*Photo from WTOP*
Heading out of spring training camp, everything looked good for the Washington Nationals. Until their Covid-19 outbreak. It was mostly resolved, and now it is completely resolved, with Kyle Schwarber, Josh Bell, and Josh Harrison all making their season debuts Monday night against the St.Louis Cardinals, after they were cleared to return to the team. It helped the Nationals get a win, by a 5-2 score over the Cardinals.
Juan Soto got the Nats on the board in the first inning, with an RBI single to make it 1-0 early on. In the 3rd inning, Tommy Edman tied it for the Cardinals with an RBI single, making it a 1-1 game. In the top of the 6th inning, Schwarber hit an RBI double and Bell scored on a sac fly. In the bottom half, Yadier Molina hit a solo homer to center field to make the score 3-2 Nationals after 6 innings. In the 7th, Andrew Stevenson hit a solo homer to make the lead 4-2. In the 8th, Starlin Castro hit an RBI single to extend it to 5-2 Nationals.
Nats manager Dave Martinez said of getting everyone activated from the Covid list that "Things were starting to peak for us at the end of camp and then unfortunately, things happen. Now we're back together, we had a little bit of fieriness in us and a little bit of momentum before the game. We talked about it; a fresh start for all of us. Our guys are back, so let's forget about the first six games and start today. We’ll go 1-0 today."
Kyle Finnegan got the win for the Nationals, allowing one run on one hit, striking out two hitters in 1 1/3 innings of work in relief. Erick Fedde got the start, throwing 4 2/3 innings of one run ball, allowing two hits and two walks, striking out 5 hitters. Brad Hand worked a scoreless 9th inning for the save. Tanner Rainey and Daniel Hudson also threw scoreless innings of relief work.
Schwarber said of the offensive approach that "I felt like a lot of guys had great at-bats the whole night; working deep counts...That's contagious. Making that pitcher grind, if you get a five, six- or seven-pitch at-bat, you move on to that next guy and he might get that mistake."
On the other side, John Gant took the loss for the Cardinals, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 6 walks, striking out 4 hitters in 5 innings pitched. Giovanny Gallegos threw the 6th and 7th innings, allowing one run on just one hit. Andrew Miller allowed the other run in the 8th. Ryan Helsley and Tyler Webb also pitched for the Cardinals.
Game two of the series between the Nationals and Cardinals begins at 7:45 Eastern Time tonight, with Stephen Strasburg starting for the Nationals, and Jack Flaherty going for the Cardinals.
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