SUNDAY, JUNE 12 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU D5
BY JESSE DOUGHERTY
While there was no way of
knowing Juan Soto would hit the
first of back-to-back-to-back
home runs Saturday at Nationals
Park — teaming with Nelson Cruz
and Josh Bell — there were clear
indications he was seeing pitches
in a way only Juan Soto can.
Go back to the first inning of
the Washington Nationals’ 8-6
win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Facing lefty Eric Lauer, Soto fell
behind 0-2; fouled off two pitch-
es; then took a slider just off the
plate, a fastball just off the plate,
a curve just off the plate; then
fouled away another slider before
drawing a walk. Throughout the
nine-pitch battle, Soto smiled
and nodded, his chin almost
touching his chest. He shuffled a
bit, kicking dirt around the fresh-
ly lined batter’s box.
Really, he looked like himself,
a welcome sign for the Nationals
(23-38). If they hand the Brewers
(33-28) their ninth consecutive
loss Sunday, they will have their
first sweep of the season. Wash-
ington has scored 19 runs in the
first two games of the series.
“He’s definitely seeing the ball
a lot better,” Manager Dave Mar-
tinez said before focusing on
Soto’s first-inning walk: “That
was a good at-bat. That lefty
today, he’s got good stuff. And
when [Soto] worked those nine
pitches like that, I thought, ‘Yeah,
he’s seeing the ball really well.’ ”
Soto entered Saturday with an
uncharacteristic .226 batting av-
erage, .368 on-base percentage
and .447 slugging percentage. His
chase rate of 21.6 percent, the
fifth lowest in the majors, was
more than six points higher than
where he finished last season.
The chases and weak grounders
— and the .125 average with
runners in scoring position —
have often made Soto seem like a
shell of a 23-year-old superstar.
So maybe, just maybe, recent
games mark a course correction.
Soto has four homers, a double
and six walks in Washington’s
past eight contests. With the
bases loaded in the third Satur-
day, he walked against Lauer
before Cruz scorched a two-run,
113-mph double to left. And with
Lane Thomas on first in the fifth,
Soto got a high fastball from
Lauer and crushed it 406 feet to
right-center. Cruz, the next bat-
ter, hammered a low cutter
416 feet in the same direction.
Then Bell lined a 3-1 curve
376 feet to left, a fitting tribute to
the bobblehead giveaway depict-
ing him as the Incredible Hulk.
That totaled 1,198 feet of home
runs in the span of eight pitches.
Lauer, who entered with a
2.38 ERA, was tagged with eight
runs on seven hits. Both were
season highs.
“When you see the line drives
low and hard the other way with
runners in scoring position,
that’s who I’ve seen the last four
years he’s been in the show,” Bell
said of Soto. “So it’s definitely fun
to watch, and I know there’s a lot
more coming.”
This was the fifth time the
Nationals have hit three straight
homers since coming to D.C. in
- The latest accounted for
Soto’s 13th of the season, Cruz’s
seventh and Bell’s seventh. Cruz
and Bell homered Friday, too,
while Soto brought in runs with
a single and a fielder’s choice.
Martinez felt Soto was on the
edge of breaking out, though he
has filled the year with such
predictions.
This time he might be right.
“It was just a different vibe
today,” Soto said. “I felt way
better at the plate and even in the
outfield and everything.”
What does that vibe feel like in
the box?
“It feels like a lot is coming,” he
answered, grinning and echoing
Bell. “A lot is coming soon. There
are a lot of good at-bats coming
in.”
Here’s what else to know about
the Nationals’ victory:
Mixed bag for Corbin
How did Patrick Corbin’s start
play out? Rough at the beginning
and end. Sharp in the middle.
Corbin was greeted by a leadoff
homer for Christian Yelich in the
top of the first. From there, he
retired 14 of the next 19 batters he
faced. Those Brewers reached on
two singles, two walks and an
error for shortstop Luis García,
allowing Corbin to hold them to
one run while the Nationals’ bats
clicked. But after entering the
seventh at 88 pitches, Corbin was
crushed by a double for Victor
Caratini, a double for Lorenzo
Cain and a two-run homer for
ninth hitter Mark Mathias, the
first of his career.
Corbin recorded one more out
and was pulled for Erasmo
Ramírez, who induced a double
play before yielding back-to-back
singles. Kyle Finnegan then came
in to quiet the noise. He and
Tanner Rainey combined for the
final seven outs. The gap was
halved when Luis Urías took
Rainey deep for a two-out, two-
run homer in the ninth.
Espino gets the nod
Right-hander Paolo Espino will
start for the Nationals on Sunday.
The options were Espino or rookie
Evan Lee, and Martinez has sug-
gested both will stay stretched out
ahead of a doubleheader against
the Philadelphia Phillies on Fri-
day. But Espino, 35, gets the nod
in the Nationals’ sixth and final
matchup with the Brewers.
Espino has 2.03 ERA in 26^2 / 3 in-
nings, all in relief. He has not,
however, pitched when the mar-
gin is less than three runs (with
Washington either winning or
losing). The Nationals are 5-15
when he has appeared, showing
how much of his work has come
in a true mop-up role.
Martinez told reporters Satur-
day that Espino could go up to
five innings. Espino made
19 starts in 2021 but has not
recorded more than nine outs
this year.
Soto looks like his old self as Nats win second straight
NICK WASS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Juan Soto hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning, and third base coach Gary DiSarcina approved.
NATIONALS 8,
BREWERS 6
NATIONALS ON DECK
vs. Milwaukee Brewers
Today1:35 MASN2
vs. Atlanta Braves
Tomorrow 7:05 MASN
Tuesday7:05 MASN
Wednesday7:05 MASN
vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Thursday7:05 MASN
Friday1:05
7:05
MASN
Saturday4:35 MASN
June 19 12:05 Peacock
Radio: WJFK (106.7 FM)
Nationals 8, Brewers 6
BREWERS AB RHBIBBSOAVG
Yelich lf .......................... 513101 .242
Adames ss...................... 500001 .192
McCutchen dh................ 411010 .233
Renfroe rf....................... 501001 .252
Urías 3b-2b..................... 311221 .221
Tellez 1b......................... 500001 .251
Caratini c........................ 312010 .244
Cain cf............................. 411100 .168
Mathias 2b..................... 311200 .222
Peterson ph-3b............... 101000 .224
TOTALS 38 611645 —
NATIONALS AB RHBIBBSOAVG
Thomas lf ....................... 220020 .242
Hernández 2b................. 412002 .267
Soto rf ............................ 221320 .228
Cruz dh........................... 412300 .266
Bell 1b............................ 211210 .305
Franco 3b........................ 400000 .264
Adams c.......................... 400001 .212
García ss......................... 413000 .359
Robles cf......................... 400000 .232
TOTALS 30 89853 —
MILWAUKEE........... 100 000 302 —6 11 1
WASHINGTON........ 004 040 00X—891
E: Urías (6), García (3). LOB: Milwaukee 9, Washington
- 2B: Caratini (3), Cain (5), Cruz (8). HR: Yelich (6), off
Corbin; Mathias (1), off Corbin; Urías (6), off Rainey;
Soto (13), off Lauer; Cruz (7), off Lauer; Bell (7), off
Lauer. RBI: Yelich (22), Cain (8), Mathias 2 (2), Urías 2
(13), Soto 3 (28), Cruz 3 (35), Bell 2 (36). SB: Mathias
(1). CS: García (1). SF: Bell.
BREWERS IP HRER BB SONPERA
Lauer ........................... 578842993 .36
Strzelecki..................... 110000133 .00
Milner.......................... 110010142 .59
Williams...................... 1000019 2.74
NATIONALS IP HRERBBSONPERA
Corbin .......................... 674422103 6.65
Ramírez......................^2 / 3 200007 3.28
Finnegan................... 11 / 3 10011213 .47
Rainey.......................... 112212193 .38
WP: Corbin (3-8); LP: Lauer (5-2). Inherited runners-
scored: Ramírez 1-0, Finnegan 2-0. T: 3:02. A: 25,265
(41,339).
HOW THEY SCORED
BREWERS FIRST
Christian Yelich homers. Willy Adames grounds out.
Andrew McCutchen grounds out. Hunter Renfroe
grounds out.
Brewers 1, Nationals 0
NATIONALS THIRD
Luis Garcia singles. Victor Robles pops out. Lane Thom-
as walks. Luis Garcia to second. Cesar Hernandez sin-
gles. Lane Thomas to second. Luis Garcia to third. Juan
Soto walks, Cesar Hernandez to second, Lane Thomas
to third, Luis Garcia scores. Nelson Cruz doubles, Juan
Soto to third, Cesar Hernandez scores, Lane Thomas
scores. Josh Bell out on a sacrifice fly, Juan Soto
scores. Maikel Franco grounds out.
Nationals 4, Brewers 1
NATIONALS FIFTH
Lane Thomas walks. Cesar Hernandez called out on
strikes. Juan Soto homers, Lane Thomas scores. Nelson
Cruz homers. Josh Bell homers. Maikel Franco grounds
out. Riley Adams pops out.
Nationals 8, Brewers 1
BREWERS SEVENTH
Victor Caratini doubles. Lorenzo Cain doubles, Victor
Caratini scores. Mark Mathias homers, Lorenzo Cain
scores. Christian Yelich singles. Willy Adames grounds
out. Christian Yelich out at second. Andrew McCutchen
singles. Hunter Renfroe singles. Andrew McCutchen to
second. Luis Urias walks. Hunter Renfroe to second.
Andrew McCutchen to third. Rowdy Tellez lines out.
Nationals 8, Brewers 4
BREWERS NINTH
Willy Adames strikes out swinging. Andrew McCutchen
walks. Hunter Renfroe flies out. Luis Urias homers, An-
drew McCutchen scores. Rowdy Tellez strikes out
swinging.
Nationals 8, Brewers 6
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