Andrés Chaparro hit three doubles in his major league debut, nearly overshadowing another impressive performance by rookie James Wood as the Washington Nationals defeated the Baltimore Orioles 9-3 on Tuesday night.
Chaparro became the fourth player in major league history to hit at least three doubles in his debut, joining Nick Evans of the New York Mets, who last achieved this on May 24, 2008.
“I’m not going to lie and say I’ve never dreamt of this day and how it would go,” Chaparro said through a translator. “As well as it went today, I couldn’t have dreamt it better.”
The Nationals called up Chaparro before the game, and with the score tied at 2 in the fourth inning, he got his first career hit—a double that put runners on second and third with nobody out. Ildemaro Vargas and Luís Garcia Jr. then each hit sacrifice flies.
Washington added three more runs in the sixth inning, again after Chaparro’s double put runners on second and third with no outs.
Anthony Santander hit his 36th home run of the year for the Orioles, who lost their spot in first place and are now half a game behind the New York Yankees in the AL East.
Jake Irvin (9-10) gave up two runs and seven hits over six innings for the Nationals. Trevor Rogers (0-2) allowed five runs and seven hits in five-plus innings.
The game featured two rookies who are prominent on prospect lists—Wood and Baltimore second baseman Jackson Holliday. Wood drove in the game’s first run with a single in the first inning.
With runners on first and third, Wood attempted to steal second but was caught in a rundown. However, he stayed in the rundown long enough for Juan Yepez to score from third before the inning ended.
Ryan Mountcastle’s single in the second inning put the Orioles up 2-1, and Santander’s home run in the third inning set a single-season Orioles record for home runs by a switch-hitter, surpassing Ken Singleton’s record of 35 set in 1979.
After Chaparro’s second double in the sixth, Vargas hit a two-run single and Jacob Young added another single, making the score 7-2.
