Nats' youth show off in loss: 'We're a family'

WASHINGTON -- All eyes are on the Nationals’ young core, with the promise of the next World Series team resting on their shoulders. It won’t happen this year, but the club -- and its fans -- want to see what Washington's future looks like.

There has been lots of talk of opportunity since the Trade Deadline, as showcased by Victor Robles hitting in the leadoff spot, which was previously held by Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber.

The center fielder has had success hitting atop the lineup before, but in Wednesday's 9-5 loss, Robles may have made a case to permanently lead off. Robles smacked a Statcast-projected 424-foot home run off the first pitch of the game, his second homer of the year and first career leadoff blast.

“The most important thing for me is to get on base,” Robles said through an interpreter. “I try as much as possible to get on base in any way I can. … I want to be more aggressive within the strike zone and do some damage with those pitches.”

Washington’s youthful core continued to impress in the second frame. For the fifth time this season, the Nats hit back-to-back homers, this time off the bats of Luis García and Carter Kieboom.

García’s power surge wasn’t over, coming back for more in the seventh with his third home run of the season that just cleared the flower beds in left field. It marked his first career multihomer game.

“They get an opportunity to play and they're making the best of it right now,” said manager Dave Martinez. “We got to keep those guys going. A big part of it, too, is, as I told Luis, ‘You just got to play the whole game.’ … I thought he had a really good day today, especially with the bat.”

It wasn’t just García who impressed the Nats' skipper. In his second big league stint this year, after opening the season with the club for two games, Kieboom is finally starting to show some of the potential his manager (and front office) expects from him.

In his last seven games, Kieboom has gone 9-for-24 with two homers and five RBIs, including an RBI single in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s game.

“He's attacking the ball early," Martinez said. "As you can see, he's starting to swing the bat early in the count, not hitting with two strikes all the time. So that definitely helps a lot.”

Both Kieboom and García’s first home runs of the season have come within the last week. The third baseman’s first homer came on Monday in the series opener with the Phillies, and García’s on Friday against the Cubs.

The four solo homers were the most runs scored in Nationals history by teammates aged 24 or younger. That type of young talent is exactly what the club needs not only moving forward but also now. Martinez reiterated that his team isn’t going to just sit back and relax for the rest of the season, they still want to win.

“It's very exciting and motivating,” García said through an interpreter. “I think we're all motivated. So we're learning from each other. And another thing is, with the veteran guys that we do have here, you pick something up from them. They bring a lot of experience and a lot to the game, and you learn something from them as well.”

Kieboom and García spent time together in Triple-A Rochester, hoping to get the opportunity to share a roster in the Major Leagues. On a night when both homered, it's particularly special for them to see the fruit of their labor start to translate on the big stage.

“I almost consider him my brother,” García said about Kieboom. “We've always talked about [getting] the chance to play from Triple-A and come up to the big leagues together -- ‘Let's embrace it.’ We've been having a lot of fun up here. We motivate each other. I feel like we're a family.”