Jake Irvin's gem and James Wood's blast guide the Nats past the Giants

Washington Post

25-05-2025

It is in Jake Irvin's nature to take the ball for as long as his team will let him. On Saturday, in the Washington Nationals' 3-0 dispatching of the San Francisco Giants at Nationals Park, it appeared as though he would never let go.
He entered the sixth inning with his velocity dipping but got three soft outs on five pitches. He entered the seventh in danger of a quick hook but got out of the frame in four pitches, walking back to the dugout before Robert Hassell III had secured the third out in center field. Between innings, he told pitching strategist Sean Doolittle that he was going nine. With two outs in the eighth, he walked Mike Yastrzemski, got two strikes on Heliot Ramos and let the moment linger.
Many of the 36,873 at Nationals Park rose. A curveball came next. A strikeout and a euphoric fist pump from Irvin followed. Before Irvin walked Yastrzemski, Manager Dave Martinez was considering letting the right-hander pitch the ninth. His pitches above the strike zone to Yastrzemski told Martinez that Irvin was beginning to feel some fatigue.
'But, man, what a performance,' Martinez said. 'He was a hell of a lawyer, I could tell you that. He tried to go back out in the ninth. And I'm a better judge.'
'I thought we were going to do it,' Irvin said. 'At the end of the day, the only thoughts really going through the head, though, were, 'Go pitch to pitch and just keep making guys earn it.''
His final line: eight innings, three hits, two walks and seven strikeouts on 96 pitches. Upon learning he wasn't going to pitch the ninth, Irvin bent backward and let out an exasperated sigh before telling Martinez he understood. It was the second time this year he pitched into the eighth. Backed by James Wood's first-inning, two-run homer, Washington cruised behind him.
It has not been the easiest season for Irvin. His strikeout rate is down, and his hard-hit rate is up. He has worked and worked to get his velocity back to where he wants it, with his fastball sitting about 2 mph slower than it did last year. Between starts, it has been a point of frustration. On game day, he has navigated around it, and he said he felt especially good Saturday thanks to six days of rest.
'The biggest thing for him is he stays in the moment,' Martinez said. 'He understands what he needs to do. He doesn't panic. He makes pitches when he has to. ... He's very confident in what he's trying to do and how he wants to pitch to hitters. Even though some of his stuff wasn't great at times, he knows how to get outs, and that's what makes him who he is.'
The Nationals (24-28) have won six of their past seven games. Irvin left the mound with a 3.42 ERA. The Giants (30-22) did not hit a single ball over 100 mph. The game was over in 1 hour 52 minutes — the Nationals' quickest game since a 2-0 loss in Pittsburgh on Sept. 14, 2023, lasted 1:50 — and was finished off with a diving catch by Daylen Lile in right field. Closer Kyle Finnegan was unavailable, so Jorge López earned his first save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
On Friday, a day after pitching against the Atlanta Braves, Finnegan felt some arm fatigue while playing catch. Before Saturday's game, he felt it again and was at less than 100 percent — about 75 to 80 percent, Martinez said. Finnegan and his manager said the fatigue was in his shoulder. Imaging came back negative.
'I feel fine — just abundance of caution,' Finnegan said. 'I think it's important to listen to your body and knock things out before they become an issue. And I think that's what taking an extra day does.'
The Nationals' starting pitchers entered Saturday with a 5.38 ERA in May, which ranked 28th in MLB. But Washington has hung around because its batters and the bullpen have taken steps forward during the starters' rough patch. Irvin, to his credit, has a 2.45 ERA this month.
On Saturday, he lived in and around the strike zone to a degree that, even by his standards, stood out. The Giants weren't chasing a lot, but they laid off a good chunk of what he threw in the zone. Only once did they truly threaten, putting men on first and second with no outs in the fourth, thanks in part to a fielding error by the usually sure-handed Irvin. He followed by inducing a double play, then got Willy Adames to swing past a high heater to end the inning. Irvin shook his head. He allowed just one more hit after that.
'Whether it's a swing and miss or a quick out and weak contact, that's what we're hunting for,' Irvin said.
Wood did enough in the first to put Washington ahead for good. Though Giants left-hander Kyle Harrison's 12th pitch was located such that it belonged on a scouting report from roughly a year ago, it wasn't inside enough to trick Wood. The 22-year-old took a thigh-high pitch and pulled it on a line, sending it careening over the fence and off the wall to the left of the Nationals' bullpen in right field. The two-run shot drove in Amed Rosario and put Washington ahead to stay.
'It's tough to practice [against that location],' Wood said. 'But got to be ready for whatever and just get ready to hit.'
Singles by Luis García Jr. and Lile put runners on first and third in the seventh, and Hassell's dribbler down the first base line scored García with an insurance run — and was his first major league RBI.