Nationals Stat of the Day: April 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.
April 30: Nationals 2, Marlins 1 (10) -- Schwarber's second walk-off bomb
With a projected 454-foot blast, Kyle Schwarber staked his claim to two of the longest walk-off home runs in Statcast history. The other -- a 463-foot rocket against the D-backs -- came on April 16. That also makes him the first player in Nats history to hit multiple walk-off homers before the end of April.
April 28: Nationals 8, Blue Jays 2 -- Fedde's 6 innings, 7 strikeouts
Erick Fedde threw his longest outing of the season in the series finale against Toronto, and he made it an efficient one. He tossed six-plus innings with seven-plus strikeouts for the first time in his five-year Major League career.
April 27: Blue Jays 9, Nationals 5 -- Turner's long balls
With a pair of home runs against Toronto, Trea Turner recorded his second multi-homer game of the season. He first reached the mark less than 10 days earlier on April 18 vs. the D-backs. Tuesday was also Turner's seventh career multi-home run performance.
April 25: Mets 4, Nationals 0 -- Voth sets season high with 4 K's
Pitching in relief of Patrick Corbin, Austin Voth fanned four in three innings. Voth doubled his season high for strikeouts, which he established two days earlier.
April 24: Nationals 7, Mets 1 -- Stevenson continues success against Mets
With a 1-for-4 afternoon at Citi Field, Andrew Stevenson extended his hitting streak against the Mets to six games. The outfielder has batted .400 (8-for-20) in that stretch.
April 23: Mets 6, Nationals 0 -- Nats silenced again
The Nationals' loss at Citi Field marked the fourth time this season they have been shut out. This is the first time in club history Washington has been shut out four times in its first 17 games.
April 21: Nationals 1, Cardinals 0 -- Scherzer becomes No. 21 all-time
One start after passing baseball icon Cy Young for No. 22 on the all-time strikeouts leaderboard, Max Scherzer moved further ahead on Wednesday. He fanned Justin Williams in the fourth inning (2,814) to move ahead of Hall of Famer Mike Mussina (2,813) for the 21st spot on the list. He trails Mickey Lolich (2,832) at No. 20, and finished the day at 2,817 strikeouts.
April 20: Nationals 3, Cardinals 2 -- Batterymates celebrate 50th Patrick Corbin and Yan Gomes made their 50th appearance (including the postseason) as batterymates in Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Cardinals. That mark is the most among Major League pitchers and catchers since 2019. On Tuesday, they faced the longtime Cardinals' pitcher-catcher duo of Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina, who played their 278th game together.
April 19: Cardinals 12, Nationals 5 -- Ross' scoreless-innings streak snapped
Joe Ross entered Monday's game against the Cardinals with 11 consecutive scoreless innings in his first two starts of the season. Following a 1-2-3 first inning, that streak was snapped when Paul DeJong homered in the second. Ross had the second-longest scoreless-inning stretch by a Nationals pitcher to start a season, ranking only behind Livan Hernandez in 2010.
April 18: D-backs 5, Nationals 2 -- Turner keeps slugging
With a pair of home runs, Trea Turner set a new franchise mark for most multi-home run games as a leadoff hitter (five). He had been tied with Alfonso Soriano (four). This was Turner's first multi-homer performance since Sept. 20, 2019, and the first in his career against a non-divisional opponent.
April 17: Nationals 6, D-backs 2 -- Fedde ties career best with 9 K's
Right-hander Erick Fedde tied his career high of nine strikeouts on Saturday in the Nationals' 6-2 win over the D-backs. He needed just five innings to reach the mark. The last time Fedde struck out nine was Sept. 11, 2018, against the Phillies in Philadelphia.
April 16: Nationals 1, D-backs 0 -- Schwarber's mammoth walk-off homer
With a 463-foot shot to lift the Nationals¡¯ to a 1-0 victory over the D-backs on Friday, Kyle Schwarber recorded the second-longest walk-off homer tracked by Statcast, going back to 2015. Schwarber was just one foot shy of tying Mark Reynolds, who hit a 464-foot walk-off home run on June 26, 2016. Rounding out the top five: Chris Davis (458 ft.), Anthony Rizzo (453 ft.) and Giancarlo Stanton (453 ft.).
April 15: D-backs 11, Nationals 6 -- Harrison puts ball in play
Josh Harrison entered Thursday's series opener against the D-backs on a streak of 22 consecutive at-bats without a strikeout, dating back to Sept. 26, 2020. He trailed only Yuli Gurriel and Nick Madrigal in that category, among active MLB players. Harrison extended that stretch by going 2-for-4 with a homer.
April 14: Nationals 6, Cardinals 0 -- Zimmerman goes old school
Turn back the clock 15 years. Ryan Zimmerman's 271st career home run had several ties to 2006. Zimmerman's homer against the Cardinals on Wednesday tied him with Tom Brunansky, Raul Mondesi, Hanley Ramirez and George Scott on the all-time career list. In '06, Ramirez won the National League Rookie of the Year Award and Zimmerman finished second in voting. That same year, Adam Wainwright, who allowed the homer, also had rookie status.
April 13: Cardinals 14, Nationals 3 -- Strasburg loses strike zone
Stephen Strasburg issued five walks in the loss to the Cardinals, only the second time he's walked five in a game. The last time Strasburg issued five free passes? June 13, 2010, when he walked five against the Indians - in the second start of his career.
April 12: Nationals 5, Cardinals 2 -- Three for Juan
Juan Soto went 3-for-4 with a walk in Monday's series opener, the 28th time in his young career that he's collected at least three hits in a game. Washington is 21-7 when Soto has at least three hits.
April 11: Dodgers 3, Nationals 0 -- Scherzer's usual? 6+ IP strong
When Max Scherzer held the Dodgers to one run in the Nationals¡¯ 3-0 loss on Sunday, he joined opposing starter Clayton Kershaw and fellow veteran Zack Greinke in the top three list for most six-plus inning starts with one run or fewer allowed since 2013. Kershaw tops the list with 92 such starts, followed by 89 from Scherzer and 88 from Greinke. Kershaw also reached the feat on Sunday.
April 10: Dodgers 9, Nationals 5 -- Soto's two-homer game
Juan Soto can hit. And he can homer. The 22-year-old hit two home runs against the Dodgers, already his eighth career multi-home run game. That puts him tied for seventh all-time for multi-HR games from players before turning 23 since at least 1901. Eddie Matthews is the all-time leader with 13 multi-HR games and the Yankees¡¯ Gleyber Torres is second with 10.
April 9: Dodgers 1, Nationals 0 -- Soto achieves rare feat vs. Buehler
Juan Soto did what only one player was able to do all last season. In 2020, Dodgers starter Walker Buehler allowed multiple base hits off his four-seamer only once (Dansby Swanson of the Braves in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series). Facing Buehler on Friday, Soto connected on a pair of four-seamers down the middle for hits.
April 7: Braves 2, Nationals 0 (Game 2 of DH) -- Strasburg's historic double
For all the pitching leaderboards Stephen Strasburg is on, the right-hander joined one for his skills at the plate on Wednesday in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Braves. In the third inning, Strasburg doubled into right-center field off Huascar Ynoa. In doing so, he became one of only seven active pitchers with 10-plus doubles. Strasburg joins Adam Wainwright, Zack Greinke, Madison Bumgarner, Clayton Kershaw, Ian Kennedy and Shelby Miller on the list.
April 6: Nationals 6, Braves 5 -- Scherzer ties most home runs allowed in career
Max Scherzer's first pitch of the Nationals' 2021 season was sent out of Nationals Park by Ronald Acu?a Jr., and Braves didn't slow down from there. Acu?a tacked on a second solo shot, and Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson also went deep. By allowing four home runs to Atlanta in his Opening Day start, Scherzer tied his career mark for the most homers surrendered in a game. Prior to Tuesday, Scherzer had given up four homers on May 6, 2016, against the Cubs, and April 3, 2011, against the Yankees.