For three innings of last night’s contest it looked like Mitchell Parker had turned a corner and was en route to back-to-back good outings after his 7.2 innings in Miami. Then, unfortunately, the other Mitchell Parker resurfaced. The Braves got to him for five additional runs in the next 2+ innings for a total of six runs, and the game was pretty much over from there, thanks in part to a bad night from most of the offense as well.
This game started innocently enough; the Braves put up a threat in the first inning but couldn’t bring anyone across the plate. The game remained scoreless heading into the bottom half of the second, when my official favorite National, Daylen Lile, took an inside fastball from Spencer Strider and hit it over the right field fence for his sixth major league home run.
The score stayed at 1-0 until the fourth inning when Parker began to unravel. The Braves began the inning with three consecutive hits, the third being an RBI single by Ozzie Albies to tie the game at one. The next batter, Ha-Seong Kim, did ground into a double play but a run came in to score on the play so the Braves took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth.
The Nationals had their opportunities last night, one big one coming in the bottom of the fourth. Trailing 2-1, the Nats loaded the bases with one out, an excellent chance to answer the two runs scored by Atlanta in the top half of the inning, but Dylan Crews chased two breaking pitches in the dirt to put himself in protect-mode and he swung at an outside pitch that hit off the end of his bat for a tapper right in front of the plate that the Braves turned two on, and the inning was over just like that.
The Braves’ offense jumped right back on the pedal in the fifth, getting a two-out, three-run home run from Matt Olson to extend their lead to 5-1. That would prove to be the nail in the coffin for Parker, yet even still, Miguel Cairo opted to send him out to begin the sixth inning and labor through 103 pitches. The Braves got two straight hits off him to start the sixth, including an RBI single by Drake Baldwin. Then Cairo went to get him and handed the mess over to Shinnosuke Ogasawara. Just a little bit more evidence that proves when Mitchell runs out of gas, there’s really no saving it, you’ve got to pull the plug immediately.
Before this game, Baldwin was in a deep slump that climbed to 0-21 before the Nats got him back on an offensive surge. Baldwin finished the game with three consecutive hits. Is there a true race for Rookie of the Year? Check out Lile’s statistics against what Baldwin has done.
Ogasawara got out of the inning with no further damage, but at this stage in the game, a 6-1 deficit looked almost insurmountable. The score was not helped in the bottom of the sixth when Lile was picked off of first base to end the inning. Lile’s been a massive pleasant surprise at the plate for the Nationals this season, but his defensive issues and numerous baserunning mistakes have cost the Nationals on multiple occasions.
The Braves added more to their lead in the top of the seventh with an RBI double by Matt Olson and later got an RBI single from Baldwin to make it an 8-1 ballgame. Not a great night from Ogasawara.
- Spencer Strider: 7 innings, 4 hits, 1 run (1 earned), 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, 96 pitches
- Mitchell Parker: 5 innings, 10 hits, 6 runs (6 earned), 1 walk, 1 strikeout, 103 pitches
The Nats put together a little bit of a rally in the bottom of the eighth, getting an RBI single from CJ Abrams to make it 8-2. They added one more when Robert Hassell III scored on a double play ball hit into by James Wood, but that also served to end the rally for any additional damage.
Orlando Ribalta got the ball for the Nationals in the top of the ninth, but couldn’t keep the ball in the ballpark. Ronald Acuna and Drake Baldwin both took Ribalta deep in this frame, extending the Atlanta lead to 11-3, which would be the final after the Nationals went down quietly in the ninth.
Positives were few and far between for the Nationals last night, Konnor Pilkington‘s scoreless eighth inning was the only one of note from the pitching staff. On the offensive side, there goes that man again. Daylen Lile’s 2-3 night was the only multi-hit game from Washington’s side, his ninth inning walk made it a three-times on base night for him as well as he continues his torrid September.
The Nats play 18 innings today, for better or for worse. I will be getting a postgame article out in between them, so for now I’ll just preview the first game. The doubleheader will begin at 1:05 this afternoon with Jake Irvin (8-12, 5.70 ERA) on the mound for the Nats, looking to finish what’s been a disappointing season for him on a stronger note. The Braves have not yet listed a starter for this one. The Nats have to face Chris Sale in tonight’s nightcap, so any offense that they can generate today may have to come in game one, let’s hope they can give us one good performance in this very long day.
