The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-25)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D3

Gomes and more — at the trade deadline. Yet they did. That’s a lot to bear. “I think it’s easy for me to kind of put that all on myself, thinking that, ‘Okay, we’re not playing well because I’m not healthy,’ ” he said. “I’ve had too many sleepless nights thinking that. So finally come to grips that it is what it is and all I can do is just continue to grind and continue to give it everything I have.” Tuesday night, Stephen Strasburg put behind an ugly line and stuffed the positives in his Nationals equipment bag for the drive back up I-95. He will sleep in his own bed. He will show up at Nationals Park on Wednesday for work. In coming days, he will throw a bullpen session. And five days later, he’ll take to another minor league mound. They’re baby steps, but if the 2019 World Series MVP is going to rediscover anything that resembles his former self — and hasten his franchise’s rebuild — every single one of them is necessary.

good the first one, but then when I sit down, that’s when it’s like: ‘Oh, crap. Like, where’s my arm?’ That was when we got to the point where it’s like we need to get stronger. We need to try and work on some stability.” So, then, baby steps. It matters not just to Strasburg as a person and a competitor but to the Nationals as a franchise what this start leads to. Imagine if what emerges from this process is a pitcher who somewhat resembles the Stephen Strasburg of 2019. That would give the Nationals an ace this summer and an ace in future years, when they might contend for a division title again. And if he can’t become that? Well, then, shudder and pull the covers over your eyes, because $35 million would be tied up annually in a pitcher who can’t pitch. The Nationals’ record since that World Series is 105-161 — a pace to lose 98 games per season. They tied for last in the NL East in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. They finished last over 162 games last year. They look

would come tomorrow. “I think that the biggest thing is that it’s feeling good,” Strasburg said after he worked out in what became a 6-1 Fredericksburg loss. “It’s about just getting reps in and just getting the consistency back. You can only simulate that so much in the bullpen. Threw a lot of pitches. Arm felt good coming out of it, and I think that’s been like the big thing, building up the stamina and stuff.” That wasn’t clear during a spring training that started late because of the owners’ lockout and in which Strasburg never appeared in a major league game. That wasn’t true at the end of the spring, when he ended up in MLB’s coronavirus protocols and had to quarantine for 10 days. “Frustrating,” he called that development. Add it to the pile of developments he could characterize exactly that way. “That was kind of what I was feeling in spring training, [when] I went out there for the first live [batting practice session],” he said. “And it was

Since, he has signed a seven-year, $245 million deal that has essentially hamstrung the franchise. Over three seasons, he has pitched just 26^2 / 3 big league innings. It’s crippling. Strasburg’s previous appearance in a game in which the results mattered for someone’s record in some league’s standings, regardless of the level, was June 1, 2021, when he faced the Braves in Atlanta and lasted two batters into the second inning. Thoracic outlet syndrome — which he has investigated and chased and battled and is now starting to believe he can overcome — is different than the Tommy John surgery he overcame more than a decade ago. There is just no straight line back, and for so long there was no way to know what

“Command wasn’t good, but
the stuff was breaking like I
haven’t seen it in a long time,”
Strasburg said. “So I’m like:
‘Okay, the stuff’s there. Now I
just need to kind of hone it in a
little bit more.’ So that’s kind of
the big positive that I saw, and
that’s the thing where when
you’re down in Florida just
throwing on a back field, you’re
not going to get that kind of
adrenaline flowing.”
The Nationals’ downfall since
their 2019 World Series
championship is in so many
ways embodied by Strasburg.
Then, he was an October
monster, the World Series MVP
who shouldered 361 / 3 postseason
innings, posting a 1.98 ERA with
47 strikeouts and just four walks.

SVRLUGA FROM D1

BARRY SVRLUGA

Strasburg’s r ough rehab start

is still a sizable step forward

like a last-place team this year. It’s not a stretch to think if Strasburg had been healthy that the club’s record would have been good enough last summer that the Nationals wouldn’t have undergone a massive sell-off — Max Scherzer and Trea Turner and Daniel Hudson and Yan

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burg Senators, yielding four hits, no runs and no walks and striking out four on 31 pitches (23 strikes). On Sunday, Martinez told report- ers he wanted to see four innings and 60 pitches from each right- hander. And while neither reached both of those marks, what matters more is how they felt physically and how their bod- ies recover ahead of their next minor league outings.

News on Adrianza Out since late March with a right quadriceps strain, utility man Ehire Adrianza led off and played shortstop for Harrisburg in his first rehab appearance. He finished with two singles, a double, a walk and three runs in four plate appearances. He played seven innings in the field and made a throwing error. Like Ross, Adri- anza is on the 60-day injured list, meaning they can’t return to the majors before June 6.

HOW THEY SCORED DODGERS FIRST Mookie Betts lines out to center. Freddie Freeman walks. Trea Turner homers to center, Freeman scores. Will Smith singles to left center. Max Muncy walks, Smith to second. Justin Turner strikes out. Edwin Rios strikes out. Dodgers 2, Nationals 0 NATIONALS FIRST Cesar Hernandez singles to shortstop. Keibert Ruiz doubles to right, Hernandez to third. Juan Soto grounds out to second, Ruiz to third, Hernandez scores. Nelson Cruz singles to second, Ruiz scores. Josh Bell singles to center, advances to third on throwing error, Nelson Cruz scores. Yadiel Hernandez strikes out. Maikel Fran- co pops out to first. Nationals 3, Dodgers 2 DODGERS SECOND Chris Taylor singles to left. Gavin Lux walks, Taylor to second. Mookie Betts homers to left, Lux scores, Taylor scores. Freddie Freeman flies out to left. Trea Turner pops out to shortstop. Will Smith strikes out. Dodgers 5, Nationals 3 DODGERS THIRD Max Muncy strikes out. Justin Turner hit by pitch. Ed- win Rios strikes out. Chris Taylor homers to center, Turner scores. Gavin Lux lines out to right. Dodgers 7, Nationals 3 DODGERS FOURTH Mookie Betts homers to left. Freddie Freeman lines out to left field. Trea Turner grounds out. Will Smith flies out to left. Dodgers 8, Nationals 3 DODGERS SIXTH Gavin Lux pops out to third. Mookie Betts singles to right. F reddie Freeman reaches on a fielder’s choice to second, B etts out at second. Trea Turner walks, Free- man to second. Will Smith walks, Turner to second, Freeman to third. Max Muncy walks, Smith to second, Turner to third, Freeman scores. Justin Turner strikes out. Dodgers 9, Nationals 3 NATIONALS SEVENTH Dee Strange-Gordon singles to left. Cesar Hernandez flies out to right. Keibert Ruiz singles to left, Strange- Gordon to second. Juan Soto strikes out. Nelson Cruz singles to center, Ruiz to second, Strange-Gordon scores. Josh Bell strikes out. Dodgers 9, Nationals 4

to blank Washington in his final five innings, logging 92 pitches and striking out just three. Cruz had two of the Nationals’ six hits against him and added an RBI single off David Price in the seventh.

Rehab updates Stephen Strasburg, still work- ing back after undergoing surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome last summer, pitched 22 / 3 innings for the low Class A Fredericks- burg Nationals and battled rough command. He threw just seven of his 22 first-inning pitches for strikes. He walked three in that frame. Overall, Strasburg threw 61 pitches, walked four, struck out three and allowed three runs on three hits. Joe Ross, recovering from having a bone spur removed from his elbow in early March, threw three innings for the Class AA Harris-

Dodgers 9, Nationals 4 DODGERS AB RHBIBBSOAVG Betts rf........................... 423410 .292 Freeman 1b .................... 420010 .302 T.Turner ss..................... 411210 .288 Smith c........................... 401011 .255 Muncy 2b........................ 300121 .154 J.Turner 3b..................... 410002 .201 Ríos dh............................ 502003 .255 Taylor cf ......................... 522202 .246 Lux lf .............................. 310010 .256 TOTALS 36 99979 — NATIONALS AB RHBIBBSOAVG Hernández 2b................. 511000 .275 Ruiz c.............................. 512001 .283 Soto rf ............................ 300121 .241 Cruz dh ........................... 513200 .219 Bell 1b ............................ 401001 .295 Hernandez lf................... 300011 .311 Franco 3b........................ 400000 .256 Thomas cf....................... 300012 .213 Strange-Gordon ss......... 413000 .262 TOTALS 36 410346 — LOS ANGELES......... 232 101 000 —991 WASHINGTON........ 300 000 100 —4 10 0 E: Taylor (2). LOB: Los Angeles 8, Washington 9. 2B: Ruiz (10). HR: T.Turner (3), off Gray; Betts (11), off Gray; Taylor (4), off Gray; Betts (12), off Arano. RBI: T.Turner 2 (34), Betts 4 (30), Taylor 2 (18), Muncy (14), Soto (14), Cruz 2 (23). SB: Cruz (1), Ruiz (2). DODGERS IP HRERBBSONPERA Buehler ....................... 663223 92 2.91 Price............................. 131102 25 3.38 Graterol....................... 210021 29 3.50 NATIONALS IP HRERBBSONPERA Gray ............................. 357735 80 5.44 Arano........................... 111100 11 4.50 Rogers....................... 12 / 3 21130 47 4.44 Edwards Jr................ 11 / 3 00003 16 3.12 Finnegan...................... 100010 15 3.31 Espino.......................... 110001 16 2.61 WP: Buehler (6-1); LP: Gray (4-4). Inherited runners- scored: Edwards Jr. 3-0. HBP: Gray (J.Turner). T: 3:19. A: 22,418 (41,339).

BY JESSE DOUGHERTY

On Tuesday night, Josiah Gray
was a flyball pitcher — one who
couldn’t finish tough hitters or
keep the ball in the yard — and
had a few narratives attached to
what would have been the normal
course of his growth and develop-
ment if he were facing any other
team.
The first: Gray was facing the
Los Angeles Dodgers, his old
team, and was tagged for three
homers and seven earned runs in
the Washington Nationals’ 9-4
loss.
The second: Trea Turner, one of
the stars Gray was traded for in
July, took the 24-year-old righty
deep for a two-run homer in the
first, inducing equal doses of
groans and cheers at Nationals
Park.
The third: None of this helped
ease the fans’ frustration watch-
ing Turner return with a first-
place team that twice has sprint-
ed past the last-place Nationals
(14-30) this week.
“There were a lot of emotions,
and being traded twice already, I
guess this was my first opportu-
nity to prove myself against a
former team,” Gray said after
Washington tied the Cincinnati
Reds with an MLB-high 30 losses.
“So I obviously let the emotions
get ahead of me and didn’t con-
trol them from the first pitch on.
But, yeah, the emotions were
there, kind of just wanting to
prove to them like, ‘Hey, you guys
are missing out.’ But unfortunate-
ly the outing didn’t go my way.”
Why was it so important to
show that to the Dodgers?
“I think that’s just the type of
player I am,” Gray answered. “In
being slighted, I guess you could
say, since I’ve been in pro ball, I’ve
wanted to prove my former or-
ganizations wrong and that they
traded a guy who is going to go

out there and work his butt off.” Since most narratives pass, what mattered in Gray’s 22nd major league start is that he took a tough test, learned from it and has to be sharper with his fastball, especially with a stacked lineup such as that of the Dodgers and especially in two-strike counts. In the first, Turner crushed his two-run shot on a 2-2 fastball at the outer edge of the plate. In the second, Mookie Betts pulled a three-run homer on a 1-2 slider that was low and in. And in the third, Chris Taylor rocked his two-run homer on a 2-2 fastball intended for the outer half. The pitch leaked toward the heart of the zone, and Taylor didn’t miss it. The Dodgers (29-13) were quick to overcome the Nationals’ three-run first against Walker Buehler. Betts notched two hom-

ers and a single, the second shot coming off reliever Victor Arano. Gray’s final line included three innings, his fewest of the season, with five hits, three walks and five strikeouts on 80 pitches. Half of those came in a dreadful first, which didn’t end before Arano warmed in the bullpen. “Coming into the series, [what] we know about the Dodgers, they walk and they hit homers,” Man- ager Dave Martinez said. “And if you look at what they did [against Gray]... t hey walked, home run, walk, home run, hit batter, walk, home run. His pitch count got high. We were hoping to get a little bit more out of him because our bullpen has been pitching a lot. But, I mean, I’m not going to send him out there with 80 pitches after three.” Here is what else to know about the Nationals’ loss:

Nats strike quickly César Hernández led off with a single, Keibert Ruiz followed with a double, and Juan Soto knocked in Hernández with a groundout. (In the first row by the Nationals’ on-deck circle, managing princi- pal owner Mark Lerner hosted Scott Boras, Soto’s agent, and two of Boras’s employees.) Nelson Cruz then drove in Ruiz, another Boras client — and the second top prospect who arrived with Gray in the Turner/Max Scherzer deal — with a single to right. The third run, however, re- quired an error and some luck. After Josh Bell singled to right, too, Cruz tried to go first to third and looked well out on Betts’s throw. But the ball skipped past third baseman Justin Turner and into the Dodgers’ dugout, permit- ting Cruz to reach third and score uncontested. Buehler rebounded

Gray can’t dodge his former team, lasting three innings

NICK WASS/ASSOCIATED PRESS Josiah Gray could not make the Nationals’ first-inning lead stand up in his earliest exit of the season.

DODGERS 9, NATIONALS 4

BY LIZ CLARKE

paris — Trumpets blared. Cheers
rang out. And rousing strains of
“La Marseillaise” reverberated
through Roland Garros on Tues-
day as French tennis fans, united
in joyful solidarity, did all they
could to help Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
extend his career one more day.
Tsonga, the mightiest and most
genial among the last great gener-
ation of French players, had previ-
ously announced that this year’s
French Open would be his last. At
37, he was ready to retire, ranked
No. 297 and eager to devote his
attention to his wife and their two
young children.
After he drew eighth-seeded
Casper Ruud as his first-round
opponent, Tsonga’s final Grand
Slam tournament was expected to
end with a straight-sets defeat
before an adoring audience at
Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Instead, Tsonga produced a
thriller — a nearly four-hour
heart-stopper that encapsulated a
career’s worth of highs and lows,
effort and heart, cloaked in love
and respect.
Blasting forehands with aban-

don, Tsonga claimed the opening set against Norway’s 23-year-old clay-court prodigy in a tiebreaker. The second set was just as much a tussle, with Ruud eking out a tiebreaker to level the proceedings. Tsonga’s fierce groundstrokes lost their bearings in the third set, but he battled on. Drawing strength from the crowd, he poured the full fury of his game into attempting to force a fifth set. He was one service game from doing just that, leading 6-5, when something seemed to pop in his shoulder during the changeover that followed. It wasn’t until Tsonga was about to serve, he explained after- ward, that he realized he couldn’t raise his arm. He called for the trainer, and the crowd fell silent. “I thought, ‘I’m going to stay on the court and finish off this match,’ ” Tsonga later said. “That’s how I wanted to finish — on the court, giving my best tennis.” The trainer kneaded his shoulder, but it did no good. Tsonga couldn’t mount a cred- ible effort in the fourth-set tiebreaker. At one point, he switched the racket from his right hand to his left — mid-rally — just to keep the ball in play. And when he stepped up for what proved to be his final serve, amid certain defeat, the crowd stood. The ovation moved him to tears he tried wiping away with his wristbands. But the tears kept

falling, and his face contorted with emotion. After sharing an embrace with Ruud at the net following the 6-7 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 7-6 (7-0) out- come, Tsonga fell to his knees and rested his forehead on the red clay as the cheering continued. In the trophy presentation that followed, Ruud said he didn’t want to speak about himself. He wanted to pay tribute to Tsonga, and he recalled how upset he was, as a 9-year-old, watching on TV as Tsonga beat his idol, Rafael Nadal, at the 2008 Australian Open. “I was a sad boy,” Ruud recalled.

“But after, I learned he is such a great, nice person on and off the court.” A formal ceremony followed in which Tsonga’s achievements were recounted in a video spot- lighting his 2012 Olympic doubles silver medal, his 18 ATP tournament titles, his role in helping France win the 2017 Davis Cup and his rare status in having beat- en Roger Federer, Nadal and No- vak Djokovic in Grand Slams, when each was in his prime. It was a testament to Tsonga the man, more so than the tennis player, that when the French ten-

nis federation invited his former coaches to attend, seemingly ev- eryone did. Nearly a dozen coaches and trainers from childhood to adulthood strode onto the court, one after another, each wearing a T-shirt that read, “Merci Jo.” French players strode out in tribute, as well — Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet and Benoit Paire among them — while Federer, Na- dal, Djokovic and Andy Murray delivered videotaped congratula- tions that evoked a happier era for French tennis. This year, there isn’t a single French player, man or woman, among the French Open’s 64 seeds. And a Frenchman hasn’t won the tournament since 1983, when Yannick Noah did so. Tsonga, who reached a career- high No. 5 ranking in 2012, was regarded as the country’s best hope of snapping that drought, reaching the semifinals in 2013 and 2015. But like his compatriot Monfils, a 2008 French Open semifinalist, Tsonga had the mis- fortune of peaking in the same era as Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, who have 61 Grand Slam singles titles among them. In paying tribute to Tsonga, Murray hailed him as “a great ambassador for the sport.” Nadal called him “one of the most charis- matic players ever to play the game.” And Federer, speaking in French, said: “Ciao, Willi! It was a pleasure to play against you and

even to lose against you!” Tsonga’s parents looked on from the court, alongside his sis- ter, brother, wife and children, as he stepped up to thank each person. “I’ve had fabulous days and some that have not been so good,” Tsonga said, speaking in French, as interpreted by Eurosport. “I’m a French player. I’m a Swiss player. I’m a Congolese player. I’m a Black player, I’m a White player. I am a father. “... I am now standing in front of you without my racket, with my best friends of 30 years. Thank you, Noura, for being alongside me. My family are now my priori- ty. Thank you, tennis. I love you.”

Medvedev, Tiafoe advance D ay 3 in Paris included first- round victories in the men’s bracket for U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev, No. 7 seed An- drey Rublev and No. 24 Frances Tiafoe, who had been 0-6 at Ro- land Garros. Tiafoe, a Hyattsville native, beat Benjamin Bonzi of France, 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). Danish teenager Holger Rune eliminated No. 14 Denis Shapovalov, 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4). Women who advanced to the second round included 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko, 2018 champion Simona Halep, No. 9 Danielle Collins, No. 11 Jessica Pegula and No. 22 Madison Keys. — Associated Press

FRENCH OPEN

Frenchman Tsonga, in brave and brilliant e≠ort, bids adieu at Roland Garros

CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE /GETTY IMAGES Jo-Wilfried Tsonga battled Casper Ruud in a back-and-forth match. He tried to play through a shoulder injury but fell in four sets.

The 37-year-old i s feted a fter losing in t hriller at his final tournament

The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-25)

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