Nationals' offense remains MIA in 11th straight loss

Washington Post

4 hours ago

Colorado Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia saw the curveball, then crushed it Wednesday night at Nationals Park. Washington left-hander Mitchell Parker saw it make a beeline for the visitor's bullpen, then had some choice words for himself muffled into the fabric of his jersey in the sixth inning.
It wasn't even a bad pitch. That breaking ball had allowed him to cruise through six. That lone bit of damage, the only run he conceded, shouldn't have put the Nationals on the defensive, not against the 17-win Rockies who are headed for the wrong kind of history. But it did. It put the Nationals behind. And as has so often been the case as of late, the slimmest of margins was not one the Nationals could overcome.
The result: More scattered boos, more of the same from a sputtering offense and the Nationals' 11th straight loss, this one a 3-1 defeat to the Rockies.
The loss tied the Athletics' stretch in May for the longest losing streak in MLB this year. The Nationals (30-44) are one loss from tying the club record for consecutive losses, set back in 2008. They have lost back-to-back series against two of the three worst teams in the National League, the Miami Marlins and now the Rockies. They are still averaging fewer than three runs per game this month. They will have a chance to prevent a four-game sweep on Thursday afternoon.
The Rockies scored again in the seventh when Daylen Lile failed to come up with a diving catch that was ruled a triple and Ryan Ritter pushed him home with sacrifice bunt. James Wood doubled CJ Abrams home in the seventh to get Washington back within one. And Jose A. Ferrer put the deficit back at two runs after he allowed a solo shot in the eighth.
In June, the Nationals' offensive production has been divvied up like so: They do not score early, and then they turn it on late. Since the start of the month, they have scored 20 runs in the first six innings, by far the worst mark in baseball. The offense has actually ranked in the top half of baseball in the final three innings this month.
This time, hard contact saturated the first four innings, but runs did not. After four frames, the Rockies had hit eight baseballs at least 100 mph. The Nationals had four off Germán Márquez. Neither team had a run.
Wood and Abrams caught scorching liners in the first to strand Colorado's leadoff hitter at second. Abrams walked to lead off the game and stole the 100th base of his career, but back-to-back fly outs followed the effort. In the second, Brady House's first career steal put a runner in scoring position. Josh Bell and Lile followed with two loud line outs to the outfield. After Jacob Young was caught stealing in the third and Abrams popped up, three straight Nationals reached.
That kept a run off the board, but Washington's zero-run third will be better remembered for the following: With the bases loaded, House tattooed a liner that looked certain off of the bat. It was low, sure, but the sort of ball that usually gets through. At third base, Orlando Arcia snagged it at full extension, laid on his back for a few seconds, then chuckled as Ritter helped him up.
The Nationals then put runners on first and third with two outs in the sixth before Lile grounded out. And with Wood standing on second in the seventh, Luis Garcia Jr. grounded out on the first pitch he saw.
Before the game, Washington Nationals Manager Dave Martinez used the word, 'relax,' when asked what Parker needed to do to improve his first-inning woes. The natural follow up, then, was whether he felt his whole team could stand to take that advice during this losing streak.
'Right now, yes,' Martinez said with a chuckle. They looked a little looser than usual after a one-hour, 46-minute rain delay. But it didn't matter: Eight of their 11 losses have come by two or fewer runs.
Notes: Right-hander Mason Thompson (Tommy John surgery) pitched in his first rehab game with a Nationals affiliate, pitching one scoreless inning with Class AA Harrisburg. Paul DeJong, who is rehabbing from a broken nose, also hit a homer in the game.