MIAMI -- Nationals home run leader James Wood wasted no time on Saturday afternoon, launching his longest home run of the season to open Washington’s 8-7 loss to Miami at loanDepot park.
“That was awesome -- crushed that ball," manager Blake Butera said. "Always good when he leads off like that, and the lineup is pretty fired up, and it just sets the tone for the rest of the day for us."
The respect opposing pitchers have for Wood’s bat showed up immediately. Marlins right-hander Janson Junk opened the game with a curveball before mixing five pitch types during the 23-year-old slugger's first at-bat.
After taking the first slider he saw for a called strike, Wood mashed his MLB-leading third leadoff home run of the year -- his 11th homer of the season -- on a full-count slider from Junk. The ball soared a Statcast-projected 442 feet into the second deck in right-center field, leaving Wood's bat at 109.6 mph. Wood entered Saturday leading the Majors with a 96.2 mph average exit velocity, just ahead of the Pirates' O’Neil Cruz (95.6).
“I just think I'm seeing the ball deep," Wood said. "I'm just able to see spin early and just make an adjustment and put a good swing on it. I've faced [Junk] in the past a couple times, so I feel like I had a good idea -- and then going back to yesterday, I kind of had an idea of how they're gonna try and pitch to me.”
After going 0-for-5 in the Nats' series-opening win on Friday, Wood reached base four times on Saturday. Following the leadoff homer, Wood drew a walk in the second, was hit by a pitch in the seventh and then doubled in the ninth before coming home to score on a two-run single from Luis García Jr. Wood's two runs scored moved him into a tie with Atlanta's Matt Olson for the second-most runs scored in the Majors (35), though the Braves had yet to play.
The Marlins adjusted their approach on Saturday, after throwing 13 curveballs and just five sinkers vs. Wood on Friday (of the 25 pitches he saw). On Saturday, Wood saw five changeups and just four four-seam fastballs (of the 19 pitches he faced).
“With him ahead of me, I am always waiting for a walk or a home run from him, but he helps us a lot [to see the ball].” García said in Spanish.
With Miami prioritizing offspeed vs. Wood, opportunities were created for the batters behind him -- specifically García, hitting in the No. 2 spot. The infielder, who returned to the lineup after missing time with soreness in his right hand and wrist, saw a first-pitch fastball in three of his five plate appearances on Saturday. He followed Wood’s homer in the first inning with a 106.4 mph single to center field.
“I felt good," García said. "I was a little bit scared because of the injury that I had but once I had that first swing, I didn’t feel anything [bad]."
García finished 3-for-5, including a two-run single in the ninth inning that cut Miami’s lead to one run.
“Good to see Luis back in the lineup," Butera said. "I thought he had some really good swings -- obviously that big hit there at the end. But [with] all of his at-bats, I thought he was swinging the bat better. He definitely looked stronger now that his wrist has been a little bit better. So yeah, excited to get him back in our lineup on more of an everyday basis.”
The Nationals added to their lead in the first when Brady House doubled before CJ Abrams followed with a ground-ball single to right field that scored both García and House. Abrams’ two-run knock gave him an MLB-leading 36 RBIs, two more than the Marlins' Liam Hicks (34). Washington's 39 first-inning runs are the most in the Majors, ahead of the Yankees (33) and Astros (30).
Wood, who has appeared in every game for the Nationals this season, has slashed .308/.419/.538 in his past seven games. But it's not just what he can do with his bat that helps his club, it's also what his power forces his opponents to do on the mound.
“He doesn't try to do too much," Butera said. "He understands that he's going to get pitched pretty difficult. We see it -- first couple pitches of the game, offspeed pitches. And he knows that he's a good hitter, and he earns that respect and does a great job of having great at-bats and setting the tone and passing it back to the rest of our guys.”