Meneses' first homer fires up Nats' offense

MINNEAPOLIS -- Scoreless through 24-plus straight innings and facing near-freezing temperatures, Joey Meneses came through with the big hit the Nationals, and he, needed on Friday night.

Meneses homered for the first time this season to spark a late-innings rally and a 3-2 win over the Twins to open a three-game series at Target Field.

The coldest temperature (37 degrees at first pitch) for a game in Nationals history meant the ball wasn’t flying as well, but Meneses connected for a Statcast-projected 409-foot homer into the bullpens with one out in the seventh inning to snap Washington’s scoreless streak.

“I’ve had a few hard-hit balls and some come close to the wall, but it’s definitely very satisfying to see it go over the wall,” Meneses said through interpreter Octavio Martinez.

Meneses, who hit 13 homers in 56 games after being called up to the Nationals last season, hit his first of the 2023 season and added his fifth RBI of the campaign. It was the boost Washington needed as it trailed 2-1.

C.J. Abrams doubled with two outs in the eighth inning and scored on Lane Thomas' game-tying single before Keibert Ruiz, hitting second for the first time this season, plated Thomas with the go-ahead single to cap the comeback.

“It was great,” manager Dave Martinez said of Meneses’ home run. “As you can see, the bats got better. He lifted everybody up, got on the board.”

Washington, now 8-1 against Minnesota since 2013, was coming off back-to-back shutouts at home against Baltimore and couldn’t muster much against Minnesota starter Tyler Mahle through six innings. Meneses’ homer was just the Nats’ third hit of the game.

“Obviously when it’s very cold outside, you’re a little worried about not hitting the ball squarely, mainly because if you get it close to your hands or something, your hands aren’t going to feel very good,” Meneses said.

Meneses, who hit .370 with two homers for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, admitted to thinking about his lack of home runs early this season.

“As much as you don’t want to think about something like that, it crosses your mind,” Meneses said. “I try to stay focused and just make sure I make hard contact. That’s all I can do. But I don’t want to say I wasn’t thinking about it because you definitely think about hitting your first home run.”

The Nationals were probably thinking about it, too. They built their lineup around the 30-year-old after his breakout 2022 campaign.

Meneses entered the game hitting .225 while batting in the top four spots in the lineup. But he’s now hitting .261 in his last 11 games and he also has four doubles during that span.

“I think stuff’s starting to click for him,” Dave Martinez said. “He’s hit some balls hard. He stayed on some pitches today. He had some good at-bats. He had some good at-bats the other day, too.

“So, hopefully this is a sign that he’s getting the bat out in front and he’s going to start hitting the ball hard like that consistently.”