Davey Martinez told reporters after last night’s 9-3 win in Washington, D.C.’s Nationals Park that he didn’t see any reason to switch much up for the finale with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“We’ll let it ride and see what happens, but the boys are doing well,” Martinez said after the second game with Bryce Harper (3 for 5, HR, 2B) leading off and getting pitches to hit after a couple weeks with a lot of walks and little else.
“[Harper] is getting pitched to a little bit now, and he’s swinging the bat really well, so we’ll keep it going. Matt Adams is doing awesome too, I mean they all are. The biggest thing with this is Wilmer Difo is getting on base, and that helps a lot.”
In the last two games, batting ninth, Difo is 4 for 7 with a double, home run, and two walks.
[ed. note - “Martinez’s anecdote about Difo’s reaction to his home run off Chad Kuhl on Tuesday is worth sharing, even as an aside here: ‘“I told Difo, ‘Hey, you’ve got one job to do, and that’s get on base.’ He hit the home run, and said, ‘I got this guy!’ I said, ‘Great! Good job.’ He had a good day. It’s hard not to like Difo. He plays with a lot of energy, and I love it, he gets the guys fired up.’”]
While Martinez said he’ll likely stick with the lineup that’s working for now, he did say that he isn’t afraid to mix things up if they like a matchup or have something they want to exploit in the future.
“We’ll tinker,” Martinez said, “... look, there’s a lot of information out there, so when we get something that we think is right, we’ll move things around. Right now though, the guys are blending, they’re doing well, so we’ve got another righty tomorrow, so the lineup will pretty much be the same. Ryan Zimmerman will be back in there, obviously, but other than that, the lineup will be the same.”
HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE FINALE WITH THE PIRATES:
Letting it ride again.
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 3, 2018
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