{"id":5325,"date":"2026-06-27T08:04:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T08:04:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5325"},"modified":"2026-06-27T08:04:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T08:04:52","slug":"nationals-dont-blow-a-lead-but-they-do-lose-to-orioles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5325","title":{"rendered":"Nationals don\u2019t blow a lead, but they do lose to Orioles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baltimore never trailed, with Trevor Rogers and Co. shutting down Washington\u2019s high-scoring offense.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Capitals draft 17-year-old Oliver Suvanto from Finland with first-round pick<\/a><\/p>\n

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CJ Abrams struck out three times for the Nationals, who were held to five hits. (Lexi Thompson\/Imagn Images\/Reuters Connect)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

BALTIMORE \u2014 The positive takeaway Friday, as the Washington Nationals dropped their fourth game in a row, is that the bullpen didn\u2019t give away a lead for the fourth game in a row. That would have required the Nationals to have the lead, which they did not at any point in a 3-1 Beltway Series-opening loss to the Orioles.<\/p>\n

On a night when Washington\u2019s pitching staff gave the team a chance, the highest-scoring offense in the MLB couldn\u2019t provide. The Nationals scored just one run off Orioles lefty Trevor Rogers, finishing with five hits and going 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Rogers threw the ball really well for them,\u201d Manager Blake Butera said. \u201cI thought there was extra life to his fastball, a little bit more than we expected. \u2026 [I] look at it more like a blip, uncharacteristic with the way we\u2019ve been scoring runs. Expect these guys to be ready to go tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a tough week for the Nationals after three winnable games went astray in the ninth inning against the rival Philadelphia Phillies. The clubhouse has been distraught, frustrated and in disbelief. On Thursday night into Friday afternoon, Manager Blake Butera met with his team in small groups and individually, hoping to steer his players back on track.<\/p>\n

Some players, he gave a kick in the posterior, he said. Others, he comforted. He reminded his relievers that he would keep giving them the ball \u2014 it\u2019s the only thing he can do unless the front office provides him with options \u2014 so someone needs to step up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been guys who had a lot of failures earlier in their career who were able to, after getting multiple opportunities and figuring things out, ended up being really good pitchers,\u201d Butera said. \u201cI think we have some here that have an opportunity in front of them. What they do with that opportunity is 100 percent up to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until that happens, they are trying to find ways to mitigate the damage the bullpen can cause. Butera wanted to give Andrew Alvarez a long leash Friday. And while the left-hander pitched well overall, allowing just two runs in the fourth inning on an RBI single from Blaze Alexander, he wasn\u2019t as efficient as he would have liked.<\/p>\n

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Andrew Alvarez allowed only two runs, but he need 88 pitches to record 13 outs. (Lexi Thompson\/Imagn Images\/Reuters Connect)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cThat fourth, some spots where I should have been more competitive attacking,\u201d Alvarez said. \u201cJust got to keep battling. Wanted to get back in the win column tonight, but we\u2019re grinding.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Egypt star Mohamed Salah leaves 1-1 World Cup draw with Iran due to left knee injury<\/a><\/p>\n

With one out in the fifth inning, the Orioles leading 2-1 and Alvarez at 88 pitches, Butera opted to take him out instead of having him face Pete Alonso for the third time. Brad Lord was tasked with getting the Nationals through the next slate of innings, his first appearance since allowing six runs in the ninth Tuesday.<\/p>\n

He covered 2\u2154 innings, allowing one run in the seventh inning off a double from Coby Mayo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to put too much stock into that one bad outing. He\u2019s been so good for us all year,\u201d Butera said. \u201cThought he threw the ball great, picked us up in a big spot and kept us in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The longer outings by Lord, who has starter experience, can save a beleaguered relief corps. It was the 12th time this year the 26-year-old has gone more than two innings while allowing one run or fewer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we want to throw Brad Lord in close games because we trust him anytime he\u2019s on the mound,\u201d Butera said.<\/p>\n

Lord handed a 3-1 game to Zak Kent in the eighth inning. He was called up Friday from Class AAA Rochester to replace Gus Varland, who was optioned Thursday after allowing five runs in the ninth inning of the 10-5 loss. Kent walked Alexander, and Taylor Ward reached on a fielding error from Luis Garc\u00eda Jr., but he was able to escape without allowing any runs.<\/p>\n

The offense remained flat in the ninth inning, with Orioles closer Ryan Helsley retiring Jorbit Vivas, CJ Abrams and Dylan Crews in order. Abrams, who has been battling left-side tightness, finished 0 for 4 with three strikeouts, while James Wood went 1 for 4 and struck out twice.<\/p>

Read more Trossard, De Bruyne score and Belgium defeats New Zealand 5-1 to advance at the World Cup<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baltimore never trailed, with Trevor Rogers and Co. shutting down Washington\u2019s high-scoring offense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nNationals don\u2019t blow a lead, but they do lose to Orioles - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5325\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nationals don\u2019t blow a lead, but they do lose to Orioles - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Baltimore never trailed, with Trevor Rogers and Co. shutting down Washington\u2019s high-scoring offense.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5325\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-27T08:04:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9ae2e4df733899c59bbbb011597088da-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5325#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5325\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Nationals don\u2019t blow a lead, but they do lose to Orioles\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-27T08:04:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5325\"},\"wordCount\":822,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5325#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/7f492c67f0b7e657470e79883c1fe4fa-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5325#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5325\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5325\",\"name\":\"Nationals don\u2019t blow a lead, but they do lose to Orioles - 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