May 26, 2023: Luis García Jr. goes 6-for-6 with two doubles in one inning as Nationals beat Royals

The Washington Nationals were firmly ensconced in last place in the National League East Division—10 games behind the Atlanta Braves. Their hosts, the Kansas City Royals, were likewise in last place—11½ games behind the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central. Notwithstanding the standings, 15,878 fans showed up for this Friday night slugfest.

Veteran Royals pitcher Jordan Lyles (0-8, 7.15 ERA) was still looking for his first win of the season. Leadoff hitter Lane Thomas homered over the visitors bullpen to give the Nationals a quick lead. No one should have been surprised—entering the day, Lyles was tied for the major league lead in home runs allowed at 14. Nationals second baseman Luis García Jr. started his hitting onslaught with a single but was picked off first. Lyles walked Joey Meneses but got the next two outs to hold the score at 1-0, Nationals.

Four years removed from his 2019 World Series success, Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin (3-5, 4.47 ERA) had done little recently to justify his six-year, $140 million contract.1 In May, however, his ERA was 2.88, indicating some improvement. His outing did not get off to a promising start—he walked Matt Duffy, then allowed a two-out single and another walk to load the bases. He got out of the jam thanks to his first baseman. Shortstop CJ Abrams’ throw on Edward Olivares’ groundball wasn’t quite on target, but first baseman Dominic Smith managed to hold onto the ball and keep his foot on the bag while falling over.

The only baserunner in the second, third, and top of the fourth was Luis García Jr. with his second single. His batting average had been steadily climbing. Hitting only .222 at the end of April, García, who had celebrated his 23rd birthday on May 16, had hit .301 so far in May.

The Royals took the lead in the fourth. Bobby Witt Jr. doubled on the first pitch. MJ Melendez walked. With Olivares batting, the Royals called for a double steal. Catcher Kiebert Ruiz’s throw went into left so Witt scampered home. Two outs later, Maikel García hit a rocket into the left-field corner for a double, putting the Royals up 2-1.

Lyles walked Smith to open the fifth but three consecutive groundouts got him out of the inning. Corbin also had one baserunner in the fifth but erased him on a double play.

The Nationals’ sixth appeared to support the “third time through the order” penalty.2 Consecutive doubles by Luis García Jr. and Meneses tied the game. After Lyles walked Jeimer Candelario, Corey Dickerson’s three-run homer put the Nationals up, 5-2.

Kansas City’s pitching change to Josh Staumont looked promising—he got the first two outs on three pitches. But a single and two walks loaded the bases for Luis García Jr., batting for the second time in the inning. He doubled again, just inside the third-base line, scoring two runs. Meneses’ single drove in two more, making it an eight-run inning and a 9-2 Washington lead. Scattered booing was heard from the crowd, which changed to cheering when Staumont ended the inning by striking out Candelario in a 12-pitch at-bat.

Corbin gave one back in the bottom of the sixth. Witt’s leadoff homer, his eighth of the season, triggered the fireworks and more cheers from the crowd, which did not seem discouraged by the score.

Amir Garrett, the Royals’ third pitcher, walked a tightrope in the seventh but did not fall. Two walks, two lineouts, and another walk loaded the bases. Thomas battled, but was called out on strikes on a pitch that was perhaps a bit outside, leaving the bases loaded.

The Royals pulled within one run in the seventh. Maikel García opened with a single. To the cheers of the crowd, Drew Waters singled for his first hit of the season after returning from injury. Corbin walked Duffy but got Vinnie Pasquantino on a foul pop.

With one out and Corbin at 108 pitches, Nationals manager Davey Martinez called on Erasmo Ramírez. The first batter he faced was designated hitter Salvador Pérez, at age 33 the last link to the Royals’ 2015 World Series champions. Headed for his eighth career All-Star selection, the 2021 home-run king responded to the fans’ cheers by doubling down the third-base line, scoring two.

The crowd may have been even louder for the next batter, chanting “Bobby! Bobby!” for Witt.3 Witt rewarded them with a three-run homer, giving him two long balls for the game and cutting Washington’s lead to one run. After Ramírez allowed a single to Melendez, Martinez summoned Carl Edwards Jr., who got the two outs without further scoring.

Luis García Jr. opened the eighth by blooping his third single off the Royals’ fourth pitcher, José Cuas. Meneses singled him to third. They both scored on Candelario’s triple—the ball took some odd hops off the left-field corner walls. Stone Garrett4 followed with a single to give the Nationals a 12-8 lead. They loaded the bases again with a two-out walk and a hit-by-pitch, but Thomas grounded out to end the frame.

The Royals responded with two runs of their own in the home half of the eighth. Waters, batting left-handed this time, hit his second single of the game, and moved to second on pinch-hitter Michael Massey’s walk. Pasquantino singled, loading the bases and bringing his hairy mascot “Pasquatch” out of hiding on the upper deck.5

Chad Kuhl,6 whom the Nationals had moved to the bullpen after an earlier stint in the rotation, faced the same situation as Ramírez—bases loaded with one out. The Royals scored on Peréz’s single and Witt’s groundout, which gave the 22-year-old shortstop a five-RBI game. But Melendez struck out to end the inning with the score 12-10, Nationals.

Nick Wittgren, making only his second appearance for the Royals, kept the Nationals off the board in the ninth, although he allowed singles to Luis García Jr. (his sixth hit) and Garrett.

Kuhl earned his first career save with a one-two-three bottom of the ninth, sealing the win for Corbin and the Nationals.

Per Bob Carpenter, Nationals TV announcer, no previous Nationals player had had a two-double inning.7 García wasn’t the first with six hits—Anthony Rendon had notched a 6-for-6 game on April 30, 2017. Looking at the franchise history, Rondell White of the Montreal Expos had six hits (including a cycle) in a 13-inning game on June 11, 1995.

In his postgame interview, Luis García Jr. said this was the “best game of [my] life.” Martinez had given him three days off a week earlier, and he said he “felt amazing” when he came back from that break.

The good times didn’t last. In August, García was sent to the minors for a month for a reset on offense and defense.8 His average had dropped to .259 with a .656 OPS. When he returned in September, he put up decent numbers for the rest of the season, batting .304 with an .867 OPS.9

Both teams finished last in their division—a 71-91 record for the Nationals and 56-106 for the Royals.10 The starting pitchers finished last, too. Corbin’s 15 losses were the most in the National League and Lyles had the most in the American League, 17.

Author’s Note

Having watched the recorded game, I was struck by how the batters kept the left fielders busy. Of the 28 hits in the game, 12 were to left, seven to center, only five to right, and four over the wall.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Bruce Slutsky and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources  

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and SABR.org.

The author also watched both teams’ TV broadcasts on MLB.tv.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA202305260.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2023/B05260KCA2023.htm

Notes

1 In 2022 he had allowed the most hits (210) and earned runs (107), and was charged with the most losses (19) in the major leagues. He did not improve significantly in 2023—he was again charged with the most losses in the National League, although he was only second in hits allowed (210 again) and earned runs (104) in the NL.

2 In general, the “third time through the order penalty” is that starting pitchers generally lose effectiveness as they face the opposing lineup multiple times, with a significant drop-off facing the batting order for the third time. David J. Gordon, “Balancing Starter and Bullpen Workloads in a Seven-Game Postseason Series,” The Baseball Research Journal, Volume 52, Number 2, 105. See specifically endnote 5.

3 Witt’s 4-for-5 performance shouldn’t be overlooked—he notched 11 total bases to García’s 8.

4 Garrett had run for Dickerson in the seventh and stayed in to play left field.

5 Jesse Newell, “Why Is a Sasquatch Roaming Left Field at Royals Home Games this Year? Let’s Explain,” kansascity.com, April 4, 2023, https://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article273968535.html.

6 Kuhl had made five starts for the Nationals in April, was injured, and had one relief appearance three days earlier. Mark Zuckerman, “Nats Survive Behind García’s 6-Hit Night, Kuhl’s Surprise Save,” masnsports.com, May 26, 2023, https://www.masnsports.com/blog/nats-survive-behind-garcia-s-6-hit-night-kuhl-s-surprise-save. Kuhl appeared only in relief for the Nationals until he was released on June 23, 2023.

7 Zuckerman.

8 Jesse Dougherty, “Unpacking Nationals Infielder Luis García’s Demotion to the Minors,” washingtonpost.com, August 3, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/08/03/nationals-luis-garcia-demotion-minors/.

9 His final numbers for the season were .266 BA and .688 OPS.

10 The Royals didn’t have the worst record in baseball—that belonged to the Oakland A’s with a 50-112 record.