For official purposes, the first ballgame played at Nationals Park following the 2019 World Series took place on July 23, 2020, when the defending champions lost to the Yankees in an empty ballpark during the height of a pandemic.
And for official purposes, the first ballgame played at Nationals Park in front of fans since the 2019 World Series took place on April 7, 2021, when a socially distanced crowd of 4,801 made as much noise as possible to celebrate a walk-off win over the Braves.
But let’s not kid ourselves. For unofficial purposes, real baseball returned to South Capitol Street during the bottom of the seventh inning of this afternoon’s 5-2 victory over the Mets, when a crowd of 30,371 that was sweating through a 90-degree Father’s Day matinee was treated to the greatest five-minute stretch this town has experienced inside a sporting venue in 20 months.
It began, appropriately enough, with Gerardo Parra stepping to the plate to the familiar strains of “Baby Shark” for the first time since October 2019. The crowd loved every minute of the extended version - they made it all the way to “Let’s go hunt!” thanks to a mound visit by the Mets - and then roared even louder when Parra poked a double down the left field line in his first big league at-bat in two seasons.
And then it crescendoed moments later when the newest cult hero around these parts delivered his latest in a stunning string of big blows. Kyle Schwarber’s two-run homer into the left field bullpen didn’t just score Parra and extend the Nationals’ lead to three runs. It didn’t just represent the first three-homer game of his career and sixth in club history. It didn’t just cap off a brilliant nine-homer homestand (a new club record, by a longshot, per Elias Sports) for the unconventional leadoff man.
No, as great as all that was, Schwarber’s third blast of the afternoon elicited his first curtain call at Nationals Park. As the 28-year-old former Cubs outfielder hopped up the dugout steps and doffed his helmet and the largest crowd of the summer roared with delight, everything felt right again.
“They’re in it with us,” Schwarber said during a postgame Zoom session that included a kiss on the head from a photobombing, camera-mugging Parra. “These fans are in it for the long run with us. And we’re going to keep going out there, and we’re going to keep grinding and we’re going to keep battling. It’s a great time to be a Washington National. It’s a great time to be a Nationals fan.”
Oh, the home ballclub feels like it has something going on, all right. Having taken three of four from the Mets this weekend and eight of 11 on this potentially season-changing homestand, the Nats have every reason to believe they’re back in the mix at last.
“It’s just a good feeling in the clubhouse right now,” said Patrick Corbin, who turned in his second straight quality start to help make today’s win possible. “We go out every day battling, we think we’re going to win. When you’re winning, it’s fun. You enjoy coming to the ballpark. And our clubhouse, we have some awesome guys in there. You love being around them, especially when you’re winning.”
Yes, they’re still stuck three games under .500 at 33-36, and even with this electric weekend they still trail New York by five games in the division. But the needle is most definitely pointing upward now, and there are several reasons for that.
The first is the resurgence of a pitching staff that has become elite again, even as Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Daniel Hudson reside on the injured list. The rotation has now produced a sparkling 1.81 ERA over the last 16 games, with Corbin doing his part today with six-plus innings of two-run ball. The bullpen allowed three earned runs in 32 innings during this 11-game homestand, good for an 0.84 ERA.
The second is the ascension of Schwarber from erratic middle-of-the-order slugger to top-of-the-order force of nature. Since Davey Martinez moved him up to the leadoff position last week, he has launched nine homers, four of them leading off the first inning.
“I’m just glad it’s working out,” Martinez said with a laugh. “He gets up there early and often, and the way he’s swinging it right now, guys are on the bench saying they know anything can happen when he’s up there.”
And today was the best showing yet.
The large crowd hadn’t fully settled in when Schwarber came up to bat to lead off the bottom of the first. By now, everyone should’ve learned not to dally when the big guy is batting atop the lineup.
Sure enough, he did it again, belting Taijuan Walker’s third pitch of the afternoon to left for yet another early home run. Martinez made the switch last week hoping Schwarber could inject some instant offense into a lineup that has struggled to take early leads this season. He couldn’t have planned this out any better.
This leadoff Schwarbomb set a good tone for the game, and his teammates tried to follow suit. Trea Turner and Juan Soto each hit lasers off Walker, though Turner’s was right at the center fielder and Soto’s double was squandered by the hitters behind him.
That would become a common theme on this hot afternoon. The Nationals had no trouble putting runners on base against Walker. They had all kinds of trouble driving them in. Only four innings in, they already were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, the lone hit coming on Josh Bell’s RBI single to center in the bottom of the third.
Fortunately, Schwarber had another big blast in him, because it had been four innings since his last one. His laser into the right field bullpen leading off the fifth extended the lead to 3-1 and figured to be the final highlight of his homestand.
Except it wasn’t, because two innings later came the remarkable bottom of the seventh.
Parra, who was called up from Triple-A Rochester this morning to give the team a true backup outfielder, a veteran pinch-hitting option and some unique energetic vibes to the clubhouse and the stands, made his way into the on-deck circle as fans started to murmur with anticipation.
As he stepped to the plate and that familiar preschool ear worm filled the park once again, the crowd all chomping away on each beat, Parra calmly dug in against Walker and did his most important job: He got on base. He stayed back on an 0-1 curveball and sent in down the left field line for a one-out double.
“To be honest, I almost cried,” the 34-year-old said. “If I compare my first at-bat in the big leagues to that one, I feel more nervous right now. My legs are shaking a little bit. Happy. Happy to see all the fans. I feel like it’s a return to 2019.”
He wasn’t alone feeling that vibe.
“Geez, that’s playoff atmosphere when ‘Baby Shark’ comes on,” Corbin said. “Which is a little crazy when you’ve got a bunch of adults out there doing shark movements. But that’s been Parra ever since I’ve known him (as teammates with the Diamondbacks). He brings energy. I mean, you knew he was going to do something when he got up there.”
And guess who all of that brought up to the plate? Schwarber didn’t need to do anything else in this game (or this homestand) to justify his worth. And truth be told, his knee had been barking all game, still feeling the effects of a diving attempt on the warning track in Atlanta some 18 days ago. (Martinez would have Parra replace him in left field after that inning.) But since he was at the plate again, why not try to do it again? Facing reliever Jeurys Familia, he belted an 0-1 sinker to left, the ball caroming off the top of the fence, and the ballpark exploded.
“To be honest with you, I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “The consistent work in the cage, I think, has been a big thing. And I think just feeling comfortable at the plate, I think that’s a big contributor. I’m not going up there trying to hit home runs. We’ve got a guy on second base. I’m just trying to drive him in. And the ball hits the top of the fence, goes out. There’s a little bit of luck involved, but happy to get the job done. And happy to get the win at the end of the day.”
Schwarber circled the bases, gave high-fives to everyone in sight, including Parra, then took his curtain call. In their 69th home game since winning the World Series, the Nationals - and their fans - finally, at last, were back.
“I kid you not, our fans, when they get loud and they get into the game, our players get that extra momentum on our side,” Martinez said. “And you can see it. I see it, especially.
“Thank you. And keep on coming.”
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