Instant Analysis: Giants 10, Nats 5

Zack Littell was roughed up for eight runs in four innings, and the Nationals couldn't make up the deficit in dropping the series opener

Photo by Billy Sabatini / ALL-PRO REELS

On the heels of an uplifting, 5-2 road trip to Milwaukee and Pittsburgh, the Nationals opened a seven-game homestand tonight with a matchup against a Giants club with a reputation for struggling to score runs. That’s certainly not the Giants club that showed up here and blasted the Nats’ starter during an eventual 10-5 win.

Zack Littell was roughed up for eight runs over four innings, including a 6-spot during a torturous top of the second that left his team staring at a big deficit almost from the outset. The veteran right-hander served up two more homers, including Heliot Ramos’ three-run shot, barely making it out of that inning without getting the hook from manager Blake Butera. Butera was able to get three innings of relief out of Paxton Schultz (who also gave up a solo homer, to Casey Schmitt) to help pick up some slack. Newly acquired left-hander Richard Lovelady walked in a tack-on run in the top of the ninth.

The Nationals couldn’t make up that much deficit. They managed to score four runs off San Francisco ace Logan Webb, including Daylen Lile’s two-run homer. They also got a titanic, 441-foot, opposite-field homer from James Wood off lefty Matt Gage in the bottom of the seventh. But they needed a lot more than that to overcome Littell’s ragged start, and thus fell to a meager 1-6 at home this season. (They’re 8-5 on the road.)

HITTING HIGHLIGHT: Power hasn’t been a major issue for the Nationals lineup through the season’s first three weeks, but that hasn’t applied to everyone. Lile, who made such a name for himself with his onslaught of extra-base hits last year as a rookie, had yet to triple or homer this season. Then he mashed a ball to straightaway center in the bottom of the fourth tonight, snapping the homerless streak with a blast that nearly hit the bullpen cart on the fly. Still no triples for Lile, but the homer was a good start. “You saw him finally smile when he was coming into the dugout, which is good,” Butera said. “He’s hard on himself. He expects a lot of himself. He wants to produce for the team. It was good to see him catch a ball out front and drive the ball there. You could sense a sort of exhale a little bit.”

PITCHING LOWLIGHT: The night started off fine for Littell, who needed only 10 pitches to get through a scoreless top of the first. Then it all fell apart in the second. Six straight batters reached to begin the frame, with two more reaching later in the inning. He gave up a three-run homer to Ramos, the first non-solo homer he’s surrendered this season. (He also gave up a solo homer to Drew Gilbert in the fourth.) What happened? Littell’s usual sharp command was way off, allowing the Giants to get ahead in the count. And when he did put the ball over the plate, they were all over it, leading to 11 hits allowed in only four innings. Littell seemingly had made steady progress from his first outing of the season through his third. This, however, was a decided step backward. “I’ve been in my own way here a little bit lately,” he said. “Worrying about delivery, worrying about stuff that’s over the rubber instead of over the plate, and I just haven’t made pitches.”

NOTABLE: José Tena entered the day with the same batting average and slugging percentage (.296), which is never something you want to see. Not anymore, though, because he finally notched his first extra-base hit of the season with a fourth-inning double to right-center, part of a three-hit night that raised his batting average to .367 and his slugging percentage to .400.

UP NEXT: The two teams meet again Saturday at 4:05 p.m., with Cade Cavalli looking to bounce back from a rough start in Pittsburgh and right-hander Adrian Houser taking the mound for the Giants. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM