Mark Reynolds: “Yeah, That’s Like A Good Two Weeks”

Mark Reynolds is on fire heading into today’s Washington Nationals’ home game against the Miami Marlins.

Reynolds, who is UVa’s all-time home run king, tied a Nationals’ record record with a 10-RBI night on Saturday in Washington’s 18-4 win. He blasted two home runs in a 5-for-5 night that continued his spectacular weekend, which included a walk-off home run on Friday night also against the Marlins.

“Yeah, that’s like a good two weeks,” Reynolds quipped to sportswriters after Saturday night’s performance. “These things don’t happen often.

“I’ve been playing a long time and I’ve only had five [RBI in a game],” Reynolds said. “You got a little luck involved. Sometimes you just take good swings the night before and you feel confident going into the next day, and that’s what happened.”

Reynolds is a 12-year veteran, and was an unsigned free agent until April 12 when the Nationals signed him at the pleading of former UVa teammate Ryan Zimmerman, who was the starting first baseman for Washington until suffering an oblique injury that has kept him out of the lineup.

Certainly Reynolds has pulled his weight, particularly of late. Since June 29, he has gone 12 for 23 with four home runs, three of them in the past two games.

In Saturday night’s rout over Miami, Reynolds ripped a two-run home run in the second inning, followed by an RBI double in the same frame, then added a two-run single in the fifth. He wasn’t finished. He added a three-run homer in the sixth, and ended the evening with a two-run single in the seventh. He also played first base and third base in the game.

“I’ve seen him like this,” said Nationals’ manager Dave Martinez. “When he gets hot like this he can stay hot for a while, so we’ll have to figure something out, see if we can get him in [the game Sunday].”

UVa fans have taken a lot of pride in that Reynolds has given Washington a boost, particularly while Zimmerman has been out. Another former Wahoo, Sean Doolittle, has been sterling as the Nats’ closer.

When Reynolds ripped the walk-off roundtripper on Friday night, it marked the 35th walk-off homer run in Nationals history. Eleven of those have been produced by the former Cavalier teammates, Reynolds and Zimmerman, who comprised half of UVa’s infield in 2004.