Instant impact! García's 1st pinch-hit homer lifts Nats to big win

WASHINGTON -- For six innings, Luis García Jr. sat on the bench as the temperatures at Nationals Park dipped on a blustery Friday night. But when manager Dave Martinez called on him to pinch-hit for Trey Lipscomb to face a righty matchup in the top of the seventh, the second baseman instantly heated up the game.

In just one swing of the bat, García sparked the Nationals' transformation of a two-run deficit into a commanding 9-3 series-opening win over the Blue Jays.

“It’s hard to explain it with words the emotions that run through you,” García said in Spanish.

With Riley Adams on first base and Ildemaro Vargas on second, García mashed the first pinch-hit home run of his career. The go-ahead blast off righty reliever Erik Swanson put the wheels in motion for a rally that featured four runs in the seventh inning and another four in the eighth.

García jumped on the first pitch from Swanson, a splitter down the middle, and rocked it 402 feet into center field at 104.7 mph off the bat. García knew he'd made good contact, but he lost track of the ball in the lights. When he saw center fielder Daulton Varsho leap, García found its path and saw it leave the park.

“It’s a little difficult, especially just coming in,” García said. “I just came in from hitting in the cage, and I was actually not trying to be too aggressive. I was just trying to focus on that at-bat to get a pitch that was elevated. Fortunately, he threw a splitter that hung a little bit and it was up, and I was able to make good contact with it.”

It was his second home run of the season and the first since April 15 on the road against the Dodgers. The 23-year-old García, who leads the Nats in doubles (eight in 27 games), is batting .300 in his fifth Major League season.

“We’re trying to get him not to chase, that’s the biggest thing,” said Martinez. “He’s a high-ball hitter. We’re trying to get him to think middle-in for the most part and stay in the middle of the field. He’s been really good at doing that.”

Following the home run, Jesse Winker singled a line drive into left field and Nick Senzel drove him in with an RBI double to left. The Nationals took a two-run lead into the eighth, but their offense was just getting started.

“We build off of each other and we build off each other’s successes,” CJ Abrams said. “Luis [coming through] in that inning kind of got us going.”

García once again came up to the plate with two runners on, drawing a full-count walk off lefty Génesis Cabrera to load the bases. Winker lined out to second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa for the second out, but Kiner-Falefa fired the ball past Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base trying to get an inning-ending double play, which allowed Alex Call and Adams to score.

“I loved the home run -- don’t get me wrong -- but the walk was really good for him, too,” Martinez said of García. “If he can do that, especially against left-handed pitching, he’s going to have a really good year, and he’s off to a good start.”

The speedy Abrams -- who put the Nats on the board with a third-inning RBI single -- then dashed down the first-base line to reach on a fielding error by third baseman Ernie Clement and drive in García. Abrams scored the final run on a Joey Meneses single into center field.

“We need to do more of that,” Martinez said. “Keep going, keep working good at-bats, get on for the next guy and tack on runs. We didn’t have to use [closer Kyle] Finnegan today. … It definitely helps our bullpen out a lot. I loved the at-bats late in the game, I really did.”

The victory was the Nats’ first series-opening win at home this season (1-4) and their second win when trailing after six innings (2-14). They have the opportunity to improve to .500 on Saturday.

“I think we have a very good team,” García said. “We go out there for every at-bat with good focus, a good mindset and we battle.”