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The Nationals had a stressful day on Tuesday. It included trading a fan-favorite veteran because was characterized as a “squeaky wheel” by one reporter in the clubhouse, rumors including Bryce Harper, and an apologetic presser from Trea Turner regarding old tweets.
The Nationals managed to find a different story for everyone to write about.
They did that by playing baseball really, really well, something they haven’t done consistently all year.
Think 25-runs well, with seven innings of one-run pitching from Tanner Roark.
It started off innocently enough, with a seven-run first inning. That’s not innocent, never mind.
It included an RBI single from Ryan Zimmerman that made him the all-time hit leader in Nationals/Expos history.
With his RBI single in the 1st; Ryan Zimmerman is now the Expos/@Nationals all-time hit leader (1,695 hits). pic.twitter.com/l1KiS8zzX0
— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) August 1, 2018
Then, chaos erupted: the Nats scored three runs in both the second and third. Both innings included a Daniel Murphy homer:
Come for Daniel Murphy's 2nd inning HR.
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 1, 2018
Stay for Daniel Murphy's 3rd inning HR. pic.twitter.com/EHkGSTTVli
In the bottom of the eighth, when the score had reached 19-1, the Mets sent in Jose Reyes to pitch. That went about as one would expect it to go, as the Nats tacked on another 6 runs and Ryan Zimmerman nearly STORMED THE MOUND. (He didn’t.)
The Mets were down 19-1 to the Nationals when shortstop Jose Reyes came in to pitch.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 1, 2018
That didn't go so well either. pic.twitter.com/4gJrMx607e