*Photo from the Modesto Bee*
If this is his last time in Washington, Josh Bell went out with a bang. Victor Robles homered, Bell hit a go ahead 3 run homer, and the Washington Nationals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals with a 7-6 victory on Saturday night in Washington.
With the win, the Nationals stopped a two game slide, winning their 5th game out of their last 10. Big contributors were Robles, Nelson Cruz with two RBI's, and Bell. His case is interesting, because he has been the subject of rampant trade rumors as the trade deadline gets closer and closer, and with the deadline on Tuesday, it's possible he's playing his last games in Washington.
Bell said of the rumors that "If you’re focused on things you can’t control, you lose focus on the game. At the end of the day, baseball’s the most important thing. So if I can focus on baseball and what’s going on here and now tonight, I’ll be in a good place."
Nolan Arenado got the scoring started, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead with a solo home run to left field in the second inning. One inning later, Victor Robles tied it for the Nationals with a solo shot of his own, tying the game 1-1. The top of the 5th inning saw the Cardinals take a 4-1 lead on a two run home run from Paul DeJong and a sac fly from Corey Dickerson.
In the bottom of the 5th, the Nationals tied the game once again, with Nelson Cruz hitting a two run double, and Yadiel Hernandez hitting an RBI single, making it a 4-4 deadlock. In the 6th inning, Lars Nootbaar gave the Cardinals a 5-4 lead with a sac fly, before Bell hit a 3 run home run in the 7th to put Washington ahead 7-5. An 8th inning sac fly from DeJong made it 7-6, but that was it for the Cardinals.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez said of Bell that "His big thing is not trying to do too much, and he’s just trying to put the ball in play. He's got power, we know that, in all fields. He’s done incredible for us. It doesn’t matter where I hit him; he just goes up there and tries to not chase and get the ball where he thinks he can hit it and put some good swings on it."
Paolo Espino got the start for the Nationals, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits over 4 2/3 innings. Andres Machado finished the 5th, followed by shutout innings from Hunter Harvey and Erasmo Ramirez, who got the win. Carl Edwards Jr got one out in the 8th, but Kyle Finnegan got a 5 out save to seal it.
Dakota Hudson came off the IL to start for the Cardinals, allowing two runs on 4 hits in 4 1/3 innings pitched. Packy Naughton allowed two runs to finish the 5th inning, with Jordan Hicks, Genesis Cabrera, and Johan Oviedo also pitched for the Cardinals, with Cabrera getting the loss.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of Hudson's start that "I still think it was a good outing for kind of coming back for the first time. Got the leadoff guy out every inning. But at the end of the day, do you like the Soto matchup for the third time, followed by Bell, who’s 6-for-11 coming into today’s game?"
Up next, the Nationals and Cardinals conclude their series on Sunday afternoon. Josiah Gray starts for Washington, while Andre Pallante goes for the Cardinals.
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