Instant Analysis: Orioles 7, Nats 3
Richard Lovelady and Miles Mikolas combined to dig the Nationals into an early hole, preventing them from a shot at a weekend sweep
There was no sweep on South Capitol Street this weekend, only two inspired wins Friday and Saturday before a lackluster loss to the Orioles in today’s series finale.
The Nationals trailed early when their opener strategy backfired, left-hander Richard Lovelady surrendering a quick homer to Gunnar Henderson in the top of the first. Miles Mikolas entered with one out and one on the in the second and immediately gave up a two-run homer to Coby Mayo. A two-run blast by Colton Cowser in the fourth created an even bigger hole for the home team to escape.
The Nats got a solo homer from Jacob Young (his second in as many days) and manufactured a couple more runs off the Baltimore pitching staff. But they stranded the bases loaded in the fourth and wasted another opportunity to rally in the seventh, an inning that saw Nasim Nuñez get called for runner’s interference as he tried to beat out a bunt.
HITTING HIGHLIGHT: Young entered this season believing he could add more power to his hitting stroke. It hasn’t exactly come in consistent fashion, but he has found his spots to show off that mighty stroke. Young, who already homered during Saturday’s blowout win, went deep again today with a solo shot in the bottom of the second. That gives him five homers in 168 plate appearances this season. His home run total from 1,006 MLB plate appearances prior to this season: five.
PITCHING LOWLIGHT: The opener plan didn’t exactly work as hoped today. Of the six batters Lovelady faced, only two were left-handed. And each recorded a hit off him, including Henderson’s first-inning homer. He retired all four right-handed batters he faced, though, continuing a season-long trend of reverse splits. Mikolas fared no better in his bulk relief appearance, giving up a two-run homer to the first batter he faced, then allowing more runs in his second and third innings of work. Blake Butera left the veteran out there to eat up some innings, and while he did at least achieve that with a season-high 5 2/3 innings, he never really gave his team a serious chance to win.
NOTABLE: Clayton Beeter tossed a scoreless inning of relief, throwing 11 pitches, Saturday night for Triple-A Rochester. The right-hander, who has been on the 15-day IL since April 23 with forearm soreness, is expected to make one more rehab appearance Tuesday before the Nationals decide if he’s ready to be activated.
UP NEXT: The last-place Mets come to town for a four-game series, with temperatures expected to climb into the mid-90s this week. Jake Irvin gets the ball for Monday’s 6:45 p.m. opener against right-hander Christian Scott. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM
Lackluster sounds right. Way too few quality ABs and Mikolas settled in a little too late. It's hard to beat a team 3 games in a row. Flush it and move on to the next series.
GO NATS!!
Remember when we were at 500? Seems like just yesterday…