BALTIMORE — The Nationals competed with the Navy’s Blue Angels for attention during their game against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. But Washington first baseman Luis Garcia Jr. drew as many cheers at Camden Yards as any planes from the Inner Harbor’s coinciding airshow.
The red-hot corner infielder slugged two more home runs and five RBIs in Washington’s 6-4 win over Baltimore to secure a series victory and send the Nationals back over .500. The display was Garcia’s third multi-home run game of the season and his second this month.
The successful series — and Garcia’s ongoing power surge — offered a much-needed confidence boost for a Nationals group that has struggled with consistency on the year.
“This is a tough place to win,” Nationals pitcher Zack Littell said after the victory. He earned a win after tossing five innings of two-run ball, allowing three hits and two walks while tallying three strikeouts. “To come in here, put together a couple of good games and win a tight one as well, it feels good.”
The Nationals’ faithful who made the trip up the beltway weren’t feeling confident when Littell surrendered a two-run homer to Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso in the bottom of the first.
“There’s only a handful of pitchers who can hit that pitch,” Littell said of Alonso’s 19th homer of the year. “That was one of them.”
But Littell had Garcia providing run support. After catcher Keibert Ruiz and designated hitter James Wood walked in the top of the third, Garcia sent them home, tying the game with a two-run double.
Garcia was already on a hot streak when he entered the game, leading the majors in RBIs since May 22. He extended that lead, now posting 35 RBIs over 37 days.
His pitchers, thankful for the cushion, have noticed.
“Even when I’m on the mound, [I notice.] Super impressive, obviously,” Littell said. “He kind of gets hidden a little bit behind C.J. [Abrams] and James [Wood.] That makes him that much more dangerous.”
Garcia proved his pitcher right with a fifth-inning homer that scored Wood and gave Washington a 5-2 advantage. To eliminate any doubt, he sent another pitch into the stands in the seventh frame.
He now ranks third on the team with 16 home runs on the season — 11 came in the month of June.
“I can’t describe it right now,” Garcia, wearing a shirt that read “The World is Yours,” said through a translator after the game. “Everybody sees that my confidence right now is just on another level. I think that’s something everybody wants to have.”
“He’s been huge,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said. “When he’s playing well like this and he’s able to be a voice, to give us a sense of calmness and perform like that, it goes a long way.”
Washington’s bullpen is still finding that swagger. They emerged from a series against the Phillies last week lacking in confidence after blowing leads in three straight games.
But the relievers locked in on Sunday.
They combined to throw four innings and made just one major mistake: a two-run homer by Baltimore second baseman Jackson Holliday that narrowed the lead in the bottom of the seventh.
But P.J. Poulin eliminated the Orioles’ comeback hopes, earning a save as he tossed two no-hit innings to end the game.
“It helps to be close and to help one another through the ups and downs of the season,” Poulin said. “It’s been a little bit of a tough stretch, but that’s why we play 162. Just believing that we’re doing the right things and it’s going to turn.”
Butera has a favorite word when describing this year’s Nationals: resilient. It pops up when he describes the bullpen’s forward-looking approach and the drive of Garcia, who is one of the longer-tenured Nationals on an otherwise unproven squad.
“These guys have been through a lot already in just half a season,” Butera said. “To see the way they’ve bounced back every single time … they’re staying here all the way through, even-keel and not riding the highs too much and not riding the lows too much, either.”
The Nationals found themselves two games back of the final NL wild-card spot after Sunday’s win. The team hits the road next for a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox that begins on Monday night.
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