The infielder had what he called the best game of his MLB career, contributing in every facet of a 6-4 win over the Royals.
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There’s a quote Washington Nationals infielder Nasim Nuñez likes when times are hard, and there have been plenty of such times this season. Before Tuesday’s 6-4 win over the Kansas City Royals, he was hitting just .209, and his OPS was a lowly .529, the lowest in the majors.
“At the top of the mountain is the bottom of the next one,” he said after the game at Nationals Park. “So you have to keep climbing, don’t get caught up in the highs and lows.”
Then he broke out in a song. “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming,” he sang, nodding his head along to the tune. “Who sang that? Dory?”
A resounding yes from the media gathered around him assured him he was right. A 2-for-2 day with two triples, two walks, an RBI and three runs scored — with contributions on the basepaths and in the field — deserves a little theme song. Especially when it comes after the Nationals (39-35) earned their fourth straight win and secured their ninth series victory in their past 11.
“What a game, all the way around,” Manager Blake Butera said. “Everything he did tonight, he was unbelievable. We’re so fired up for Naz.”
Nuñez did so many things well Tuesday that Butera couldn’t pick his favorite. He impacted the game in every facet. Nuñez had been waiting for a game like this. The second baseman called it his best big league performance.
“I haven’t been playing my best baseball,” he said. “Things haven’t been going my way. Talking to my friends, family, teammates, it’s just keep showing up and give myself the opportunity to play like this.”
His first major contribution of the day came in the second inning, when he laid out to snag Tyler Tolbert‘s line drive into shallow right. Starter Foster Griffin waited for Nuñez on the field so he could thank his second baseman for getting him out of the inning.
“Just got to show him some love,” Griffin said. “Just got to let him know I appreciate it so he keeps doing it.”
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In the third inning, after Drew Millas singled, Nuñez hit his first triple of the night, going from home to third in 11.11 seconds. It was the fastest triple by a National since Trea Turner’s during his 2021 cycle. Millas scored to get Washington on the board, and Wood then hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
Griffin gave up his only run in the fifth inning on an RBI single from Bobby Witt Jr. He mixed his pitches well, just as he has all season, striking out six Royals and lowering his ERA to 3.32.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Nuñez hit his second triple, the ball landing just shy of the center field fence. He thought it was his first home run of the season, and he lost the ball in the lights, so even he wasn’t sure at first where it was going to land. He ended up on third base, then scored on a single from Wood.
In the seventh inning, with Griffin out of the game, Orlando Ribalta walked Lane Thomas and gave up a single to Witt. Butera turned to Richard Lovelady to get the Nationals out of the jam, but he let in both runs on an RBI single from Isaac Collins to tie the game at 3. Lovelady has allowed eight of 17 inherited runners to score this season.
But Washington, again aided by Nuñez, had no trouble reclaiming the lead. He walked to lead off the seventh, then made it safely to second on a grounder from Wood. It looked like a double play ball, but Nuñez beat Witt’s throw to second, although Wood was retired on the relay.
Instead of the bases empty and two outs, the Nationals had a runner in scoring position, and they ramped up the pressure. Nuñez stole third, his National League-leading 26th steal of the season, and Andrés Chaparro, pinch-hitting for García, walked to put runners on the corners. That set up Curtis Mead, who swatted a towering home run to center field to give the Nationals a 6-3 lead.
Things got a little shaky in the ninth. Gus Varland gave up a home run to Thomas, then walked Witt to bring the tying run to the plate.
But Nuñez, once again, had the Nationals covered. He snagged a 108-mph grounder from Jac Caglianone on the run, tossing it to CJ Abrams, who then fired to Mead for the double play. That shift gave Varland the momentum he needed, and he ended the game by striking out Collins.
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