Pitcher Foster Griffin was beaten around, and the offense failed to produce as Cincinnati won the series finale, 15-1.
Read more When Trump met Xi as peers
A home run fest on Tuesday gave the Washington Nationals a 10-4 win in game one of their three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds.
A come-from-behind thriller on Wednesday gave them a 8-7 win in 10 innings during game two and guaranteed a series win.
With their second sweep of the season on the line, they entered Thursday’s game with Foster Griffin, their top starter, on the mound and a confidence that the spunk the offense had shown in games one and two could hold up against Reds starter Chase Burns.
But the two things they thought they could count on let them down. Griffin was beaten around, and the offense failed to produce as the Reds won the series finale, 15-1.
The loss prevented the Nationals (21-23) from having a record of .500 or better on May 14 for just the second time since 2018.
“We want to win every day, so whatever our record is, our job is to go out there and play our best game every day,” Manager Blake Butera told reporters. “I know we keep coming up to like one game below .500, but at the end of the day, we care about where we’re at come August, September, October.”
Great American Ball Park is one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks, ranked behind only Coors Field (Colorado Rockies), Chase Field (Arizona Diamondbacks) and Target Field (Minnesota Twins), according to Statcast. The Nationals’ pitchers were hurt by this all week. Miles Mikolas was inefficient on Tuesday, removed after allowing two runs (one earned) over 3⅓ innings. Jake Irvin made it through just three on Wednesday after giving up five runs in the first inning.
But that can be expected from Mikolas and Irvin, who have both struggled at times. Griffin hasn’t. Before Thursday, he had pitched four quality starts in a row. In Miami last week, he struck out a career-high nine in seven innings.
Read more The Commanders want a fast start. Their schedule won’t help.
But on Thursday, the Reds exposed a few cracks. They attacked his cutter, getting five of their seven hits off that pitch alone.
Griffin allowed two runs in the second inning before things really got out of hand in the fourth. With two outs and the bases loaded, Jose Trevino hit an RBI single and Ke’Bryan Hayes smacked an RBI double. A 2-0 game became 6-0, then quickly 9-0 as the Reds added three more runs in the sixth on a JJ Bleday home run.
“Foster has been as good as they come every outing so far,” Butera told reporters. “Just ran into some trouble. They knew his best stuff. … One blip on the radar; he’s been great so far. No concerns.”
Butera has often trusted Griffin in tough positions, but not after that home run on Thursday. This game was out of hand, and Griffin, with nine earned runs, was pitching his worst start of the season. The only positive, compared with Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s short starts, is that Griffin made it one out into the fifth inning, saving the bullpen slightly before a seven-day home stand against the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets.
The Nationals ended up needing only one reliever — Zak Kent, who allowed two runs in 2⅔ inning — instead turning to outfielder Joey Wiemer for the second time this season as he recorded the final three outs.
“For as bad as the outcome was, the fact we only used two pitchers was important,” Butera told reporters.
That explosive offense in the first two games of the series was nonexistent against Burns on Thursday. They had just two hits against him in six innings, striking out seven times. The Nationals’ offense had just one more hit the rest of the game, and they scored their only run in the eighth on a wild pitch.
Read more Premier League winger Mitoma out of World Cup for Japan as 26-player squad named
