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Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

You had Dylan Crews at third base in the bottom of the 9^th inning with one out in a 0-0 game. A walk-off was there for the taking with the matchup you want — the best hitter in the month of September in MLB was at the plate– and you didn’t even need a hit — just a productive out to score the speedy Crews. But unfortunately, Daylen Lile popped the ball up, just 80 feet from homeplate, for the second out.

That was a moment set for glory like a Hollywood script for Lile who was just on MLB Network hours before, because of all the eyes he has opened with his impressive stats. A Gatorade bath would have been his reward if he succeeded, then the top was put back on that orange Gatorade Dunk Hydration cooler, kind of like a cold slap in the face to the thousands of Nats fans who braved a 2-hour rain delay, and rain throughout this game. The ending was more miserable than the weather. But there was more. There was another at-bat coming that would be gut-wrenching.

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.

Well, for those, myself included, who were hoping to see the Nationals’ offense take advantage of a bullpen game in the first of two today, we were sorely disappointed. The Nats allowed Jose Suarez, who likely wasn’t supposed to go more than 4-5 innings at most, to cover seven innings of two-run ball in just his fourth big league appearance on the season. What’s worse, he hadn’t gone more than 3.1 innings yet this season. In the longest outing he’s had since 2022, the southpaw not only completed seven innings, but racked up nine strikeouts in the process against a Nationals lineup that’s just been a total disaster against lefties this season.

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.