Nationals 7, Twins 2: Native Minnesotans Dominate Twins, Nats Win Series

Box Score:
Starting (Bulk) Pitcher: Travis Adams: 3 2/3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (83 Pitches, 48 Strikes, 57.8%)
Home Runs: Matt Wallner (12)
Bottom 3 WPA: Travis Adams (-.360), Willi Castro (-.099), Royce Lewis (-.077)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

You could have argued that there were three instances of the Twins season effectively ending since the All-Star break:

1. Losing two of three to the worst team in baseball, the Rockies.
2. Griffin Jax walking pinch-runner extraordinaire Esteury Ruiz to punt away what would have been a revitalizing series win in LA against the Dodgers.
3. Saturday night, with their ace on the mound against a rebuilding but feisty Nationals team, Brooks Lee misses a pop-up and then makes an error on the relay, leading to three back-breaking runs. I turned the game off at that point, meaning I got to miss the part where Byron Buxton left with an injury.

You can't go into a rebuild phase with this roster—not with the talent it still possesses and with Emmanuel Rodriguez, Walker Jenkins and Luke Keaschall all nearly ready to contribute. If rebuilding is your contention, you may be confusing this sport with one where that is far more beneficial. What you do is trade away the expiring contracts and see what the young guys have over the next two months. In 2017, that led to a playoff berth. This year, it probably won't, but it would be nice to have some positive juice when a theoretical new ownership group comes in.

Sunday was a bullpen game, because David Festa was placed on the IL with renewed shoulder soreness. The first pitch Cole Sands threw was crushed by CJ Abrams over the high wall in right-center. Sands settled down after that, and then Trevor Larnach led off the Twins half with a single against Minnesota native Jake Irvin—which was immediately erased by an easy double-play grounder off the bat of Willi Castro.

Irvin has settled into being a decent back-end starter for the Nats. Nothing stands out metrically about him except some elite extension from his 6-foot-6 frame, but he pitched 187 2/3 solid innings last year and generally throws strikes. He threw two fastball strikes to fellow Minnesota Matt Wallner in the second, and Wallner made him pay with a 452-foot blast to tie the game.

Abrams manufactured another run for the Nats in the third, though. He singled past Kody Clemens at first, stole second, and then stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly from Luis García Jr. Pretty impressive for the third-most productive piece of the Juan Soto trade thus far, who also has an All-Star appearance on his resume.

The Twins would return the favor, thanks to Harrison Bader. The center fielder singled up the middle and was running when Christian Vázquez grounded to shortstop. Bader hesitated a bit to make sure shortstop Paul DeJong wasn't paying attention, then kept on running and made third easily. He would then score on a sacrifice fly from Larnach.

Washington quickly reclaimed the lead against Travis Adams in the fourth. Daylen Lile split the gap in right-center field with a rocket line drive (105 MPH), and yet another sacrifice fly—this time from DeJong—scored the Nats' third run.

Adams would continue to struggle in the fifth. He hit Abrams to lead off the inning, walked the struggling James Wood, and gave up a blooper to García. Josh Bell then smoked a single through the left side. Adams retired Nathaniel Lowe on a ground ball to Brooks Lee, who made the decision to come home rather than take the sure double play at second. The broadcast was split on the decision, but Alex Call then grounded a ball off the pitcher's mound that fooled Lee, scoring two more runs. With a pitcher who cannot induce swing-and-miss to save his life (like Adams), I think the better move is to get as many outs as possible, even if it costs a run. A sacrifice fly would then score Lowe to make it 7-2 Nationals.

The rest of the game was a slow death, with Irvin completing seven innings of two-run ball, despite recording only two strikeouts. The Twins never really threatened.

Stray Observations:
-Lee has the hands, arm and instincts to be a really good fielder, including making an incredible jump throw to retire Nats catcher Riley Adams in the eighth. But he rarely makes the right decision, and seems to panic in big moments, struggling to get the ball out of his glove, dropping the ball on the transfer, and generally just being a heart attack out there. He's basically a rookie. If we can be patient with Rob Dillingham, we can be patient with Lee, but he sure makes it hard.

-You try and squint to see what Adams could offer a team if everything broke right for him. Like, if the Rays picked him up, what would they focus on as far as pitch tweaks and sequencing? I kind of like his cutter, I guess.

What's Next: The Twins begin a three-game series against the Red Sox at Target Field Monday night. Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 4.14 ERA) takes on Richard Fitts (1-4, 4.86 ERA), as the Twins look to showcase their tradable players one last time with the deadline looming. Fitts has not been overly impressive and is a righty, so maybe the Twins could offer some resistance. Woods Richardson has been good since his most recent call-up, as he looks to retain his rotation spot once Pablo López and Bailey Ober return from injury.

Postgame Interviews:

Bullpen Usage Chart: