Instant Analysis: Padres 7, Nats 5
The Nationals got early offense but watched as their pitching staff fell back to earth in the opener of a weekend series against San Diego
After a stellar week for the Nationals pitching staff on the road, that group fell back to earth tonight in the opener of a week-long homestand, with five pitchers combining to allow seven runs during a back-and-forth loss to the Padres.
For the first time, Blake Butera used a right-handed opener, hoping Paxton Schultz could post a quick zero before handing it over to Andrew Alvarez. Schultz’s 26-pitch top of the first, though, set a bad tone for the evening, and Alvarez’s struggles after that (74 pitches over three innings of bulk reliever) didn’t help matters either.
The Nationals lineup, though, did its thing and gave the pitching staff a lead with which to work, thanks to the continued (and unexpected) power displays from Curtis Mead (two-run homer in the first) and Keibert Ruiz (solo homer in the second). They knocked out Padres starter Lucas Giolito after only 2 2/3 innings, with a 4-2 lead in hand at that point.
But the San Diego bullpen proved tougher to score against then Giolito, with the Nats producing only one fifth-inning run via Jacob Young’s two-out RBI single. The Nats bullpen, meanwhile, struggled to hold what has been an unproductive Padres lineup in check. Mitchel Parker, the team’s second bulk lefty of the night, gave up a sixth-inning homer to Ty France, then a seventh-inning homer to Maryland native Jackson Merrill, leaving his team staring at a late, two-run deficit.
They tried to mount a rally against one of the best closers in baseball, loading the bases in the bottom of the eighth. But Luis García Jr., after working the count full against Mason Miller, lined a 101-mph deep to left field, only for the ball to be caught by Ramón Laureano to quash the rally.
HITTING HIGHLIGHT: Mead and Ruiz continue to hit for power, and the Nationals are reaping the benefits. Mead’s first-inning homer was his eighth of the season, six of those coming off right-handers. Ruiz, meanwhile, blasted his fourth homer in 12 games, a stretch during which the catcher has raised his OPS from .506 to .798. Both still have a ways to go to prove they can sustain this. But it’s hard not to be encouraged by what both have done in recent weeks.
PITCHING LOWLIGHT: This wasn’t Alvarez at his sharpest, far from it. Ostensibly taking over Jake Irvin’s rotation spot, this was an opportunity for the rookie left-hander to make his case to the organization. But over the course of three laborious innings, he came up well short of that goal. Unable to put away hitters, Alvarez gave up 18 foul balls in only three innings. That drove up his pitch count to 74 and forced Butera to pull his bulk reliever far sooner than intended. This one outing alone shouldn’t dictate the Nats’ future plans with Alvarez. He’s still been good way more than he’s been bad. But there will be some more pressure on him the next time he takes the mound to get back on track.
NOTABLE: The Nationals have used an opener 11 times now, with those pitchers combining to allow five runs in 14 2/3 innings. PJ Poulin (two runs in seven starts) has been most effective of the bunch, followed by Richard Lovelady (two runs in three starts) and Schultz (one run in one start).
UP NEXT: The Nats will look for length out of Foster Griffin when he takes the mound Saturday at 4:05 p.m. against San Diego right-hander Michael King, who enters with a 2.76 ERA. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM
Toboni needs to cut his losses and end the Jorbit Vivas experiment.
Nasim Nuñez's throwing error in the 7th proves to be very costly. If he makes an on-target throw and gets the out, the inning never gets to Jackson Merrill and he doesn't blast the winning two run homer off Mitchell Parker.