This time, two reliable relievers were to blame.
It’s already an all-too-familiar tale. The Washington Nationals have the lead in the late innings. Then the game shifts to the bullpen, and poof — it’s gone.
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Orlando Ribalta and Clayton Beeter were the culprits Saturday at Nationals Park as Washington fell, 4-2, to the New York Yankees. After their 27th blown save of the season, the Nationals (48-48) must win Sunday’s series finale to avoid a sweep and head into the all-star break above .500.
“I told the guys after the game … all we’re going to do is keep going,” Manager Blake Butera said. “This is as resilient a group as I’ve seen. They’ve been through a lot already, just in the first half, and they seem to turn the page and come out ready to play the next day no matter what.”
In Friday night’s 5-3 loss, a questionable decision backfired on Butera. With Washington ahead by one run in the ninth inning, the rookie manager put in left-hander Matt Krook, who had a career ERA over 15.00, choosing to leverage traditional platoon splits instead of using a right-handed reliever who has pitched in high-leverage situations.
After Krook gave up a go-ahead two-run homer, Butera said the Nationals were reconsidering their process but that they still trust it, even though “we keep getting burned.”
So on Saturday, Washington did stray from picking a lefty to face a lefty pocket in the eighth inning, instead turning to its two most reliable relievers. A better process yielded the same result.
With a 2-0 lead in the eighth, Ribalta gave up a solo home run to Ryan McMahon. He then walked Ben Rice before the game was handed to Beeter, who was promptly taken deep by Trent Grisham and Paul Goldschmidt to make it 4-2 Yankees.
“I wanted to give our best relievers a shot to help us win the game,” Butera said. “It didn’t go our way.”
Beeter gave up a double to Cody Bellinger and then was pulled for Krook, who this time was able to get the last five outs without allowing any runs. By then, though, the damage was already done.
“In the moment, we’re all competitors. We know how to get into a competitive mode out there,” Beeter said. “Definitely stings a lot worse afterwards because of what’s been going on.”
With Brad Lord on the injured list, Beeter and Ribalta are the Nationals’ top bullpen arms. Even they weren’t able to get the job done, showcasing just how dire the bullpen situation is for this team. The unit had a 5.05 ERA entering Saturday.
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With the trade deadline nearing, the front office has an opportunity to add tested pitchers.
“They know,” Butera said. “They’re watching every game. They understand. They know how frustrated we are. Look, that’s kind of out of my hands. My job is to do the best job I possibly can with what we have, and that’s what I’m going to keep doing no matter what.”
The current situation isn’t entirely on the coaching staff or front office. They inherited a weak bullpen when they took over in October — the unit had a 5.59 ERA last season, the highest in MLB. But the new group also decided not to sign any relievers to major league contracts, instead opting to spend money on new technology, player development and an expanded coaching staff, all of which have contributed to Washington’s unexpected success.
Now that the Nationals are in a position to contend, the bullpen’s weakness has become a main focus. While the team has added relievers through waiver claims and cash considerations trades, no one has made a significant difference.
“That was the decision that we made, and it’s obviously one that I think a lot about given how the current year has gone,” President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni said Saturday of the decision not to sign a reliever. “But also I don’t want to say all that while implying that I don’t have hope and trust and belief in our current group, because I do.”
And while the eighth-inning pitching will get the blame for the loss, the offense had its chances. James Wood hit a home run in the first inning to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. It was his ninth leadoff homer, matching Alfonso Soriano’s 2006 mark for the most in a single season. Two batters later, Curtis Mead followed with a long shot of his own.
That was all the scoring for the Nationals. They loaded the bases in the fourth and seventh innings, but those ended with Nasim Nuñez popping up the first pitch he saw and CJ Abrams striking out. All told, Washington left nine men on base and went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.
The rest of the pitching staff did its job. PJ Poulin served as the opener, letting the first two hitters he faced reach base but nothing more in 1⅔ innings. Miles Mikolas came out of the bullpen via the bullpen cart, as has been his tradition when being used after an opener, and allowed four hits and one walk while eating up four innings.
Tom Cosgrove was acquired last week from the Houston Astros in exchange for cash considerations and was added to the active roster for this series to face the Yankees’ heavily packed left-handed lineup. He did his job Friday, recording two outs in his Nationals debut, and followed that Saturday by retiring all four batters he faced
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