July 4, 2024: Jake Irvin’s gem gives Nationals a Fourth of July win over the Mets

The Fourth of July in Washington, D.C., is busy – fireworks and crowds on the National Mall, the Capitol Fourth broadcast, and a baseball game that starts at 11 in the morning.1 In addition to the red, white, and blue bunting decorating Nationals Park, the day’s commemoration features a balloon arch over the third-base entrance, a giant flag on the field, special stars-and-stripes catchers’ chest protectors, pregame Army paratroopers landing near second base, ceremonial first pitches by military family members, and a military group performing the national anthem.

The games are often televised to military bases around the world, and the Independence Day 2024 game between the Washington Nationals and New York Mets was no exception. In addition to the outgoing broadcast, videos of service members greeting their families from overseas were played between innings at Nationals Park. Many of those family members were treated to club seats by the Nationals. Despite the 86-degree temperature at first pitch, 34,394 fans were in attendance.

It was the finale of a four-game series between division rivals. The visiting Mets (42-42, third in the National League East Division) had won the first two games, both going 10 innings. The Nationals (40-46, fourth in the NL East) were working their way through another rebuilding year, but they had rallied from a 5-0 deficit for a 7-5 win on July 3.

One bright spot in the Nationals’ season was their second-year starting pitcher, Jake Irvin (6-6, 3.03 ERA).2 Washington had won five of his last six starts as he took the ball against the Mets.

Opposing Irvin was a 13-year veteran, Jose Quintana (3-5, 4.57 ERA), in his second season with the Mets, his seventh big-league team.3 Quintana had not faced the Nationals in 2024, but he had been the winning pitcher against them on September 5 of the previous year. This was the Colombia native’s first Fourth of July as a US citizen; he had been naturalized shortly before Opening Day.

Irvin needed only 13 pitches for a clean first inning, ending with a strikeout of Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez.

In the bottom of the first, Lane Thomas worked a one-out walk and stole second. When Alvarez’s throw went into center field, Thomas thought about third but decided he was better off dashing back to second. He was left there when Harold Ramírez grounded to shortstop and Joey Meneses lined to third.

In the second, Irvin also allowed a one-out walk, to DJ Stewart. The Mets designated hitter advanced no farther, as Mark Vientos flied out to center and Ben Gamel struck out. Gamel clonked catcher Riley Adams’s helmet on his backswing, but Adams wasn’t hurt.      

Before the bottom of the second, the video screen showed a broadcast from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Former National4 Adam Eaton was with a group of service members, wearing Nationals caps with their camo uniforms.

Adams got the Nationals’ first hit of the game in the bottom of the second – a two-out single up the middle. Adams had been recalled from Triple-A Rochester the day before.5

Irvin also allowed a single in the top of the third – also a grounder up the middle, by Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil. Two more strikeouts and a lineout kept the game scoreless.

The Nationals got a runner into scoring position in the home half of the third. Thomas hit a two-out line drive off Quintana’s left shoulder and made it to first before anyone could retrieve the ball. Quintana continued pitching after being checked on by the trainer, but on the first pitch to Ramírez, Thomas stole second again. Ramírez grounded out again to end the inning.

As the scoreless duel continued, the only baserunner in the next three half innings was the Nationals’ James Wood, who was appearing in his fourth major-league game after being promoted from Triple A on July 1. The 21-year-old left fielder, Baseball America’s number-1 prospect before his promotion,6 walked and was erased on a double play in the fourth.

Adams, making the most of his recall to the majors, opened the home half of the fifth with his second hit of the day. Ildemaro Vargas bunted him to second, and Jacob Young walked to put two on for the first time in the game. But CJ Abrams struck out and Thomas grounded to third to leave them there.

Before the sixth inning, another former National, Doug Fister,7 was featured on the video feed from Qatar, again, surrounded by troops cheering for the Nationals.

Irvin made short work of the Mets in the sixth – 12 pitches for three fly outs. He was even more efficient in the seventh, needing only 10 pitches for three outs.

The Nationals had one baserunner in the sixth – a Wood two-out single past diving shortstop Francisco Lindor. That was Wood’s fourth career hit, including a game-winning RBI single the previous night. Quintana and Alvarez each tried to pick Wood off first, but the 6-foot-7 Wood dived back easily. Wood was left on first when Nick Senzel lined out.

Adams was hit by a pitch to open the home half of the seventh. Vargas tried for a sacrifice bunt but popped it up to Quintana, who caught it while avoiding a collision with first baseman Pete Alonso. Two outs later, Adams was still on first and the game was still scoreless – with only one hit for the Mets and four for the Nationals.

Irvin was cheered by the crowd when he took the mound for the eighth inning, making it the longest outing of his young career.8 If he was tiring or the heat was getting to him, he certainly didn’t show it. Vientos flied out, Gamel lined out, and Tyrone Taylor was Irvin’s eighth strikeout – all on nine pitches. Irvin let out a yell and left the mound to a standing ovation.

For the Mets, veteran righty Adrian Houser took over the pitching from Quintana and struck out Thomas to start the home half of the eighth. Nationals manager Davey Martinez sent Jesse Winker up to pinch-hit for Ramírez. The Nationals needed to score, and Winker had a history with his former Milwaukee Brewers teammate – five home runs in 22 plate appearances against Houser.9

Winker added a sixth home run to his career tally against Houser, hitting the second pitch a few rows into the right-field stands. The Nationals sounded the dive horn10 and set off the stadium fireworks. On Winker’s return to the dugout, his teammates dressed him in an Uncle Sam hat and jacket. It was a 1-0 game.

With a one-run lead to protect, manager Martinez had limited choices. Irvin had thrown 99 pitches, and although he had topped 100 pitches six times in his career, he was already deeper into a game than ever before in the majors, on an afternoon when the temperature had reached 92 degrees.11 Closer Kyle Finnegan and relievers Hunter Harvey and Robert Garcia had all pitched in three straight games. Martinez chose righty Derek Law,12 who had not been called on to close out a ninth-inning lead in any of his 40 previous appearances in 2024. Law rode in on the bullpen cart waving a full-sized American flag.

Law struck out McNeill on three pitches, with Adams throwing down to first to complete the strikeout. Lindor hit a grounder toward shortstop Abrams. The ball took a tough hop, but Abrams – who was selected for his first career All-Star Game appearance three days later – got the ball to the stretching Meneses in time for the out, earning applause from Law (and the crowd). When Brandon Nimmo struck out swinging, the Nationals had their 1-0 victory in the books in a tidy 1:58. As usual, the Nationals celebrated on the field, with Winker still wearing his Uncle Sam regalia.

The Nationals stayed in fourth place in the division, finishing 71-91 for their fifth consecutive losing season after winning the World Series in 2019. Irvin’s 10 wins tied Mackenzie Gore for the staff lead. The Mets worked their way up to second in the NL East, finishing 89-73 to qualify for the wild card. They won the wild card and the NL Division Series but lost the Championship Series to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, four games to two.

Author’s Note

I attended this game, as I have most of the July Fourth Nationals games as I enjoy the pageantry and the novelty of morning baseball. It wasn’t quite a no-hitter, but the tension was definitely palpable until that last out. The fans wanted the Nationals to show well to the worldwide audience.

Acknowledgments

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

Photo credit: Jake Irvin, Trading Card Database.

Sources

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

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WAS/WAS202407040.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2024/B07040WAS2024.htm

Notes

1 The tradition of 11 A.M. games started in 2012.

2 The 27-year-old Irvin had debuted the previous May. This was his 42nd career game. It was Quintana’s 345th.

3 The Mets were Quintana’s seventh team in his 13-year career.

4 Eaton was acquired by trade from the Chicago White Sox after the 2016 season, and stayed with the Nationals through 2020, including their 2019 World Series year.

5 Scoreboard Transactions, Boston Globe, July 4, 2024: C8. He had been sent down on June 2: Scoreboard Transactions, Albuquerque Journal, June 3, 2024: B3. He was sent back down on August 25: Scoreboard Transactions, Buffalo News, August 27, 2024: C7.

6 Geoff Pontes, “James Wood Ranks No. 1 in July 2024 Top 100 MLB Prospects Update,” July 3, 2024. https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/james-wood-ranks-no-1-in-july-2024-top-100-mlb-prospects-update/. Retrieved December 27, 2024.

7 Fister pitched for the Nationals in 2014 and 2015.

8 Per Baseball-Reference, he also earned an 87 Bill James Game Score – the highest of his career in 2023 and 2024.

9 Twenty-one of those 22 plate appearances were in 2019-2021. Winker had flied out in his only 2024 plate appearance facing Houser. Or perhaps Martinez was just following his usual procedure of pinch-hitting Winker for Ramírez once a lefty starter was out of the game, as he had earlier in this series. Winker was traded to the Mets later in July.

10 The Nationals’ ballpark is located in the Navy Yard area and there is still a significant military presence in the area. The Nationals chose a submarine dive horn as their home-run signal.

11 “Arlington VA Weather History,” Weather Underground, https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/KDCA/date/2024-7-4. Accessed December 2024.

12 He had no saves, three blown saves, but seven holds.