After taking 2 of 3 from the Cincinnati Reds on the road in Great American Ball Park, the Washington Nationals have now won three consecutive series and seven of their last 10 games going into this week’s quick two-game set with the Chicago White Sox.
Their 4-1 win in Sunday’s finale in Ohio left Washington 4-1 on the five game road trip to Atlanta and Cincinnati.
“It’s huge,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters, as quoted by MASN’s Byron Kerr on Sunday afternoon, when he was asked how big the series win was for the Nationals.
“We were playing a team that was doing really well, swinging the bats really well. Now we get to go back home, have a day off, regroup and go back and face the White Sox.”
The Nationals are, of course, still seven games under .500 at 26-33 overall on then season, and they’re 7.0 games out of first in the NL East, but Martinez said he has seen some signs of positive developments over the past few weeks.
“I think what I’m seeing now is the way we are winning games by doing all the little things we talk about,” Martinez explained.
“Staying up the middle of the field, two-strike hitting, all those things. Driving in runs from third base, less than two outs. If we keep doing that we are going to win a lot of games. I know that. Our starting pitching is good. Our defense has been playing better. We just got to keep it going right now.”
The White Sox are a game under .500 at 29-30 heading into the two-game set in D.C., with wins in 6 of 10, though they’re 11.5 games out on the AL Central, with the 40-18 Minnesota Twins currently the class of that division.
Stephen Strasburg starts for the Nationals tonight, with former National Reynaldo Lopez on the mound for the White Sox.
HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE 1ST OF 2 WITH THE WHITE SOX:
We’re back home after a 4-1 road trip.
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 4, 2019
Trea Turner hit .348 on said road trip.
He’s good.#VoteTrea // https://t.co/Ruk4xJZsur pic.twitter.com/32OgPqSrM6