PHOENIX – The Nationals had a quick turnaround from a Friday evening matchup to a Saturday afternoon matinee at Chase Field. Their bats didn’t cool off overnight. In fact, they claimed a two-run lead just two batters into the game. After hitting five home runs in the series opener, the Nationals jumped out to an early advantage and crushed two more in a 6-1 win over the D-backs. “It was really good, first off, to get out of the gates the way we did,” said manager Blake Butera. “... To go up 2-0 right away, I think that kind of set the tone for us today and kept the momentum in our favor.” Just like on Friday with Luis García Jr., the second at-bat of the game resulted in a two-run home run. Curtis Mead jumped on a cutter in a 2-1 count from Eduardo Rodriguez for a Statcast-projected 411-foot, 104.3 mph homer to drive in James Wood. “I felt like I did a good job,” said Mead. “The 1-0 pitch was a changeup up and out over the plate for a strike. But the plan for me was to kind of try to get him close to me and look for something that I could drive to left-center. I think that taking that pitch ultimately led to getting the pitch that I was looking for.” That early advantage gave starter Zack Littell a cushion to continue his season turnaround. With the lead, Littell threw a perfect game through three innings and held the D-backs hitless through four innings.
