Abrams once again goes all-out all over the field

WASHINGTON -- The all-around play of CJ Abrams was on display again for the Nationals Monday night, as the talented shortstop showed off his ability to hit, steal and play elite defense for a club looking to build up the middle for 2024 and beyond.

Erasing a 1-for-24 slump over his past six games, Abrams rebounded with a double and a single, going 2-for-4 with a steal and reaching base all four plate appearances during Washington's 6-1 loss in the series opener to the White Sox at Nationals Park.

Abrams had two of the six hits off Chicago winning pitcher Mike Clevinger (8-8), who tossed a complete game on 109 pitches.

Dominic Smith homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to ruin the shutout.

A bit of drama followed as Clevinger and Smith exchanged words while the first baseman rounded the bases. After Smith crossed home plate, catcher Yasmani Grandal got between Smith and Clevinger.

"Dom stood there and watched the home run,” manager Dave Martinez said. “[Clevinger] started saying some words to [Smith]. I don't know what he said. It's part of the game now, right? I've seen a lot worse. Guys stand there for a minute sometimes, and throw their bat 40 feet in the air. It's part of the game."

"I wasn't upset,” Smith said. “I was just trying to figure out what he was saying. I touched third [and] he was saying something. Touched home, he was still saying something. I was asking, 'What are you saying?' That's all.

"I think the camera [caught] ... it was a couple of [expletives]. So whatever you all pick up on, that's what it was."

The benches quickly cleared, including both teams' bullpens from deep in the outfield. After more words were exchanged, the clubs went back to the dugout and Clevinger struck out Carter Kieboom to end the game.

“Fresh off the mound, [Smith] did his dance,” Clevinger said. “He stayed at the plate for 10 seconds, after getting absolutely humiliated all night. I kept holding my glove up to tell [manager] Pedro [Grifol] I didn’t want to come out of the game and [Smith] continued to try to mock me, after he and everyone else didn’t have a good night. I gave my piece, and that was it.”

Abrams singled in his first at-bat and continued to generate offense in the third, reaching on a fielder’s choice and stealing his 42nd base, ranking him third on the Nationals' all-time list.

Abrams needs one more stolen base to tie Trea Turner for second place, and is four steals away from Turner’s overall franchise mark of 46.

"He's another one of our young hitters that, when he gets the ball in the zone, he can hit,” Martinez said. “He's having a really good year. I love when he gets on base because he makes things happen, but he's got to get the ball in the zone. The biggest thing for him is accepting these walks. He's done a pretty good job this year of just understanding who he is. But when he gets the ball in the strike zone, he hits the ball hard.”

Abrams also demonstrated high-level defensive skills with his glove, making a quick turn and throw on a pair of double plays. His individual defensive highlight came in the seventh when he dove to his left to catch a line drive off the bat of Andrew Vaughn.

"It's been phenomenal,” Smith said of Abrams’ glove work. “I know first couple of games early in the year, some people had a little bit of worries, but he is a tremendous defender. He believes in himself and he works hard at it. I think it's starting to show his comfortability, the plays he's making. He's making plays I don't see too often being made. It's fun seeing him out there at shortstop.”

Nats starter Joan Adon (2-3) allowed a three-run homer by White Sox slugger Luis Robert Jr. in the fifth that opened the scoring. The right-hander allowed five runs on nine hits over five-plus innings, with five strikeouts and two walks.

"Location, just missed locations,” Martinez said of Adon’s outing. “[He] hung a breaking ball to Robert, who's got a lot of home runs. In those situations, we talked about it -- high-leverage situations -- he's got to make pitches. He started off throwing the ball really well. His pitch efficiency was really good, and then all of a sudden he got into trouble."