Nationals Stat of the Day: June 2021
MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Nationals this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.
June 30: Nationals 15, Rays 6 -- Second-hottest Lester start
How hot is hot? When Jon Lester took the mound in 95-degree heat on Wednesday, it was the second-hottest temperature at first pitch in his 16-year career. The hottest was 102 degrees, measured on Aug. 14, 2010, in Texas. That night, Lester threw eight shutout innings.
June 29: Nationals 4, Rays 3 -- Soto homers in DC
The last time Juan Soto homered in front of fans at Nationals Park was during the 2019 World Series run. That was, until Tuesday, when he belted his first dinger of the season at home. Soto's previous eight home runs in '21 had come on the road.
June 28: Nationals 8, Mets 4 -- Schwarber's 15 HRs in 17 games
With a pair of home runs against New York, the slugging Kyle Schwarber became only the third player in Major League history to hit 15 home runs in a span of 17 games. He joins Barry Bonds (2001) and Sammy Sosa (1998).
June 27: Nationals 5, Marlins 1 -- Scherzer's 2,900 strikeouts
Max Scherzer recorded career strikeout No. 2,900 in his seven-K start against the Marlins. He ranks second among all active pitchers behind Justin Verlander and 19th among pitchers all-time in the category with 2,903 strikeouts.
June 26: Marlins 3, Nationals 2 -- Nats fanned 11 times
The Nationals have had some of the hottest bats in baseball as of late, but they were quieted when Marlins rookie Zach Thompson recorded 11 strikeouts. It was only the third time this season an opposing pitcher has fanned more than 10 Nats hitters. Tyler Glasnow of the Rays on June 8 (11 K's) and Jacob deGrom of the Mets on April 23 (15 K's) were the other two instances.
June 25: Marlins 11, Nationals 2 -- Most leadoff HRs in 12-game span
With 12 home runs in the leadoff spot over his past 12 games, Kyle Schwarber has made his mark in baseball history. On Friday, he became the first player ever to accomplish such a feat.
June 24: Nationals 7, Marlins 3 -- Rizzo 1,000th GM win
With a victory in Miami, the Nationals won their 1,000th regular season game since Mike Rizzo took over the role as general manager in 2009. Rizzo became the sixth active GM to reach that milestone with one team.
June 23: Nationals 13, Phillies 12 -- Big-time blasts
In a back-and-forth contest, the Nationals and Phillies combined for an offensive feat that had never been seen in Major League Baseball. While Kyle Schwarber hit a three-run homer and Josh Bell added a grand slam for the Nats, the Phils countered with a three-run shot (Travis Jankowski) and a grand slam (Andrew McCutchen) of their own. That marked the first time in MLB history that each team hit both a three-run homer and a grand slam in the same game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
June 22: Nationals 3, Phillies 2 -- Scherzer's mastery
Max Scherzer allowed just two hits over five innings of one-run ball in what proved to be his latest dominant outing against the Phillies. In doing so, he improved to 12-3 with a 2.45 ERA in 21 starts against the Phils since joining the Nationals, including 7-1 with a 2.41 ERA in Philadelphia.
June 20: Nationals 5, Mets 2 -- Schwarber's three-homer game
With a trio of home runs, Kyle Schwarber became the third player in Nationals team history (2005-present) to record a three-homer game. He is the first to do so since Anthony Rendon on April 30, 2017, also against the Mets.
June 19: Nationals 6, Mets 2 (Game 2) -- Schwarber backs Lester
Kyle Schwarber continued his trend of homering when his longtime teammate Jon Lester takes the mound. With two dingers, the slugger went deep in the 27th game (regular and postseason) in which Lester started -- 23 with the Cubs, four with the Nationals.
June 18: Nationals 1, Mets 0 -- Fedde on cruise control
Erick Fedde tossed seven scoreless innings, bringing his scoreless streak to 20 frames. He last gave up a run in the top of the fourth inning on May 11 against the Phillies. Fedde's streak is the longest by a Nationals pitcher this season.
June 16: Nationals 3, Pirates 1: Nats tie season-high win streak
With a three-game sweep of Pittsburgh, Washington tied its season-best winning streak of four games. As part of this success, the Nats have earned a "W" in six of their last eight contests, in which they've outscored opponents, 31-14.
June 15: Nationals 8, Pirates 1 -- Gomes' grand slam
Yan Gomes' sixth home run of the season was also his fourth career grand slam. He had not cleared the bases since July 3, 2018, against the Royals. Gomes also had not recorded four RBIs since that game in Kansas City.
June 14: Nationals 3, Pirates 2 -- Soto's speed on the bases
When Juan Soto reached first base on a throwing error in the opening frame, he did so at a sprint speed of 28.2 feet per second. How was fast that for the Nats' slugger? The average among all players is 27.0 ft/sec, and Soto's average this season is 27.1 ft/sec.
June 13: Nationals 5, Giants 0 -- Ross gets the job done
With three sacrifice bunts -- to go along with eight scoreless frames -- starting right-hander Joe Ross tied Gio González for the most in a game by a Nationals pitcher. González tallied a trio of sac bunts on May 2, 2015, against the Mets.
June 12: Nationals 2, Giants 0 (Game 1) -- Fedde goes walk-less
June 12: Giants 2, Nationals 1 (Game 2)
After issuing at least one walk in his previous 18 starts dating back to Aug. 12, 2019, Erick Fedde did not give up free bases on Saturday. Controlling the baserunners was a key to his seven-strikeout performance.
June 11: Giants 1, Nationals 0 -- Espino's career-high 5 Ks
Pitching on short notice after Max Scherzer's first-inning exit, Paolo Espino recorded a career-high five strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings. The veteran right-hander has posted a 3.12 ERA with 11 strikeouts in his last six appearances.
June 9: Nationals 9, Rays 7 -- Rainey's first save
Entering the 11th inning, Tanner Rainey was set up to earn the save. When he recorded the final out of the game, he became the first National to record his first career save in extra-innings since Sammy Solis on August 24, 2017, against the Houston Astros, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
June 8: Rays 3, Nationals 1: Soto's fifth-fastest pitch hit
Juan Soto smacked a single off of a 99.7 mph pitch from Tyler Glasnow in the first inning. The pitch marked the fifth-fastest Soto has turned into a basehit in his career, behind:
• 101.4 mph from Thyago Vieira (2019)
• 100.8 mph from Tayron Guerrero ('18)
• 100.1 mph from Guerrero ('19)
• 99.8 mph from Guerrero ('18)
June 6: Phillies 12, Nationals 6 -- Seven-plus runs allowed
For the third time this season, the Nationals allowed seven-plus runs in a single inning. The Phillies scored seven in a deciding fourth-inning without any extra-base hits. The Nats previously surrendered nine runs in the fifth inning on April 13 vs. the Cardinals and seven in the second inning on April 15 vs. the D-backs. Prior to this season, they had not given up seven-plus runs in a frame since 2019.
June 5: Phillies 5, Nats 2 -- Soto's on-base streak in Philly
Juan Soto is very familiar with the basepaths at Citizens Bank Park. On Saturday, he reached base safely for the 18th consecutive game in Philadelphia, dating back to Aug. 27, 2018. Soto has a .434 on-base percentage during that stretch.
June 4: Nats 2, Phillies 1 -- Martinez winningest Nats manager
With his 225th victory, Dave Martinez became the winningest manager in team history. Martinez, whose first season at the helm was 2018, passed Davey Johnson on the leaderboard.
June 3: Braves 5, Nationals 1 -- Corbin provides depth
The Nationals have been looking for their starters to go deep into games to help preserve the bullpen arms. Southpaw Patrick Corbin has thrown at least five innings in seven straight starts, tossing 5 1/3 frames in the series finale against the Braves.
June 2: Nationals 5, Braves 3 -- Gomes does damage
When Yan Gomes hit the go-ahead homer in the eighth inning, it was the latest example of his success against the team's National League East rivals. In his 22 games vs. Atlanta since joining the Nats in 2019, Gomes is slashing .263/.307/.550 with seven homers. In comparison to the rest of his opponents during that time, Gomes has a .240/.312/.391 slash line with 14 home runs in 141 games.
June 1: Nationals 11, Braves 6 -- Soto racks up the runs
For the first time in his career, Juan Soto recorded four RBIs and four runs in a single game. His evening against the Braves included a two-run blast, his first home run since May 19.