Photo by Marlene Koenig/TalkNats
The Washington Nationals 5-game losing streak includes two blown saves as the team had 6-1 leads in both games, and the bullpen couldn’t close the door. Today, manager Blake Butera left Cionel Perez out there with a 3-run lead after he allowed the first three runners on-base. He gave him more rope and Perez put two more on-base and was finally pulled when it was too late. Another questionable move was using Cole Henry, part of the “A” bullpen, in a blow-out yesterday. That forced Butera to try to get a save by using PJ Poulin for 2.0 innings and pushing Clayton Beeter into work two innings.
The positives were Foster Griffin was excellent going 5.0 innings of 1-run baseball, and Luis Garcia Jr. delivered a 2-run homer, and James Wood smashed a 3-run long ball. The Nats once again put up a lot of runs (6) but the bullpen gave up seven runs. And this came in a game when the defense was excellent once again.
The managerial decisions, if they work — you’re a genius, but when they fail, you have to answer to why you made moves that didn’t work. In the old days when relievers could be pulled after a batter or two, you would yank your guy when he had nothing. Butera allowed Perez to meltdown and eventually give up the lead as he faced five batters and didn’t get one out.
“Tough one. … I thought we had enough to get through there. … It just didn’t go our way.”
— Butera said after the game
But Butera was never asked why he left Perez in the game. Now the team is mired in a 5-game losing streak. Butera wants them to stay positive and went back to “control what you can control” but managers have to make the right decisions to put their team in the best situations. And that didn’t happen.
The Nats were outscored 31-17 in this series. In a football game, fine, that would be two touchdowns. This is baseball, and that is embarrassing. The offense averaged just under 6-runs per game — and that should be enough to win some games.
The Nats now have the St. Louis Cardinals in for three games. Butera and his boss need to figure something out. All of the good vibes from the first four games has been pushed into reverse. You can’t lose your team and your fans after nine games.
