Abrams' leadoff work leads to strong stretch for Nats

ST. LOUIS -- The Nationals are beginning to figure out how best to deploy their highly touted young shortstop.

Five games into moving CJ Abrams into the leadoff spot in their order -- the place he has hit nearly all his life -- the Nationals’ have shown signs of taking flight. Abrams was 2-for-5 with two stolen bases and three runs scored in the Nationals’ 7-5 win over the Cardinals in 10 innings Saturday in the first game of a split doubleheader. Abrams added a solo home run and another hit in the second game, a 9-6 Nats loss.

Abrams, 22, batted exclusively near the bottom of Washington’s lineup until its July 7 game vs. Texas, when the Nationals inserted him into the No. 1 hole of their lineup to try to put some speed and action into an offense that lacks power. As a leadoff hitter this year, Abrams is 10-for-21 (.476) with five stolen bases and six runs scored. Batting sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth, he’s hitting .233 this season.

Abrams figured manager Dave Martinez might ask him to bunt when he came up in the 10th inning of Game 1, with Alex Call on second as the automatic runner. Instead, Martinez expressed confidence in his ability to get the job done swinging the bat.

“I told him, ‘Try to get him over, but stay in the middle of the field,’” Martinez said.

Against a 96.8-mph sinker from Jordan Hicks, Abrams sprayed the ball the other way, and it dropped in front of left fielder Lars Nootbaar to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Lane Thomas, typically a pull hitter, poked a single through a big hole in the right side of St. Louis’ infield to drive in the winning run. Abrams then scored on Ildemaro Vargas’ double-play ball.

For a Nationals team that ranks 28th in MLB in home runs, the new high-speed approach appears to be paying some dividends. A win on Sunday would give the Nats their fifth series victory in their last six tries.

The change at the top of the order also appears to have made Abrams more comfortable, and that could be even more important in the long run, as he is among a core of young players, along with catcher Keibert Ruiz and second baseman Luis García, that the team is counting on to have future success together.

“He’s a game changer when he’s swinging the bat well and running the bases,” Thomas said of Abrams. “It’s hard to defend.”

Washington’s speed seemed to bother the Cardinals in the fifth inning of the first game, when they committed all three of their errors in the game, each of them on a bad throw. Catcher Willson Contreras threw two balls away, and perennial Gold Glove winner Nolan Arenado threw high to first, allowing Washington to score three unearned runs.

“We have to push the issue a little bit,” Martinez said. “My big thing that I’ve always said is try to get to third base with less than two outs. There are so many ways to score.”

Aside from a four-game sweep at the hands of the Reds, the Nats have been playing some of their best baseball in recent weeks. Since June 23, they have won series against the Padres, Mariners, Phillies and Rangers. They might still be stuck in last place in the National League East, but they’re beginning to form an identity, in part because of their ability to create offense on the bases.

“Personally, I don’t like it when other teams see us as a small team,” Joey Meneses said through an interpreter. “It gives us a little more motivation to just go out and play well, and hopefully, it goes in our favor.”

Washington tied it after a 4-0 deficit in Game 2, but the bullpen couldn’t help secure the comeback, with the Cardinals banging out 17 hits in the second game alone, their season high. St. Louis scored four times across the fifth and sixth innings off relievers Jose A. Ferrer and Paolo Espino to take command. Starter Jake Irvin allowed four runs on six hits and a walk as St. Louis grabbed that early lead, the big blows being a two-run Brendan Donovan triple and an Alec Burleson home run. Nolan Arenado added his 20th home run of the season in the eighth.

Irvin needed to throw 79 pitches to get through three innings. His inefficiency has, at times, been an issue for him this season when he has struggled. Martinez said part of the problem has been Irvin sweating so profusely that it makes it difficult to grip his breaking pitches.

“Not to make excuses for him, because he’s got to get through it, but we saw him kind of wiping all the time,” Martinez said. “I think they allowed him to use a little rag out there. But we’ve got to get him through that, because he’s got good stuff.”

The Nats’ hitters, too, have done their share of damage in the first two games of this series. They managed 11 hits in Game 2, seven for extra bases.