'That's Maiky': Franco's go-ahead HR, energy power win

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals dugout erupted in excitement. Inside the trainer’s room, starter Erick Fedde let out a yell of joy. Maikel Franco exuded elation as he rounded the bases at Nationals Park after belting a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning that would be the precursor to a postgame Gatorade celebration.

“He’s that guy,” manager Dave Martinez said following the Nationals’ 3-2 win over the Pirates on Monday. “He’s that guy that brings a lot of energy every day. It was electric in there.”

So what does it mean to Franco to be “that guy?”

“That’s Maiky,” Franco said. “That’s what I have to do: come in every single day and just bring some energy for everybody, for my team.”

With his team trailing by a run, Franco pummeled a Statcast-projected 418-foot homer to left-center field off Chris Stratton to drive in Luis García and lift the Nationals to a series opener victory. The third baseman’s seventh dinger of the season was part of his 2-for-4 evening.

Said García of the home run: “That’s unbelievable.”

Following a down 2021 season in which Franco, 29, hit only .210 with the Orioles, he is batting .252 in an everyday starting role on the hot corner with the Nationals. He had homered in the Nats’ last home game on June 19, and he settled back in quickly after the five-game road trip.

“He’s staying above the baseball and having good swings,” Martinez said. “He got a ball up in the zone a little bit, and he smoked it.”

The Nationals had been looking to put an exclamation point on their offense after one scoring opportunity after another eluded them. Despite out-hitting the Pirates, 10-7, they left 10 runners on base and were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position for the night.

When the veteran Franco came to the plate with García on second base from hitting a leadoff double, he didn’t want the two-out scenario to result in another zero on the board.

“At the end of the day, when we go out there and we have guys in scoring position, the only thing we want to do is just drive the guys home, drive the runs,” Franco said. “But sometimes, it’s part of the game. I know it’s tough, but we have to just continue to do that, continue to get better, and when the situations come, we are ready to go.”

Following the Nats’ fifth win in seven games, Martinez emphasized the importance of “more quality at-bats with guys on base.” While go-ahead or walk-off home runs are not guaranteed in every game, batting until the final out can be expected, especially when a moment like Franco’s happens late in the contest.

“Like I told them, ‘Hey, a win’s a win’s a win’s a win, right, no matter how you do it. But keep playing hard,’” Martinez said. “That’s what they did tonight, and I’m happy they came through.”