Meneses' inside-the-park HR draws curtain call
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WASHINGTON -- There already had been a walk-off home run. On Friday night, Nationals rookie Joey Meneses added an inside-the-park homer to his 38-game Major League resume.
Meneses rocked a curveball from Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo, a Statcast-projected 397 feet to the center-field wall in the seventh inning of Washington’s 5-4 comeback win at Nationals Park.
• 2022 inside-the-park home runs
The ball bounced back, hit underneath JJ Bleday’s kneecap and trailed onto the warning track. Meneses initially thought Bleday was going to catch the ball, so he slowed his pace a bit. But when the outfielder didn’t make the play, Meneses pushed himself to hustle around the bases, getting waved home by third-base coach Gary DiSarcina.
The 30-year-old Meneses dove headfirst into home plate, beating out Miami’s relay and tallying another memorable moment in his standout season.
“It really surprised me,” Meneses said. “As I’m rounding third, I never thought it would be an inside-the-park home run. What quickly went through my mind is, something must have happened out there.”
The home run had an expected batting average (xBA) of .610. Bleday described the play from the defensive perspective as “unlucky.”
“I thought I should have caught it,” Bleday said. “Any ball hit in the air towards me, I think I can make an effort to go get the ball. I came up short on that end, and it took a bad hop.”
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The homer was Meneses’ first inside-the-park home run on any level of competition, and it was eighth in Nationals history (2005-present). He joined Andrew Stevenson (Sept. 26, 2020), Trea Turner (Sept. 3, 2020), Michael A. Taylor (Sept. 8, 2017), Stephen Drew (May 31, 2016), Ryan Zimmerman (May 15, 2016), Willie Harris (Sept. 24, 2010) and Austin Kearns (May 12, 2007) on the list of players to achieve the feat.
“I think that woke us up,” said Ildemaro Vargas, whose double drove home Meneses with the eventual winning run in the eighth inning. “To have someone like Joey hit an inside-the-park home run, someone that’s playing very well, and as he’s running the bases, I can tell he was getting slower and slower, and just a little bit more tired. I’m very happy for him that things are going well for him, and it definitely sparked our offense.”
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The frenzied sequence brought Nationals fans to their feet, garnering a curtain call for Meneses. He had seen that kind of ovation growing up watching baseball on television, but Meneses had not envisioned he would be the recipient of one.
“The truth is, I never thought that this would happen to me,” Meneses said of the ovation. “But it is something very beautiful and special that I will always remember.”
Meneses has been giving Nats fans reason for applause since he was called up on Aug. 2. He is batting .323 with a .913 OPS, 10 doubles, nine home runs and 23 RBIs, while hitting safely in 31 of his first 38 games.
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“I can’t say enough about that guy,” manager Dave Martinez said. “He keeps hitting. Today was another example.”
The significance of an inside-the-park home run will stick with Meneses. And it didn’t wear off quickly during the game, either.
With a smile on his face, he estimated it took two innings to catch his breath after charging home.