WASHINGTON — Jake Irvin had dozen of relatives and friends fly in from his native Minnesota to witness his major league debut for the Washington Nationals — and then he hit the “O” on the back of Nico Hoerner’s jersey with the first pitch of his career.
“I gotta imagine I’m one of few to do that, right?” Irvin said. “Just laugh it off, man. Next hitter.”
Things improved significantly from there for the 26-year-old right-hander, who held the Chicago Cubs’ potent lineup to two singles over 4 1/3 innings.
Four Washington relievers gave up four singles the rest of the way, and the Nationals turned four double plays to beat the Cubs 2-1 on a damp and unseasonably chilly Wednesday night.
“This is something you dream of from the day you pick up a baseball,” Irvin said. “I’m on top of the world and props to the team, man. Guys played great behind me.”
CJ Abrams had a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh inning for the second consecutive game for the Nationals, and the shortstop contributed to all four of those double plays, including a grounder by Patrick Wisdom that he fielded cleanly to get the game’s last two outs.
After Marcus Stroman pitched six crisp innings for the Cubs, the Nationals went ahead on four pitches by Adbert Alzolay (1-1). Lane Thomas tripled down the left-field line, the only extra-base hit of the game, and Abrams lined the next pitch to center.
Carl Edwards Jr. (1-1) retired the side in the seventh, Hunter Harvey worked the eighth and Kyle Finnegan gave up back-to-back hits to start the ninth but wiggled free for his seventh save.
“I think we played one of our best games of the year,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “Close game, catching the ball, playing good defense, turning some double plays, heads-up baserunning.”
