Nationals outlast Halos in combined 24-run slugfest

ANAHEIM -- Brady House blacked out.

With the Nationals and Angels tied at nine runs apiece, and with James Wood drawing a leadoff walk ahead of him to start the top of the seventh, House -- the Nats’ No. 3 prospect playing in just his 11th Major League game -- was just looking for a pitch he could do something with.

A first-pitch slider ended up doing just fine as House zipped it down the left-field line to score Josh Bell from first as the winning run in the Nats’ 15-9 victory at Angel Stadium on Friday.

“It was a big moment,” House said. “... I got that pitch and just [tried] to stay disciplined at the same time. It ended up going down the line, which I was super happy with.”

The Nationals had every chance to lose this game. They traded the lead with the Angels five times -- not including three ties -- in a contest that had no shortage of blunders, gaffes and just straight-up displays of sloppy baseball at times. The 24 combined runs between the two teams were the most scored in the 20 years of this matchup.

Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams bobbled a would-be double-play ball, throwing Kevin Newman out at first but allowing Christian Moore, who had singled in the previous at-bat, to move up to second.

Moments later, Moore scored on an RBI base hit from Luis Rengifo, who advanced to second after Nats center fielder Jacob Young threw the ball home. Rengifo would score two batters later on a Mike Trout single to give the Angels a two-run lead in the fourth inning.

The Nats regained the lead in the top of the fifth, which they quickly lost again as a fielding error from second baseman Luis García Jr. allowed two Angels to score in the bottom half of the inning.

Starter Jake Irvin gave up nine runs on nine hits -- three of them homers -- over 4 1/3 innings.

It was maybe the Nationals’ sloppiest defensive game of the season, but it was also their best offensive game of the past few seasons. Their 15 runs on Friday was the most the team has scored since July 19, 2021.

“We outslugged them,” manager Dave Martinez said jokingly. “... We didn’t play that good. The first six innings were a little sloppy, but we hung in there. We hit the ball, we had good at-bats today. We talked about it before the game, just trying to get pitches to hit, get the ball up in the zone, and we swung the bats really well.

“I’d rather win those games than lose them. The guys battled, they really did.”

The Nationals had seven players with multiple hits. They drew six total walks. They got deep into counts. And the bottom half of the lineup -- House, Daylen Lile, Riley Adams and Jacob Young -- provided half of the team’s hits, as they went a combined 8-for-20 with six RBIs, setting the table for the top of the order.

“It’s a testament to the lineup,” Bell said. “Really stretched out our lineup tonight. I feel like Woody and Abrams have done such a good job the first half of the season, giving us a chance to win. But when the bottom half of the lineup can flip it and give them opportunities to drive in runs, that’s when we win games."

Midway through the season, the Nationals have shown glimpses of what they can be. On this road trip alone, they’ve beaten the Dodgers, 7-3, and the Padres, 10-6. They have two rising superstars in Wood and Abrams. But they’re also 34-48, last place in the NL East, 14 1/2 games back in the division and 11 games out of the Wild Card race.

So how can the Nats build off their performances like the one on Friday and become more consistent?

“I think we’ve had this mentality since Day 1 of Spring Training,” Bell said. “Our lineup is long, and we’re gonna have superstars on our squad. But if the length of the lineup can take care of games that are close, we’ll be in good places. So hopefully things can continue and if they walk Woody, we make up that.

“That’s the mentality.”