2017 Signature Moments: #2 — “SLAM.”
The Nationals are preparing to play in the postseason for the fourth time in six years! The NL East Champs had an exciting and historic 2017 season with lots of wonderful moments. We’re very excited for the postseason, and before the start of the NLDS at Nationals Park, we’re counting down the days with 10 of the most exciting events of the 2017 regular season (in chronological order). Join us as we relive our favorite memories here on Curly W Live!
#2 — “SLAM.”
In a surprise move just before the non-waiver trade deadline, the Nationals went out and acquired infielder/outfielder Howie Kendrick from the Philadelphia Phillies to shore up their bench. The move would deliver almost immediate dividends.
Making his Nationals debut on July 29, Kendrick doubled to the left field wall in his first at-bat, drawing a huge ovation from the Nationals’ home crowd. Three days later he went 5-for-5 with a home run in Miami against the Marlins, and three days after that reached safely three times and scored twice in a 4–2 win over the Chicago Cubs.
But just over a week later, entering the second game of a doubleheader against the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 13, the composition of the outfield had shifted dramatically yet again.
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The previous evening, Bryce Harper had hyperextended his left knee and suffered a bone bruise, forcing the 2015 NL MVP to the disabled list. Then in the first game of the twinbill, Brian Goodwin tweaked his left groin muscle, an issue that eventually required a DL stint as well.
With all that news on their minds, Kendrick got a monumental chance to lift his new team’s spirits. In the bottom of the 11th inning of a 2–2 tie, Daniel Murphy and Ryan Zimmerman led off the frame with singles to put runners on the corners, and then Anthony Rendon was intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs.
It had been a long day of baseball, and a long weekend of games at Nationals Park. Kendrick came to the plate looking to put the ball in the air to win the game with a sacrifice fly. After working a 2–2 count, his opportunity for more than that arrived. San Francisco right-hander Albert Suárez sent an 83 mph slider over the middle of the plate, and the newest National capitalized, crushing the offering into the visitors’ bullpen in left-center field.
Teammates mobbed their new hero at the plate. It was Kendrick’s first career grand slam. Welcome to the Nationals.
The full list of Signature Moments will be in the National League Division Series Magazine, available soon in the Main Team Store and throughout Nationals Park.
