Washington
Adon leads Nationals over Marlins 7-4 and Washington climbs out of last place
MIAMI (AP) — Joan Adon pitched six scoreless innings of two-hit ball as the Washington Nationals built a six-run lead and defeated the sliding Miami Marlins 7-4 Friday night.
Carter Kieboom homered, Michael Chavis had two hits and Joey Meneses drove in three runs for the Nationals, who have won 10 of 13 and moved ahead of the New York Mets and out of the NL East cellar for the first time since June 2.
“Confidence is really good right now and that’s a key factor,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “But these young guys are starting to understand how to play the game. Everything’s going well right now and I’m proud of these guys.”
Adon (2-0) kept Miami hitless until Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s two-out single in the sixth. Chisholm’s grounder, which got under shortstop CJ Abrams, originally was ruled an error but the scoring decision reversed after Luis Arraez lined a single to center.
The 25-year-old right-hander struck out three and hit a batter in his fourth start since his Aug. 5 recall from Triple-A. Adon went 1-12 last season and was optioned to the minors after a four-inning, six-run outing at Miami July 7, 2022.
“I still have the same locker when I got sent down last year,” Adon said. “It was on my mind a little bit before the game. But I said to myself, let’s do it today.”
Before Chisholm’s and Arraez’s singles, Miami had two batters reach against Adon. Jorge Soler hit a fly ball that centerfielder Alex Call dropped for a two-base error in the first and Adon hit Bryan De La Cruz with a pitch in the fifth.
“All my five pitches were working today,” Adon said. “I have confidence in all my pitches.”
Miami has lost five of six and is 12-25 since the All-Star break.
Meneses had an RBI groundout in the first after Abrams’ leadoff single, and Kieboom’s second homer this season, a two-run drive off Braxton Garrett (7-5) built a 3-0 lead in the sixth.
“I’m not trying to do too much, not trying to put on added pressure,” said Kieboom, who missed the 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and spent the first five months this season in Triple-A.
Washington doubled its lead in the seventh against Steven Okert and Jorge López on Meneses’ two-run double and Keibert Ruiz’s RBI single.
“That’s the key to having an offense – one after another, keep the line moving,” Kieboom said.
Miami snapped a 21-inning scoreless skid in the seventh on Jesús Sánchez’s two-run triple and Nick Fortes’ RBI double against Mason Thompson, who faced five batters without retiring any.
Chisholm hit into a run-scoring forceout against Robert Garcia that cut Miami’s deficit to 6-4, and Soler grounded into an inning-ending double play. Garcia pitched a perfect eighth and, after Call’s RBI single in the ninth, Hunter Harvey worked around De La Cruz’s leadoff single in the bottom half for his 10th save in 15 chances.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to get to the starting pitcher. We haven’t done a good job of that lately,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “We kind of dug ourselves in a hole.”
Garrett allowed three runs and seventh hits in six innings.
CLOSE CALL
Nationals right-fielder Lane Thomas favored his shoulder, neck and chin area after he collided with Call in center on the error that allowed Soler to reach. Thomas sat on the field while tended to by an athletic trainer and remained in the game.
“I got a little worried there, but he said he was fine,” Martinez said.
ATTENDANCE
The attendance of 12,409 raised the Marlins home season total to 918,506, topping last year’s 907,487.
ROSTER MOVE
Miami activated RHP JT Chargois from the 15-day injured list and placed RHP George Soriano on the paternity list.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nationals: OF Stone Garrett (fractured left fibula) underwent surgery Friday. … Tanner Rainey (right elbow surgery) threw one scoreless inning in his second rehab outing with Double-A Harrisburg Thursday.
Marlins: OF Avisaíl García (left hamstring strain) underwent an imaging test on Wednesday that confirmed the injury he sustained against San Diego a day earlier.
UP NEXT
RHP Jake Irvin (3-5, 4.47) will for the Nationals on Saturday while the Marlins will go with RHP Eury Pérez (5-4, 2.91).
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Washington
True Freshman Talent at Washington – Khmori House
Washington’s Spring roster featured a handful of early-enrollee freshmen. For players that would otherwise still be in high school, several of them started to show the kind of potential they might have for the future of this program. One of them was linebacker Khmori House. The class of 2024 early-enrollee was a three-star recruit out of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California. The Trinity League in Southern California is known to be one of the nation’s most competitive high school leagues. In three seasons at the varsity level at St. John Bosco, House recorded 118 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, and five pass breakups. He was a productive player at linebacker and strong safety for the Braves. And his transition to Big Ten Football has been fluid thus far.
Recognition from Robert Bala
After Washington’s final open practice of the Spring, we asked linebacker coach Robert Bala if there was a player in his room who had taken the biggest step this Spring. He immediately pointed to the true freshman House. “He’s done a really good job of understanding what we ask him to do either fundamentally, technically, schematically.”
That football knowledge and overall ability to digest the defensive scheme under Bala and Steve Belichick is critical. It will earn him time on the field earlier in his career. Bala continued, “He’s been a bright spot for us this spring and I think he is going to have an opportunity to get on the field a lot earlier in his career.” He’s a player who had been on campus for a little over four months at the time. This recognition speaks volumes to what the coaching staff believes House can be, and how well he’s already been performing.
What Khmori House Does Well
You notice a few things right off the bat when watching House play linebacker. One of which is his size for a true freshman. He is listed at 6’-0” and 187 pounds but his build does not look like that of a true freshman. House uses his size to deliver physical contact on ball carriers and blockers. There were multiple occasions this Spring when we heard a “pop” during the play. A closer look revealed it was the number 28 on the delivering end of the blow. His high school tape backs this up as well. House did not shy away from laying down hard contact. His size helps him be a dependable tackler, bringing players down to the turf consistently.
The other thing that stands out about the linebacker is his speed and athleticism. House’s high school film show him getting up in run fits as well as sliding back into coverage. He is able to use his quickness to get around the offensive line in rush defense and to close in on the wide receiver in pass defense. This Spring, that quickness was on display. House’s footwork during linebacker drills and agility in live play make him a versatile player for Bala.
Khmori House’s Speed in Pressure
One of the plays that stood out this Spring was not one you would see in the stat book. Rather, it was a run-down of Washington’s speedy quarterback Demond Williams Jr. During one of the team scrimmages in April, Williams lined up in shotgun where he took the snap and fled the pocket to his right. He initially looked to have an angle to the outside. But House shot out of the middle level of the defense. The linebacker’s angle and quickness forced Williams to stretch his run to the sideline rather than upfield. Instead of a five-yard gain around the edge, House forced Williams out of bounds for no gain. The awareness and athleticism of House to get an angle on Williams were impressive. Though it was just one small play, it reinforces his potential to be a multi-faceted player on this defense who will see the field early on.
Photo courtesy: Nick Lemkau, Last Word on College Football
Washington
A page from history: George Washington’s inauguration Bible comes to Westport | Westport Journal
By Gretchen Webster
WESTPORT — Many towns in New England claim, “George Washington slept here.” Whether Westport can make that claim or not, Westporters can be certain the Bible used at the inauguration of the nation’s first president has visited Westport.
On Saturday, the 257-year-old George Washington Inaugural Bible was proudly displayed for the community by the men of Westport’s Masonic Lodge, Temple No. 65, to mark the lodge’s 200th anniversary.
The Westport Masonic Lodge was chartered on May 12, 1824, before the town of Westport itself was incorporated, and is one of the oldest organizations in town, according to Richard Ruggiano, worshipful master of the Westport temple.
The hands of four U.S. presidents have rested on the Bible during their inauguration, who in addition to Washington, include Warren G. Harding, Dwight Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter. George W. Bush also would have been sworn in using the Bible, but because it was raining the priceless Bible couldn’t be exposed to the weather, Ruggiano said.
The Bible was also present at the funerals for Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and at ceremonies to lay the cornerstone for both the U.S. Capitol building and the Washington Monument, he said.
“We should be sharing this with our community,” Ruggiano said of the Bible, which is owned by Masonic Lodge St. John’s No. 1 A.Y.M. (Ancient York Masons) in New York. “It has never been shone in Connecticut.”
The Bible’s public display Saturday drew Westport residents, members of nearby Masonic lodges and even “Benjamin Franklin,” a.k.a. Westport lodge member Chris Jennings, who portrayed Franklin. The real Franklin was a friend of Washington’s Jennings said in a presentation to visitors.
In his presentation, Jennings recounted the history preceding Washington’s inauguration, from the perspective of Franklin. He referred to Washington as “a young Virginia militia colonel,” 20 years before he became leader of a new nation.
Washington did not sign the Declaration of Independence because he was in New York state with his troops, according to Jennings, and was one of the nation’s founding fathers who believed it was important for the national legislature to have two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Washington’s inauguration as the first president of the United States took place in 1789 at Federal Hall in New York City, according to information from St. John’s lodge. It lay open on a crimson velvet cushion when the oath of office was administered to Washington by the first secretary of the U.S. Senate, Samuel Otis. Among those present were the nation’s first vice president, John Adams; the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay; the first secretary of war, Henry Knox, and the first governor of New York, George Clinton.
Many of the nation’s founders were Masons, Ruggiano said, including Washington himself, his generals and many of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence.
On Saturday, the Inaugural Bible made the trip from Manhattan accompanied by four members of St. John’s lodge, who donned white gloves and flanked the Bible as it was displayed in the local lodge to ensure its safety.
“We hire a conservation organization to take care of it,” said Andreas Vavaroutsos, a member of the New York lodge and part of the group that transported the Bible. The men drove the Bible to the Westport lodge at 210 Post Road East, and planned to drive it back to New York on Saturday evening.
It took Ruggiano many years to arrange for the Bible to be displayed in conjunction with the Westport lodge’s bicentennial, he said. But with arrangements complete and the Bible at the center of attention on a special day for the Westport lodge, he said, “We feel graced and blessed.”
Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.
Washington
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