Nats win epic comeback over Orioles in front of huge D.C. crowd originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Fans in attendance for Saturday’s ‘Battle of the Beltway’ got treated to some amazing baseball. With expanded crowd capacity, more than 15,000 fans poured into Nationals Park to see the home side take on the Baltimore Orioles, and in front of the biggest crowd of the season thus far, the Nats did not disappoint.
Washington walked away the victors of a 12-9 decision, but that required a comeback of epic proportions.
It started off cold for the home team. Baltimore got out to an early lead, with Freddy Galvis doubling to left and scoring Cedric Mullens in the top of the first. Two outs later and with the bases loaded, Ryan Mountcastle belted a 90 mile-per-hour Jon Lester cutter to left center for a grand slam. Heading into the second inning, the O’s were sitting comfortably, up 5-0.
The Nationals got on the scoreboard with one run in the second and then turned the tables in the third inning when veteran infielder Josh Harrison smacked a grand slam to make it 6-5.
Trea Turner’s RBI double in the fourth tied the contest at six apiece. Juan Soto singled on the next at-bat, advancing turner to third. Then, ‘Mr. National’ himself, Ryan Zimmerman, did what he’s been doing for his entire tenure in the nation’s capital. A deep homer to left center off his bat put the home side up 9-6.
Zimmerman finished with spectacular numbers: 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs. and more became the all-time leader in runs scored in Expos/Nationals history.
“I did not [have any idea I broke the franchise record]. What a way to do it on a game like this,” Zimmerman said. “I think me, my family, everyone missed baseball, so we’re so happy to be back and it’s such a fun group of guys…We’re just getting started. This group can do anything, we’ve seen that before.”
Anthony Santander’s solo home run in the fifth made it a 9-7 contest, but the Nationals responded with three of their own in the bottom of the sixth inning to go up 12-7.
Saturday’s win over Baltimore was the Nationals’ biggest comeback since a seven-run ninth inning vs. the Mets in September of 2019— weeks before they took home the World Series.