WASHINGTON (AP) — If Josh Bell’s days are indeed numbered in Washington in his second season as a member of the struggling Nationals, he gave the home fans one last moment to celebrate.
Bell hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Nationals rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-6 on Saturday night.
Bell, likely on his way out as the Major League Baseball trade deadline nears, knocked in his 14th homer of the season to right-center off Génesis Cabrera (3-2) to complete Washington’s comeback.
Bell, who turns 30 next month and will be a free agent after the season, is having one of his best seasons and leads the Nationals with 57 RBIs and is batting .305 in 101 games.
“I’m not going to think about what’s going to happen in the next few days,” manager Dave Martinez said. “It was a big win for us and he was a big part of it and we have to come back tomorrow and do it again.”
Juan Soto, who could be the biggest name dealt before next week’s deadline, finished 1 for 1 with three walks and scored twice for Washington, which has the worst record in baseball.
“Juan is locked in right now and it’s a lot of fun to play behind him,” Bell said.
The big question is how long will Bell be playing behind his teammate that finished second in the NL MVP voting last season.
Erasmo Ramírez (3-1) earned the win with a clean seventh, and Kyle Finnegan got the last five outs for his fourth save of the season.
St. Louis, which started the day even with Philadelphia for the last wild card spot in the NL, took the lead in the fifth for the second time when Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer into the Cardinals’ bullpen.
Gone for over two months, DeJong — an All-Star in 2019 — was recalled earlier on Saturday after the Cardinals…
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