-game lead in the NL West after a series win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Citizens Bank Park?
Will Stevenson and Adams be back in the lineup tonight after their big games in AT&T?
Martinez’s Nationals will try to improve on their 3-7 record at home early this season with a ten-game stretch in the nation’s capital before they head out to San Diego and Arizona.