The Washington Nationals suffered another deflating loss against the Houston Astros, though Cade Cavalli flashed in his second start in spring training
The Washington Nationals have come back down to earth after opening spring training as the final unbeaten team in the Grapefruit League. With now just two wins in the last nine spring training games, the Nationals fell to 6-4-3 in March after being blown out, 7-1, by the Houston Astros on Friday afternoon.
Washington posted just two hits in the loss with Dylan Crews responsible for the team's only run while Riley Adams, who finished 1-for-3 on the day, singled to left field in the third inning.
Friday did mark another strong start for Cade Cavalli, who tossed six strikeouts in four innings while allowing just one hit. That hit would come in the bottom of the third after giving up an infield single one play after the Astros reached first base thanks to a fielding error by shortstop CJ Abrams. That set the stage for Houston to open the scoring after a sac bunt moved the runners to second and third before a grounder into a double play led to an easy first run.
Drew Smith would be next up where he tossed one walk in his lone inning before Julian Fernandez's struggles opened the scoring. Houston got on base with a double into left field in the second at bat of the sixth inning before a single into left field push Washington's deficit to 2-0. He would give up another hit, this time with two outs, before pitching coach Simon Matthews turned to Zach Penrod before hitting an Astros batter to send in the third run of the game then getting out of the inning.
Daylen Lile would then get the Nationals on board with a 366 foot home run to right field in the top of the seventh inning, but the Astros would top that in the bottom of the inning after Bryce Montes de Ola gave up a two run, 377 foot home run to left field, extending Washington's deficit to 5-1.
Houston extended its lead in the eighth inning after Trevor Baum allowed an infield single to open the inning and walked his second better, setting up a two-run double with still no outs, handing Washington a 7-1 loss.
The Nationals will return to action on Saturday, March 7 in the second meeting against the New York Yankees in spring training. The Yankees dominated in a 7-0 finish back on Feb. 25 in what proved to be the first loss in spring training for the Nationals with Saturday a chance at redemption. First pitch is set for 6:05 PM.