Ruiz leads Nationals’ offense in win over Twins

Catcher Keibert Ruiz is not the engine that powers the Washington Nationals’ offense — usually. That honor belongs to All-Stars James Wood and C.J. Abrams.

Thursday was an exception.

Washington’s backstop led the charge, hitting a home run and two doubles for four RBIs as the Nationals beat the visiting Minnesota Twins 7-5.

It was a breakout game for Ruiz, who entered the action with an abysmal .182 batting average. He had managed only a single home run and nine RBIs in his first 64 at-bats.

“It means a lot because I’ve been working really hard,” he said after coming through against the Twins. “To have those results and have a team win, it feels good.”

The holdup, according to manager Blake Butera, was largely mental.

“Get back to your process every at bat,” Butera told Ruiz. “Just win each pitch at a time. Have one good at-bat at a time and one good day at a time. Look up a month from now, two months from now and you’ll be in a pretty good spot.”

It’s a task easier said than done. Ruiz, despite his subpar average, has an impressive amount of bat control as a switch-hitter and can cover most of the plate. The problem, Butera noted, was that the highest-paid player on Washington’s roster swung for the fences on suboptimal pitches.

“What we challenged him was: Be very picky,” the manager said. “He can cover everything, but we don’t want him just putting the ball in play. We want him to drive the ball.”

It worked on Thursday. His RBI double in the third inning came on the first pitch, a fastball down the heart of the plate by Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson.

In the fifth inning, Ruiz sent two more runners home after working a six-pitch at-bat. He took the first three offerings for balls, waiting for a pitch to hit. He got it, again, smoking a ball into the outfield to give Washington the lead.

The 27-year-old capped the career-defining day with a solo home run in the seventh inning that gave the Nationals the lead.

A slow start can dishearten even the most confident of hitters. Ruiz is no exception. He and fellow catcher Drew Millas have struggled in the batter’s box through the first 38 games of the season.

“They both believe they should be doing better than they are. It just seems like they’re trying to hit a grand slam every at bat,” Butera said. “They’re trying to gain 100 points in average with each plate appearance.”

Ruiz boosted his batting average by 32 — not 100 — points on Thursday, earning cheers from his teammates.

“It was awesome. I know that he’s been grinding, and to see what he did today was really cool,” said starting pitcher Jake Irvin, who threw five innings and allowed eight hits and four runs. “He was coming in between innings like he was very relaxed, but locked in. … I’m pumped for him.”

Irvin and the rest of Washington’s pitching staff enjoyed a strong day of support from their teammates. The Twins took an early 2-0 lead in the second inning, but Jacob Young stopped the bleeding with a double play, as he caught a fly ball in center field and threw a runner out at home.

Wood made a similar impact in the third, ending a rally with a strong throw into the infield that let the Nationals tag a Twins runner out in a rundown between third base and home plate. The play ultimately resulted in an eyebrow-raising 9-4-5-2-6 putout on the scoresheet.

“Awesome from [Young and Wood]; those guys have been so good back there,” Irvin said. “Especially in innings that could have been bigger than they were, those were really key spots.”

Butera might’ve drawn more joy from his outfield’s assists than from Ruiz’s go-ahead home run. The Nationals’ defense has been abhorrent to start the season. They lead MLB in errors by a wide margin. Butera had his infielders running extra drills last weekend to shore up the basics.

It paid off.

“It’s just good to see a lot of the conversations about fundamentals and how we want to handle double cuts and relays and how we want to communicate,” Butera said. “All those little things, they matter so much. Those are two huge runs. We end up winning by two, but those little things matter. They stack up.”

With the win, the Nationals stand at 18-20. They trail the division-leading Atlanta Braves by eight games in the NL East. Washington opens a three-game series in Miami on Friday night.