Washington gets little from its offense and falls below .500 ahead of long road trip.
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The Washington Nationals’ performance in May was a promising sign that they were making progress. They went 16-12, their best single-month record in nearly three years, climbed above .500 and had a staff that was outpitching its track record.
The start of June, however, has been a bit of a return to reality. The visiting Miami Marlins beat the Nationals, 4-1, on Wednesday, sweeping the series and dropping Washington to 31-32. A team that was riding high on Sunday looked as flat as they had all season on Wednesday, reverting to old habits that hurt them in the first month of the season.
The Nationals have an off day on Thursday, a timely opportunity to take a step back before beginning a three-game series at the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.
“I think Miami came in and they punched us in the mouth,” Manager Blake Butera said. “I think it’s up to us to go into this day off, use it to reset, flush it, and be ready to go in Arizona on Friday.”
Andrew Alvarez got the start Wednesday, pitching from the first inning for the first time this season. He was inefficient in his previous outing, giving the Nationals only three innings and allowing three runs, but showed signs of improvement on Wednesday. He pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing a solo home run in the second inning to Esteury Ruiz but nothing else.
“He threw the ball really well,” Butera said. “He got in a little bit of trouble there early on, but then settled in.”
Jake Irvin is taking longer than anticipated to recover from a right shoulder strain. It had been thought he would return after his 15-day stint, but that will not be the case. Alvarez will be needed in the rotation for the foreseeable future, taking a lefty arm out of the bullpen.
The impact was felt during this series, especially as Butera chose to stick to traditional matchups. On Monday, that meant sending out Richard Lovelady in the sixth inning, and on Tuesday, trusting Michell Parker in the ninth. Lovelady allowed two runs, and Parker allowed a home run, both taking the Nationals out of the game.
The Nationals made no moves on Wednesday to try to replenish their bullpen. The options aren’t plentiful in Class AAA either, especially since PJ Poulin hasn’t been in Rochester for 15 days yet.
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After Alvarez was removed in the fifth inning, Brad Lord took over and got the Nationals through the next 1 1/3 innings. He walked three but allowed no damage.
Orlando Ribalta, who has become one of the Nationals’ most reliable relievers, faced four batters in the seventh, passing the game to Clayton Beeter with runners on both corners. He struck out Kyle Stowers but ran into trouble in the eighth. Beeter loaded the bases on two walks and a single, and two runners scored on a single from Joe Mack to give the Marlins a 3-1 lead.
In the ninth, Gus Varland let in a run and, at 32 pitches, couldn’t make it through the inning, forcing the Nationals to bring in Paxton Schultz.
The relievers fell behind often, a trait that hurt them in the first month of the season, and issued seven walks. Butera said it’s on the staff to reiterate their messaging.
“It’s just another reminder to tell these guys to attack the zone, believe in your stuff, get ahead,” Butera said. “When you play 162 games, there’s going to be times where it’s like, ‘Hey, let’s get back to what we believe in and what’s important to us.’”
The offense, which leads the league in runs, didn’t provide any help. Marlins starter Max Meyer held the Nationals to one run and two hits in seven innings. They fared no better against the bullpen, spoiling chances in the eighth and ninth innings on Wednesday. They went 2 for 20 with runners in scoring position this series.
“It was one of those series,” Daylen Lile said. “It’s baseball, it happens. If you look at the past, we’ve done a lot collectively as an offense, and the Marlins came in prepared. It was just one of those series.”
The Marlins, Lile said, seem to play their best baseball against the Nationals. But the Nationals, compared with previous years, can point to their success in May, giving them the belief that they are better than what they showed this series.
“Our confidence is not getting torn down just because of one series,” Lile said. “We still have a lot of confidence in our offense, so we just move on to the next series.”
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