Nationals' bats stay smoking hot in triple-digit DC heat

WASHINGTON – The biggest question around Nationals Park this holiday weekend: What’s hotter? The Nationals’ offense or the actual temperature?

With a game-time temperature of 100 degrees – the third hottest in Nationals Park history – the Nats’ offense delivered early and often Friday night in a series-opening 9-5 win over the Pirates.

The Nationals homered in each of the first three innings as Luis García Jr., Daylen Lile and José Tena all went deep off Pirates righty Mitch Keller. García and Lile each homered again off Pirates reliever Isaac Mattson, giving Washington an MLB-best 85 home runs since May 6.

“That’s what makes this team and this lineup really special,” García said through team interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “One night it can be two guys, the next night it can be another two, and then it can be all nine of us. That’s really special.”

Few players around the bigs are hotter than García, who has now homered five times in his past six games and nine in his past 13. The reigning National League Player of the Week has matched his career high with 18 homers on the year and is now up to a team-high 62 RBIs. García’s 41 RBIs since May 24 are tops in the Majors.

“With Luis’ bat-to-ball skill, it’s hard to find a spot to get him out,” said manager Blake Butera. “He’s got really good hand-eye coordination, he’s able to cover every pitch, especially when he’s seeing the ball as well as he is right now.”

Lile hit a solo homer in the second, while Tena blasted a Statcast-projected 434-foot two-run shot in the third. Lile’s RBI double in the third gave the Nationals a four-run cushion and some nice breathing room for starting pitcher Foster Griffin.

Griffin, who threw at least 100 pitches in each of his previous four starts, had to grind through the sweltering heat in this one.

The Pirates had two runners on base in each of the first two innings, though GriffIn escaped both jams. Griffin then surrendered a solo homer to Bryan Reynolds in the third before retiring seven of the final eight batters he faced.

“I was trying to get quick outs, but I couldn’t do that early,” Griffin said. “They battled me through some counts, a lot of foul balls. I didn’t really have my swing-and-miss stuff tonight, but nonetheless I was able to grind through five.”

The lefty ultimately tossed five innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Along the way, Griffin crossed two benchmarks for the first time as a big leaguer with 100 strikeouts and more than 100 innings pitched.

“I’m more proud of getting over 100 innings,” said Griffin, who leads the Nationals with 103 1/3. “I pride myself on being a workhorse for this team.”

With Griffin’s pitch count up to 83 (57 strikes) through five innings on this hot evening, though, Butera turned to his bullpen.

The Pirates threatened in the seventh, loading the bases with two outs off reliever Justin Lawrence. Butera then turned to righty Clayton Beeter, who struck out the potential tying run in Reynolds on an 87 mph slider to end the threat.

“We trust the heck out of Clayton Beeter, and we’re going to give him the ball in big spots,” Butera said. “To see Clayton come in there, bases loaded against a really good hitter and get the punchout there, honestly in my opinion that was the game, that at-bat.”

Three batters into the Nats’ seventh, García went deep for the second time, capping a nine-pitch at bat with a two-run shot off Mattson. García is up to four multi-homer games on the year, while Lile’s two-run shot in the eighth gave him a second multi-homer game.

“It means a lot,” said Lile, who has followed a 9-for-61 stretch by going 6-for-13 across the past three games with four extra-base hits. “The first couple of months have been a lot of ups and downs. It was nice to come through for the team at pretty key times in the game.”

Lile says he started to regain his confidence last Saturday with his go-ahead base hit in an eventual 4-3, 10-inning win in Baltimore.

“He looks like he’s seeing the ball really well right now,” Butera said. “He was seeing the ball well. It’s good that he could get going a little bit; I know he puts a lot of pressure on himself. He’s such a good hitter, and to see him have the night he had was awesome.”

This marks the second time this season the Nats have had multiple players with a two-homer game -- and both times it has been García and Lile (May 12 in Cincinnati). Prior to this year, the Nationals did not have multiple players homer twice in the same game since 2019.

The Nationals have now won three straight, outscoring the opposition 27-8 over that stretch.

“It means a lot,” said Lile, who has followed a 9-for-61 stretch by going 6-for-13 across the past three games with four extra-base hits. “The first couple of months have been a lot of ups and downs. It was nice to come through for the team at pretty key times in the game.”

Lile says he started to regain his confidence last Saturday with his go-ahead base hit in an eventual 4-3, 10-inning win in Baltimore.

“He looks like he’s seeing the ball really well right now,” Butera said. “He was seeing the ball well. It’s good that he could get going a little bit; I know he puts a lot of pressure on himself. He’s such a good hitter, and to see him have the night he had was awesome.”

This marks the second time this season the Nats have had multiple players with a two-homer game -- and both times it has been García and Lile (May 12 in Cincinnati). Prior to this year, the Nationals did not have multiple players homer twice in the same game since 2019.

The Nationals have now won three straight, outscoring the opposition 27-8 over that stretch.