This series started with a shimmer of hope on Monday night, only to get a little sadder last night, and this afternoon it all came crashing down. A combination of a gem by Nick Pivetta, some terrible approaches by Washington hitters, and a lockdown San Diego bullpen all contributed to a very disheartening 1-0 loss as MacKenzie Gore, once again, takes another hard luck loss.
The scoring began and ended in the bottom of the second inning when Gore struck out the first two batters of the frame before walking lefty Tyler Wade. Next was a swinging bunt infield single by Elias Diaz, and then a single to center by Luis Arraez to score the only run needed. The Padres got greedy and tried to bring another run home on the play, but Diaz was cut down at the plate on a great throw by Jacob Young who shined again in this game.
The Nationals didn’t generate many opportunities to score this afternoon, Daylen Lile gave them their first opportunity to do so in the top of the third with a lead-off single. That was until Pivetta picked him off first base right as it looked like he was about to take-off to try and steal second base.
The next legitimate scoring chance for the Nationals came in the top of the sixth inning. Young got on with a one-out bunt single to set the table for the Nats’ two best hitters, CJ Abrams and James Wood. That formula didn’t work as well as it has in recent days as both of them went down on strikes, keeping the score 1-0 San Diego.
As good as Pivetta was this afternoon, we can’t overlook the job that Gore did today. He overcame a high pitch count in the first couple innings and managed to give the Nats six quality one-run innings.
- MacKenzie Gore: 6 innings, 5 hits, 1 run (1 earned), 3 walks, 6 strikeouts, 103 pitches
- Nick Pivetta: 7 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 10 strikeouts, 90 pitches
A big problem for the Nationals this after were strikeouts on pitches out of the zone. San Diego pitching racked up 12 of them today. It didn’t help that 9 of the 12 punchies came from the top four guys in the order, Abrams (3), Wood, (3), Garcia (1), Lowe (2). I don’t want to make it sound like I’m calling doomsday, obviously days like this happen to every team every season. It’s just difficult to see this kind of performance come in a game where you have a chance to win a series on the road. That opportunity should be a heavy motivation to come out and play your best ball, and I think we can all agree this was not our hitters’ best ball.
The positives this afternoon, like you could expect, are not extensive. Young is the only position player I’ll shout out today. He had one of the Nats’ three hits and made a great throw to the plate in the second to cut down a run and keep this a 1-0 game. He also had a leaping catch at the wall, and his other catches he just made look routine. Outside of him, Gore, Brad Lord, and Kyle Finnegan all threw the ball well today, holding a good offense to just one run.
The best news we can get tonight is, there’s always tomorrow. Today I guess we say, there’s always Friday since tomorrow is a scheduled day-off — their first in 16 days. For those of us who have been staying up to watch these late night West Coast games, get your sleep tonight and enjoy the off-day tomorrow.
The Nats will finish this road trip with a three game series in Anaheim against the Angels. Game one will be Friday night at 9:38 PM, Jake Irvin (6-3, 4.18 ERA) will square off against Jose Soriano (5-5, 3.39 ERA). Until then Nats fans, let’s get caught up on some sleep, take tomorrow to forget about the rough month this team has had, and let’s come back Friday night ready to finish off this road trip on a high note.
