Curtis Mead kept the ball in the air and out of the park again Wednesday, going 1-for-2 with a home run, one run scored and two RBI in a 5-4 loss to the Phillies. It was the kind of night that shows up quickly in a box score and just as quickly in the standings: one swing, two runs driven in, and still a defeat.
The homer was Mead's latest impact hit in the series. He finished with two hits against the Phillies, and both cleared the fence, a neat burst of power that gave him 13 home runs on the season. After Wednesday, Mead was batting.224 with 38 RBI, 35 runs scored and three stolen bases across 65 games.
That makes the performance more than a line of numbers. In a one-run game, Mead did enough to change the shape of the inning, but not enough to change the result. The Nationals still walked away with the loss, which is what gives the night its edge: production was there, timing was not.
For Mead, the search now is not for whether the power is real. It is. The question is how often he can turn those hard-hit nights into wins, because Wednesday gave him two home runs in the series and still left the outcome untouched.
