García's 6 hits lead Nats' biggest offensive output of '23

KANSAS CITY -- The theme of the night was offense, and Luis García Jr. was out in front of everybody, leading the hit parade.

In the Nationals’ wild 12-10 victory over the Royals on Friday night, García found himself in some elite company by going 6-for-6 at the plate with four singles and two doubles. He joined Anthony Rendon (April 30, 2017) and Rondell White (June 11, 1995) as the only players in Nationals/Expos history with six hits in a single game.

? 6+ hits in a 9-inning game

García, who entered the game batting .262, saw his average jump 26 points to .288. That’s quite a feat for a player who already had 164 at-bats when he arrived at the ballpark.

“I’m seeing how the hard work is paying off,” said Washington’s second baseman through a translator.

For the left-handed-hitting García, five of his six hits went to the opposite field.

“That says a lot, because my whole approach is to stay up the middle and go the other way as well,” García said.

García (23 years, 10 days) became the second youngest player to have six hits in a nine-inning game in AL/NL history.

The big night for García made quite an impression on Nationals manager Dave Martinez, who needed every hit and every run his players could muster after coming into the road trip opener with a taxed bullpen.

“The offense woke up, and Luis had a great day,” Martinez said. “It’s something he has been working on -- keeping his legs under him and driving the ball the other way.”

It looked as though Washington might be able to cruise to a victory after exploding for eight runs in the sixth -- their most in an inning since Sept. 28, 2019 -- to take a 9-2 lead. García was a big factor in the rally, becoming the first player in Nats history (since 2005) to record two doubles in one inning. But the Royals wouldn’t roll over. They finally got Nationals starter Patrick Corbin out of the game in the seventh and used a pair of homers from Bobby Witt Jr. to fuel a big comeback that brought them within 9-8.

Washington kept its foot on the pedal with three tack-on runs in the eighth, but Kansas City wouldn’t go away. Order was finally restored when Chad Kuhl bailed out the bullpen by getting the final five outs after the Royals drew within 12-10.

Kuhl faced Witt in the eighth and induced an RBI forceout. With the Nats still leading by two, Kuhl fanned MJ Melendez with runners on the corners, then worked a clean ninth inning.

“You just have to execute, especially when a guy is hot like [Witt] was,” said Kuhl, who earned his first career save. “We just tried to attack with my best stuff.”

Corbin wound up going 6 1/3 innings, but relievers Erasmo Ramírez and Carl Edwards Jr. struggled to hold off the Royals before Kuhl came to the rescue.

“It seemed like no lead was safe,” Corbin said.

In the end, the Nationals had a little more offense than the Royals -- which meant that García’s career night was a winning night.