James Wood, CJ Abrams, Luis Garcia Jr. spearhead the Washington Nationals' series win against the Houston Astros
Following a big 8-2 win Thursday, the Nationals sealed a 2-1 series victory at home over the Houston Astros.
It was a wild series, with 42 combined runs and one mammoth James Wood grand slam. Now that it’s over, let’s take a look at some of the major takeaways.
JAMES WOOD STEALS THE SHOW
Have a series, James Wood.
The Nationals 23-year-old all star outfielder absolutely dominated against Houston, plain and simple.
In the first game, Wood mashed a 446-foot grand slam, the second of his career. That was the highlight of the series, but it hardly stopped there.
Wood finished the three-game slate with three hits in eight at bats — two of them homers — and a somewhat ridiculous seven walks, including three in the final game of the series.
Wood is on a heater heading into the all-star break, batting .382 with five home runs in his last ten games. The Nationals are surely hoping he keeps up the blistering pace in the second half.
NATIONALS OVERCOME TERRIBLE PITCHING TO WIN GAME ONE
The Nationals, for all intents and purposes, should have lost the first game of the Houston series.
Miles Mikolas took the bump for the Nats to start… and promptly gave up seven earned runs in six innings of work. Cole Henry then came out of the bullpen, giving up four more earned runs in 1.2 innings.
It’s the type of blow-up pitching performance that has sank the Nationals far too often this season. But instead, the offense absolutely came to life.
Led by Wood’s grand slam and home runs from Curtis Mead and CJ Abrams, Washington scored 12 runs, pulling off a win in a shootout. It’s not a sustainable way to win, but it sure was exciting for a day.
CJ ABRAMS AND LUIS GARCIA JR. SET NEW CAREER HIGHS
It’s not even the all-star break, but two Nationals have already set career highs.
Both shortstop CJ Abrams and infielder Luis Garcia Jr. The former surpassed his previous career RBI high of 65, while the latter reached 20 home runs for the first time in his career.
Abrams also tied his highest home run total in a season — he currently sits at 20 home runs, a feat he reached in 2024, as well.
Both players have been having career years so far, and have been a big part of a surprisingly stellar Washington offense. The team and its fans surely hope the progress continues in the home stretch of the season.
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