The Nationals had a chance to take a lead in the NL East and raise their record to over .500, but let the last two games slip away as they lost the series to the Miami Marlins.
The Nationals had a chance to cling to an over .500 record with a series sweep against the Miami Marlins. They put themselves in positions to do so, but let the last two games of the series fall from their grasp.
Foster Griffin took the mound in the first game of the series. He started the game slowly, allowing a home run and a double against his first two batters.
After a two-run first inning, he would dial in and finish with only four hits and one walk in seven innings pitched. He also finished the night with nine strikeouts. Griffin’s ERA has dropped to 2.12, which is ninth among qualified pitchers.
The Nationals would also put up a strong first inning. Curtis Mead would start it off with a double, and CJ Abrams brought him home with an RBI single. Jacob Young would go on to hit his third home run of the series to round out a three-run first inning.
Neither team would score after the first inning. The Nationals brought out Brad Lord to pitch the eighth and ninth innings. PJ Poulin came into the game for the last out after a throwing error by Abrams allowed Javier Sanoja to reach base.
The Nationals duplicated the success from their first inning in the second game of the series. James Wood hit a lead-off bomb 442 feet into the second deck, and Abrams would get his second first-inning RBI hit, which brought home Luis García Jr. and Brady House.
But the Nationals’ pitching staff would struggle to keep the lead. Richard Lovelady came in as an opener for Zack Littell, who has struggled recently. Lovelady kept his pitches low enough in a scoreless first inning to come out for the second inning, where he had a one-two-three inning.
Littell continues his struggles, allowing three runs in four innings on five hits and a home run. Littell continues to lead the MLB in home runs allowed, now at 14.
The struggles for the pitching staff ramped up as Mitchell Parker came out for the seventh inning. He would finish the seventh inning, allowing one run on a homer.
When he came back out for the eighth inning, he was unable to record an out against the four batters he faced. The Marlins turned the eighth inning into a four-run inning. Jakob Marsee hit a three-run bomb, and a sacrifice fly would bring home Esteury Ruiz.
Mitchell finished his outing with three outs earned and five earned runs on five hits, a walk and two home runs.
The Nationals entered the ninth inning down 8-4. They did their best to rally back, but ended the inning with three runs. They fell 8-7 in a game where they had a chance to reach .500 for the first time since April 1st.
Cade Cavalli would take the mound in the last game of the series, where he had a good outing. He finished 5.2 innings with two earned runs on four hits and a walk.
It became a bullpen duel after Marlins’ ace Sandy Alcantara had a similar outing, going six innings and allowing two earned runs.
The Nationals’ runs came after García. tripled to open the fourth inning, and Brady House brought him home with an RBI groundout. Gacía would be responsible for the second run as well, bringing home Jorbit Vivas with a double in the fifth inning.
The Nationals' bullpen would not win the bullpen duel as Gus Varland allowed three earned runs on two hits and two walks in the eighth inning, and the Nationals' batting only found one hit in the last three innings.
The Good
Foster Griffin continues to dominate. A pickup from the NPB in the offseason, Foster Griffin has made his name known league-wide. His transition to a starting pitcher has changed his career, and he has now picked up a lot of value for the Nationals.
Whether the Nationals decide to trade the 30-year-old arm at the deadline or extend him following the season, their return-on-investment will be huge.
He is ninth in the MLB with a 2.12 ERA. He leads the nationals in innings pitched by six innings. He has a pitching record of 4-1 and a WAR of 1.7.
Luis García Jr returns to the starting lineup. García returns to the Nationals lineup after a minor wrist sprain sidelined him for the series against the Minnesota Twins.
He made his presence known with five hits in 10 at-bats against the Marlins. He hit his second triple of the season and finished with two RBIs.
The Bad
Bullpen issues resume. The Nationals' bullpen has been very questionable all season, but for a while, the storm began to calm down. Well, the storm is starting back up again. The bullpen allowed 8 earned runs in just 8.1 innings pitched against the Marlins.
Lord and Lovelady continue to look like viable options out of the bullpen, but we’ve seen the arms around them lack consistency. Varland and Parker have both been prominently used out of the bullpen, and now they both recorded losses against the Marlins as they contributed to back-breaking innings.
Joey Wiemer continues to struggle. Joey Wiemer was electric to start the season, when he tied the record for the 10 at-bats in a row to reach base safely to start a season. But he has not found as much value on the roster in the last month.
In five of his last six starts, he has failed to record a hit. He has batted only .208 from the start of April. With some of the outfielder talent in the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings roster, maybe the Nationals should be questioning whether they can keep Wiemer on the roster.