Washington outfielder Daylen Lile looks to continue his successful homecoming when the Nationals continue their series against the host Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.
Lile, who grew up in nearby Louisville, Ky., made his Great American Ballpark debut on a Tuesday night to remember. With a contingent of about 70 friends and family on hand, Lile hit a three-run homer, a two-run shot and a single in Washington’s 10-4 win.
“It means so much,” Lile said postgame. “I just feel so loved and cared (for) from my hometown and the people that along the way have watched me grow into the person I am. It’s just awesome.”
Luis Garcia Jr. hit two solo home runs, and James Wood and Brady House also homered for the Nationals, who have won four of six. It was the 12th six-homer game in Nationals history (2005-present).
Washington right-hander Jake Irvin (1-4, 5.22 ERA) opposes Cincinnati left-hander Nick Lodolo (0-1, 6.75) on Wednesday in the middle game of the series.
On May 7 against the Twins, Irvin allowed four runs on eight hits over five innings of a no-decision in his second sub-par outing in a row.
Irvin is 0-1 with a 5.54 ERA in five career starts against the Reds.
In Lodolo’s first start of the season after dealing with a blister issue, he gave up four runs on five hits (two of them home runs) and a walk over 5 1/3 innings in a 10-0 loss to the Houston Astros on May 8, striking out two.
“Obviously, the two home run pitches you’d like to have back,” Lodolo said. “But overall, I thought I threw the ball better than what I feel like I probably did, just because those two definitely stand out. Two two-run homers is going to definitely put you in a tough spot. So overall, though, just move on in the next one.”
Lodolo is 1-0 with a 4.23 ERA in four starts versus Washington.
He will try to tame a Washington lineup that pounded out 13 hits on Tuesday.
Lile is now 9 for his last 25 with three doubles and two homers. Garcia, who recently missed time with a minor right wrist sprain, is 8-for-15 with two homers, a double and a triple since his return.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Lile said of Washington’s Tuesday offensive explosion. “Just to see everybody capitalize and pass it down the line. Our pitchers do what they need to and our defense backing them up, just team baseball. It was great.”
Sal Stewart had three hits, and JJ Bleday had two hits and two RBIs for the Reds. Elly De La Cruz also had two hits to extend his hitting streak to five games. During that span, he is 10-for-22 (.455).
The Reds appeared to catch some luck when starting pitcher Brady Singer was hit on the right foot by a scalding grounder off the bat of Lile in the second inning Tuesday. He stayed in the game but left in the fourth.
“He was hurting, and he’ll never say a word, but I know he was feeling it,” manager Terry Francona said. “That was the (right) foot he drives off of. You can see his velocity dip a little bit right after that happened. … We’ll keep an eye on him.”
–Field Level Media
