Garcia’s two-run shot in extras puts it away

Nats take advantage of automatic runner rule

The automatic runner at second, that pesky new rule for 2020, has led to a breathless conversation about extra-inning strategy. Is it best to bunt the man to third to set up a sacrifice fly? Is that worth it on the road when the home team can easily do the same in the bottom of the inning?

Or is a bunt ever worth it when the analytics say, no, it’s never good to give away outs, especially with the game on the line.

But that all gets thrown out when your rookie second baseman sits on a first-pitch fastball, crushes it off the other team’s best reliever, then stands a foot outside the batter’s box, almost posing, while a game-winning, two-run homer sails way over the right-field wall. That’s what happened for the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, once Luis García, at 20 the youngest player in the majors, delivered a 4-2 win over the first-place Tampa Bay Rays.

Daniel Hudson had blown his second consecutive save opportunity just minutes earlier. But García took Carter Kieboom, the automatic runner, and told him to jog home. García was right behind him, drifting toward the plate, the dugout, into a small celebration with his teammates before Kyle McGowin struck out the side in the bottom of the 10th.

The Nationals are now18-29 because of García’s bat. They left Tampa with a glimpse into their future.

“What a great kid,” Manager Dave Martinez said of García, who debuted in mid-August after Starlin Castro broke his wrist. “I’ll tell you right now, he has no fear. He’s going to give you everything he’s got. He goes out there and has fun playing the game.”

Before the game reached extras, and gave García his shot, Austin Voth bent an issue that’s plagued him all summer. The starter hadn’t completed five innings since Aug. 8, six starts and many earned runs ago. He had a 10.72 ERA in that span, inviting questions of whether he should be in the rotation at all. Martinez, though, wanted to keep watching Voth. Hewanted to see if the 28-year-old could fix himself on the fly. And finally, with next to no shot at the playoffs now, something clicked.

Voth showed Martinez what he’d yearned to see: some length, steady velocity, even a few 94s on the radar before he exited at 88 pitches. In his second trip through the order, what has been a nightmare for him, Voth allowed one hit, one walk and issued an intentional pass to the red-hot Lowe. He then finished his outing by stranding runners on first and third.