Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Reynolds’ barrage powers Nats to win
Infielder 5-for-5 with two homers, 10 RBIs
WASHINGTON — Mark Reynolds may have sent his manager toward a sleepless night.
How is Dave Martinez supposed to rest when he’s got to figure out whether Reynolds’ career night earned him another start Sunday?
“Well, I mean I’m going to sleep just fine. That’s his problem,” Reynolds joked afterward. “I’ll be ready to go either way.”
Reynolds homered twice and drove in a career-high 10 runs, Max Scherzer won for the first time since June 5, and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 18-4 on Saturday.
Martinez said he’ll have to think about where to put the right-handed hitting Reynolds when the Marlins start a right-hander Sunday. Martinez has other options at first base, including left-handed hitters Matt Adams and Daniel Murphy.
Washington has won three straight and scored a combined 35 runs since calling a players-only meeting Wednesday after falling under .500 for the first time since May 2.
Reynolds (5-for-5) tied his career high for hits and equaled the Nationals’ RBI record.
Reynolds hit a two-run homer in the second inning into the same visitors’ bullpen where his walk-off homer landed Friday. He followed that up with an RBI double in the second, a two-run single in the fifth, a three-run homer in the sixth and a two-run single in the seventh.
“Yeah, that’s like a good two weeks,” Reynolds said. “These things don’t
happen often.”
Signed as a minor league free agent in April, Reynolds is 12-for-23 with four home runs since June 29.
“I’ve seen him like this,” Martinez said. “When he gets hot like this, he can stay hot for a while, so we’ll have to figure something out, see if we can get him in tomorrow.”
Washington, which has won 14 straight against Miami, broke it open by batting around and scoring a season-best seven runs in the fifth inning.
“We haven’t had any success with them in a while now,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “They’re a good lineup up and down, but we’ve pitched better than this.”
Scherzer (11-5), who was 0-4 in his previous five starts, pitched seven innings, allowing four runs on four hits — three of which were home runs. The Nationals had been shut out in three of Scherzer’s previous five starts.
Miami starter Wei-Yin Chen (2-6) lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits.
Bryce Harper had three hits and an intentional walk.