Garcia Jr.'s Homer Turns the Tide

For the sixth season in a row, Walters is the official bar of the Nats Chat podcast, located across the street from the ballpark, just off South Capital Street. And now the kick of the pitch, swinging a light drive left field, really will have to play it out of hop, so in from third to score as loud on another clutch to out RBI hit this time for Dylan Cruz scoring Dylan Lyle. And it's the Nationals three of the Mariners, nothing here with two out of the bottom of the first inning. Here's the pitch, swinging a fly ball hit wall by Garcia, sending Roblois back way back, going, going, and going. Goodbye. A home run for Luis Garcia Jr. On a pitch down in a way, it gets the barrel to it. And it just carried and carried over the big wall and right center field. ZOOM goes Luis Garcia Jr. It's home run number nine, RBI's 42 and 43. And the Nationals answer right back here with two in the bottom of the fifth. It's Washington five, Seattle three. Now the set, a long hold, a throw over. Cruz hits the dirt and Avers is going to break to the plate, the ball, mishandled by Nailer and CJ scores. Well, how do you like that? The Nationals have a seven three lead. Nailer couldn't handle the throw. Avers started breaking for the plate anyway, it just kept on running. And welcome to Natchat. I'm Al Goldie, host of the Al Goldie podcast, my usual co-host, Washington, Nationals, insider, Mark Sukramid of Natcheternal.com. He is off for this installment of the podcast, but good to be with you. As you may know, I do enjoy baseball in terms of its stats. So here's something that I came across in crunching some numbers. So the Washington Nationals record for runs in a regular season is 873 in 2019. The 2026 Nats are on pace for 872 runs. The record is 873. The 2026 Nats are on pace for 872. Yes, the 2026 Nats with their tiny payroll in this season number one of a restarted rebuild or threatening the franchise record for runs in a regular season. A record set by the best team in franchise history, right? What was a win now? High payroll having World Series championship team. What the Nats are doing with their new analytics base process and improve coaching and promising young players is one of the best stories in MLB. And the story continued with an 83 win over the Seattle Mariners at Nationals Park on Saturday in game two of a three game series that adds to game losing streak is over. They and MLB's 2026 regular season are back up of 536 and 35 and now are tied with the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers for number one in MLB and runs 382. This installment of Nats' chat is brought to us by Steve Solomon's at large candidacy from Montgomery County Council. Visit votestevesalomon.com as early voting is now underway for more information on our pal's solid checkout my conversation with them on this past Thursday's installment of the algal the podcast episode 1,345 really good crowd at Nationals Park on Saturday official attendance 30,000 for in fact we during that's manager Blake Puterres post game press conference on Saturday evening at these exchanges. Did you feel that energy from the crowd? Yeah, crowd was awesome. The tarps off crew up there and right field was there going crazy and yeah, we definitely felt that and heard them and glad we could play well. Screechers up there with the tarps off guys. I'm a screech. I'll keep an eye out next time. Yeah, the tarps off craze has been great and the tarps off participants at Nationals Park have been great. This has been such a fun season for the Nats so far. More good offense from the Nats. They in his 83 win over the Mariners at Nationals Park on Saturday eight runs, 10 hits which were a home run, a triple, a double and seven singles, three walks, four for 10 with runners in scoring position. The Nats scored three runs in the bottom of the first two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three runs in the bottom of the seventh. The home was by Luis Garcia Jr. He is an at starting first baseman and number two batter went one for three with a two run home or Garcia in the Nats to run fifth had a went out to run home or to right center field for a five three Nats lead the home winner projected 408 feet per stat cast is the Luis Garcia power surge continues. He for the month of May had a slugging percentage of five thirteen. He for this month of June now has a slugging percentage of six 67 and his OPS for this regular season is up to 756 including a four 70 slugging percentage Luis Garcia. All of a sudden is an offensive force this season. And while we're talking Garcia Blake Puterra pinch hit for Garcia with Andre's Chaparo to begin the bottom of the seventh against lefty Mariners relief pitcher and former Nats relief pitcher Jose a for rare and Chaparo smashed a lead off first pitch double off the warning track in left field and would end up being a three run seventh of the Nats in yet another successful pinch hitting decision by butera how often has he pressed the right button in terms of pinch hitting decisions so far this season. CJ Abrams season at starting shortstop and number four batter went three for four with two RBI singles and another single Abrams in the Nats three run first had a two out opposite field RBI single to left center field for one nothing that's lead Abrams in the Nats three run seven had a first pitch opposite field RBI single through the left side of the infield for a six three Nats lead the single came off Jose a for air who officially allowed three runs in a third of an inning. Yes, the Nats got to our old pal Jose a for air Abrams OPS for this regular season is up to 904 how about Daly and Lyle he on what was Daly and Lyle bubble head day at Nats at O's Park was the Nats starting left fielder and number five batter he went one for four with an RBI triple yes he did his Daly and Lyle thing of hitting a triple Lyle in the Nats three run first had a two out RBI triple off the outfield wall and right field to put the Nats up to nothing a Lyle's OPS for this regular season is up to seven forty three and Daly and Lyle over 161 career and will be regular season games now has 14 triples and Dylan Cruz he was in that starting center fielder and number six batter went one for four with an RBI single also made an awesome defense of play leaping back into catch at the wall in the top of the fifth but Cruz in the Nats three run first had a two out RBI single to left field for a three nothing Nats lead but the highlight of the game from Cruz to me was him in the Nats three run seventh scoring all the way from first base on Jose tennis two out RBI single to center field on a one two pitch for an eight three Nats lead pitch Cruz running and a line drive base in in a center field Cruz will keep on shugging around a third as the ball played back in by Rodriguez and trying to score the throw home by young the slide the tag he's in there he scores from first on a single Cruz made a terrific head first spinning slide into home plate what a play by Cruz what a job by Cruz to score from first base on that single advancing two bases on a single is good advancing three bases on a single is outstanding we know about Cruz needing to be more productive as a batter but his base running defense have been good. The Nats starting pitcher in this eight three win over the Mariner's at Nationals Park on Saturday was Cade Cavali mixed outing for him he allowed three runs in five innings gave up four hits which were a home run and three singles the issue to hit by pitch but hit five strikeouts versus no walks he threw 81 pitches 52 strikes 29 balls all three of the runs that Cavali allowed came in the top of the fifth during which he issued a lead off full count hit by pitch of Dominic Kenzone gave up a two out full count RBI single by Mitch Garber to center field despite having had him down to the count at 1.02 and then gave up a two out two run homer by Colt Emerson to right field on an 0-2 pitch to tie the game at three now the pitch swinging along drive to right field down the line toward the corner wood going back it's going going and it's gone a home run in the second deck over the bullpen in this game all even with three runs in the fifth for the Mariners it's Seattle three in Washington three also in the inning was a two out throwing air by second baseman Nassie Nunez and him throwing across his body and making what was ruled an Aaron throw to first base in an attempt at a double play although the throw really was not that bad this was a one hop throw that the first baseman Louise Garcia junior absolutely could have caught we just sung the praises of Garcia as a batter and he deserves those praises but uh Garcia's defense continues to not be the greatest shall we say Cavali in that Mariners three run fifth through a whopping 33 pitches and so he ended up lasting for just the five innings disappointing considering how well he had been doing and how efficient he had been Cavali began the outing by throwing four scoreless innings on just 48 pitches kid Cavali now in this regular season 15 games all starts ERA a 3.98 whip of 1.39 strikeouts per nine innings of 9.76 those numbers are solid if not good and you know he's doing what he's doing despite some bad luck his bad but the loud batting average on balls and play allowed is 3.49 league average is around 300. Hello Montgomery County Maryland listeners of Natschat this is for you I'm Steve Solomon candidate from Montgomery County Council at large you may remember me from my 20 years on local radio as "Sally" at the team 980, where I worked with Natschatsone, Algoldi, Mark Circumman, and Tim Shovers. I myself am a podcaster now as well. I'm asking for your vote for Montgomery County Council at large. Over the last 10 years, I've gotten much more involved in local issues in Montgomery County. I'm an active member of my Civic Association, the County Civic Federation, I volunteer at nonprofits, I serve on the Board of Directors of the Montgomery County Sports Hall of Fame, the Sports Advisory Committee, and the Library Board. Montgomery County is a great place to live. We've got incredible parks, libraries, restaurants, businesses, and most of all, people. That's why I'm running, because I think we can do better, whether it's at economic development and bringing in more businesses, helping the small businesses that are already here by streamlining permitting and cutting their ed tape on inspections, or growing our partnerships with our thousands of amazing nonprofits. Doing those things will give us more money to keep all the services and programs we love funded, like programs for our seniors, taking care of homeowners and renters, and funding our parks, libraries, and erect centers. Once again, this is Steve Solomon. I'm running for Montgomery County Council at large, and I'm asking for your vote. Early voting runs June 11th through June 18th. Election Day is June 23rd. You can learn more about me or how to contact me at votestevesolomon.com. Rodriguez, 0 for 3 with a walk. Lawrence, into the wind up. The right-hander kicks and fires a pit swing in a ground ball shop left side. Two hopper from me. The throw across to Chaparo and a curly W's in the books. And the nationals are back over the 500 mark as they even this series with the Seattle Mariners. And the dance relief pitching in this eight three wind over the Mariners at Nationals Park on Saturday was good. Four dance relievers combined for four scoreless innings. So the bullpen needed that of some recent struggles. PJ Poolyn is back. He tossed two thirds of a scoreless and hitless inning. He in the top of the six retired each of the Mariners first two batters, but that issued a two out walk with an ads on Saturday afternoon announced having recalled Poolyn from Triple A Rochester. This as the corresponding roster move to the dance early Saturday morning announcing having option relief pitcher Riley Cornelio to Triple A Rochester or Landel repulsed to toss two thirds of a scoreless inning. He faced three batters and got two outs. Richard Lovelady tossed two thirds of a scoreless inning, despite giving up three singles and issuing a walk. And Brad Lord tossed two scoreless and hitless innings with two swinging strikeouts. He came into the game at the top of the eighth with runners on first and second no outs and the dance up eight three. And Lord induced a five four three double play by X-Nad Victor Robles. Although Robles rolled an ankle and fell down and trying to run out of the batter's box. Hopefully he's okay. But Lord then tossed a perfect top of the nine. So a few things with the Nads relievers who pitched in this game in terms of updated stats for this regular season or Landel repulsed to continues to be a really good 20 games 20 innings ERA of 1.80 whip of 0.95. Richard Lovelady continues to be the king of low ERA high whip. As mentioned, he on Saturday tossed two thirds of a scoreless inning, despite giving up three singles and issuing a walk. Lovelady now has an ERA of 2.61, despite a whip of 1.89. His whip is not that far from being higher. That is ERA. I've been talking about this. We're getting closer to the whip actually being higher than the ERA. That's insane. But that is the case a 261 ERA, which is really good and a 1.89 whip, which is really bad. And Brad Lord, how good is he been 21 games, 45 innings ERA of 2.20 whip of 1.02. Did you happen to hear what analyst Kevin Franz and said during the nationals.tv telecast to this game? He had the top of the eight said what I've said. And what I'm sure many of you are saying, it is time for Brad Lord to graduate from being a long reliever to being a high leverage slash long reliever. This guy is emerging as a legitimate weapon out of a bullpen that we all know is not exactly sparkling. Okay. Use this guy. It's not just an innings eating reliever, but also a high leverage reliever. That to me is the way to go. And this certainly can be done. You know, this is how the Nats used Craig Stamon back in the day. Craig Stamon for the 2012 regular season was number one among all Nats relievers in innings pitched 88 into third and was number two among all Nats pitchers in win probability added 2.4. He was used as both a longer lever and a high leverage reliever. I would love to see that with Brad Lord. We may well be in the process of seeing that with Brad Lord. You tell me what you think. You can hit me up on X at Alagoldy. You can reach the podcast as a whole on X at Nats underscore chat. Very nice win for the Nats on Saturday. We during Blake Beterra's post game press conference on Saturday evening had these exchanges regarding some of the principal aspects of the win. On the last two games have gone to this game feel more like we feel like the same thing happened to you. Yeah, I'm sure that was a good battle out there. I thought our guys played really, really well in all facets. Base running, defense, pitching, the bullpen was outstanding as well. K was great. Those first four innings obviously ran into some trouble on the fifth, this is a really good lineup and really happy with the way he threw the ball and happy with the way the bullpen came up clutch force. What did you see from a game? You know, I think it's just the hip-hop pitch. You kind of got deep into counts. He was behind the count a handful of times there. Yeah, they caught up with him. When you were talking about the base running Dylan scores from first base and that play we've talked about his like offensive research. But what have you seen from the base running from him? There's so much that Dylan can bring to the table outside of we always look at what guys are doing offensively, of course. We'd love for him to be hit in 350 right now. But what Dylan brings to the table in terms of the base running, the athleticism being able to score from first on that base hit right there, which is unbelievable. Heco is sent by our third base coach, Victor Stevez. But Dylan gave him that option to send him there because of how hard he ran and because of the tight turns that he made and not to mention the defense he plays in the outfield as well. I made a heck of a play in center field earlier today as well. Dylan's just one of those five tool players that can change the game in a lot of different areas. All right. Well, we on that chat offer shout outs, a special messages. I think of them like messages on the scoreboard at Nationals Park, email the man who runs his podcast, Tim Shovers, for more details and that's chat podcast at gmail.com. And we have this for Linda Stone. It is that time of year folks, the 1927 New York Yankees of Natchat are back to celebrate Linda Stone's birthday. Those lucky enough to know her will tell you that Linda is an avid baseball fan and also happens to be the greatest mother in the world. Mom is a Natch super fan, easily knowing that Richard Love Lady typically opens for Miles Michaelis, that J.Y.'s 2026 Homer total has already surpassed his previous year's career total and wondering when the front office will promote yo yo to the show show. She's also practically a professional Natchat podcast fan and is always looking for picture-esque places to show off her Natchat T-shirt. Don't be surprised if she is seen rocking the merch on her upcoming trip with dad to Alaska. Happy birthday, mama. May this year bring great fortune to you and to the Nationals a chance to cross off some of the remaining at 20 MLB parks on your list and bring your laughter and light every single day we love you. Wow, what a nice message for Linda Stone. Happy birthday, Linda. Enjoy Alaska. You know, one of the greatest postseason pictures in MLB history, Kurt Schilling. He was born in Alaska. Believe it or not, game three for the Natches against the Mariners at Nationals Park. Sunday afternoon at 135, the Natches have listed Miles Michaelis as their probable starting picture for the game. This installment of Natchat brought to us by Steve Solomon's at large candidacy from Montgomery County Council. Visit votesteeves Solomon dot com is early voting is now underway. For more information on solid, check out my conversation with them on this past Thursday's installment of the Algoldy podcast episode 1,345 on Natchat is on the radio Sunday morning 9 to 10 on ESPN Richmond, which is 106.1 FM in the Richmond Virginia area and Sunday morning 9 to 10 on ESPN radio 94.1 in the Virginia Beach area. I'm Algoldy. We'll talk to you next time on that chat. And we leave you now with something special, a loyal listener of this podcast and a good friend of the show, Ben Rabie of WTOP. He just won a special award. He won the 2025 best sports feature from the Chesapeake AP broadcasters awards. So congratulations to Ben, terrific honor. He won the award for a piece on Washington Capitol's Winger Alex Ovechkin off him breaking Wayne Gretzky's record for career at HL regular season goals. The great eights are passing the great one and Ben put together a wonderful piece and an honor of him winning an award for that piece. We wanted to share that piece with you on that chat. Enjoy. Carlson will make his way to the neutralized dropping it for Dylan Strong. He and Chikren will team up and glide through center right side to Wilson centered up. Oh that's going has it. He scores. He scores Alex so much. And scores 895. There's a new goal scoring champion and his name is Alexander Oh, Ben. He has done >> Well, it was expected and now it's official. Alex Ovechkin has broken the scoring record previously held by Wing Bretsky scoring his 895th goal. WTOP's Ben Revy looks back at his career. It took all of 20 minutes into his NHL debut for Alex Ovechkin to score a goal. He seemingly never stopped. >> Ovechkin fires his goals. Alex Ovechkin number 50, the golden moment in a sparkling rookie year. >> That is goal number 100 of his NHL career. >> Back to the point, Ovechkin scores. >> Go to number 300 for Alex Ovechkin. >> It was the combination of the goals and the physical play, the enthusiasm. How much fun he was having. >> And how about the reaction of Ovechkin jumping into the glass? >> That's good score. Through the heads. The green eat is tied in. Congratulations, Alex Ovechkin. The Washington Cavalts all time. Goal scoring leader at 473. >> He had put the 8th run to first this time. I think Sunday will win this season. >> We know anything about Alex. He, the bigger the stage, the bigger he is. >> Back to our look, Ovechkin rips his goals. Number 500 for the green a. The greatest DC sports moments that the Cavalts have provided. Today, today, today. >> Tonight game five of the Stanley Cup final as the caps. Looking to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. >> Oppost to Ovechkin, he scores. >> On the power play, Alex Ovechkin beats Bart Gottfried Murray. The winner of the cast, Mike Trophy, has the most valuable player in the playoffs. Alex Ovechkin. >> Alex Ovechkin taking the first lap with a Stanley Cup over his head. It's real Washington. >> What a Stanley Cup champion. >> Yeah. >> Forever a Stanley Cup champion, Ovechkin's ultimate goal was finally reached. The goal is on ice. Those kept coming too. >> And that's up for Ovechkin. >> He scores. >> His spectacular history making continues 700 red lights. >> He got away a shot block, the rebound this goal. And it's Ovechkin with a hat trick and his 800 NHL goal. Congratulations to Alex Ovechkin. Goal 8-0-2. It's the great 8 and the great one. >> Listen, he deserves all the credit and the accolades he's getting. I couldn't be more happy to be a round a guy that has a chance to break my record. >> This is what they came to see an opportunity for Alex Ovechkin to score 895. >> And then Wilson on the flank, cross-eits Ovechkin fires. >> Goal! >> The chasing days are done. Alex Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer in the history of the NHL. >> Ovee dived onto the ice to celebrate today's huge goal as the many caps fans in attendance in New York chanted his name from the stands. Then he was mod by his teammates to celebrate the big accomplishment. >> Pitch on the way, Roblox swings and drives it well to center. Sending cruise back way back to the warning track toward the wall. He leaves, he makes the catch, bangs up into the wall, turns and fires it back in and can zone, scrambles back to first base. >> But a play by Dylan Cruz, he made the catch and where the higher wall and the lower wall meet into a corner in center field is right where he made the catch and then banged up against the fence and held on.