Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
The Nationals had every opportunity to win this one in nine innings; by that, I really mean they just needed to score one run in a nine-inning span. Unfortunately, the Nats got owned by another left-handed starter, this one a little better than Jose Suarez, but Chris Sale was masterful in his eight scoreless innings last night to hold the Washington offense silent.
To his credit, MacKenzie Gore did an excellent job last night in his own right, holding Atlanta’s offense scoreless for the 5.1 innings he was in the game. The Braves loaded the bases in the top of the first thanks to a couple of walks, but Gore buckled in and got Michael Harris to ground out to escape the jam. The Nationals had an opportunity of their own in the first, as Nasim Nunez led it off with a single and a steal of second, putting him in scoring position with nobody out, but the 2-3-4 hitters in the Nats’ lineup were unable to bring him in.
Amazingly, this would be the last time the Nationals would have a man in scoring position with less than two outs until the bottom of the ninth inning. The Braves got a one-out double from Marcell Ozuna in the fourth, but could do nothing with that rare scoring opportunity. Gore would get out of that jam and then make it through the fifth inning cleanly, before allowing a one-out walk to Ronald Acuna in the sixth, ending his night at 92 pitches.
The Nats’ bullpen was now tasked with matching Chris Sale, who was very clearly on one last night, it felt like everyone in the ballpark (which wasn’t many) knew that whoever scored first was likely going to win this one. Only issue was nobody could score. The Braves got a leadoff double from Harris in the seventh, but Jackson Rutledge did a great job of navigating the rest of the inning without letting that run come in to score.
After Konnor Pilkington came in and tossed a scoreless top of the eighth to maintain the scoreless tie, Sale was allowed to go out there for the bottom of the inning, where he struck out the side with a Paul DeJong single sandwiched in there between strikeouts. That brought Sale’s strikeout tally to nine, in what was just a dominant performance from the Braves’ ace.
- Chris Sale: 8 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 9 strikeouts, 106 pitches
- Mackenzie Gore: 5.1 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, 92 pitches
- Two lefty starters combined against the Nats yesterday: 16 innings, 8 hits, 2 runs (2 earned), 2 walks, 18 strikeouts
The biggest action point in this one came in the bottom of the ninth as the Nationals had a golden opportunity to win this one, with their hottest hitter at the plate. Daylen Lile came to the plate with runners on first and third with one out. All the Nationals needed was a fly ball to medium-deep in the outfield to score Dylan Crews and win the game. Lile couldn’t come through this time, and popped out on the infield. Luis Garcia then had a chance to do it with two outs, and he hit a drive to right field that looked like trouble, but Acuna made a great jumping catch at the wall to keep this game going.
If you think like I do, you know what was going to happen in the tenth. The Nats have been a really bad extra-innings team in recent years, and last night was no different. Mason Thompson was tasked with holding down the Braves in the tenth, and suffice it to say, he did not have a good day. Drake Baldwin put the Braves immediately ahead with an RBI double, then the big blow came later as Matt Olson came up with the bases loaded, and proceeded to clear them with a three-run triple to make it 4-0. He would later score on a sacrifice fly by Ozzie Albies, and the 5-0 score would hold through the bottom of the tenth, as the Nationals went quietly.
Positives from last night were primarily on the pitching side. Gore, Jackson Rutledge, Konnor Pilkington, Jose A. Ferrer, and PJ Poulin were all excellent last night and played key roles in keeping this game tight throughout. On the offensive side, it was another sparse night, with Dylan Crews being the only National to record a multi-hit game.
This four-game series will mercifully come to an end this afternoon at 4:05 with the final game of the season against the Braves. Brad Lord (5-8, 4.21 ERA) will get the ball this afternoon, coming off a decent outing last Friday night against the Pirates. The Braves will turn to their rookie stud, Hurston Waldrep (4-1, 2.78 ERA), and if you’ve never seen his splitter, you’re in for an absolute treat with this guy. The Nats have had good success against him in the past, albeit in a small sample size, but let’s hope they can call on that past success and come out of this series with one win.
