WASHINGTON — The box score shows a two-game series split. The effort level and play on the field signified for the Nationals a win.
“I just sat and praised them,” said manager Dave Martinez. “That’s all you can do, right? They battled all night long, and to me, that shows unbelievable character, it really does. We fell short, yeah, but they put two on, we come back, they put two on, they come back. That says a lot about this ball club. It was beautiful, it really was.”
The night after the Nats shut out the Orioles to climb above .500 for the first time since July 2021, they rallied to force extras in a 7-6, 12-inning loss on Wednesday. The Nationals (18-18) saw growth in the Beltways Series against the American League-leading Orioles (24-12).
“The Orioles come in, they’re pretty hot,” said Martinez. “They’re one of the best teams in baseball, they have one of the best records. They could have easily just said [in the ninth inning], ‘We’re down 3-1.’ We don’t do that. We keep fighting, and you saw it tonight. That should be a pretty good wakeup call for those guys that we can play with anybody.”
The Nats are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Rather than feel defeated, they are taking a positive outlook on their three-city road trip to Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia.
“That was awesome. That was fun to watch,” said Hunter Harvey, who began his career with Baltimore. “It sucks that we lost, but that was probably one of the more fun games we’ll have this year just because we didn’t quit. We kept battling back against one of the best teams in the league.”
A game that spanned just over three and a half hours saw 19 hits, 13 runs, 16 pitchers and a swinging pendulum of lead changes.
“It proves that we’re pretty good,” said Jordan Weems. “We’ve got some good hitters, got some young guys and I think our bullpen and our team stacks up with anybody.”
Here are memorable moments from the 96th meeting of the Beltways Series.
