There was no 9th inning walk-off magic this time for Michael Taylor who stepped up to the plate runners on the corners and no outs against Padres closer Brad Hand and he struck out Taylor on 3 pitches and the game ended quickly after that on a doubleplay. The Nats lost 3-to-1 and when you look at how the Padres scored their 3-runs you wonder about strategy in those situations. Erick Fedde pitched well but a flyball that should have been caught on the warning track clanked off of Bryce Harper’s glove and cost Fedde and the Nats 2-runs.
The Nationals only run was scored by a Matt Adams home run, and “Big City” was 3-for-3 today but the batters after him left him stranded twice. The Nationals were 1-for-5 in RISP batting today with only pinch-hitter Mark Reynolds getting a hit. Juan Soto had a rough day today going 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts and stranding two runners. Bryce Harper replicated what Soto did but Harp had 3 strikeouts. It is tough to win when your number two and number three hitters are a combined 0-for-8. In addition both Taylor and Spencer Kieboom were also a combined 0-for-8 and they each stranded 4 runners.
The Nats bullpen was strong with Tim Collins, Trevor Gott, Sammy Solis, and Shawn Kelley finishing up this game.
Bright spots was Fedde’s first 5 innings, the bullpen, Matt Adams, and the pinch hitters who were 2-for-2 with Reynolds’ hit and one by Andrew Stevenson.
The Nationals have the day-off tomorrow as they travel to Miami for the weekend and their first series this season with the Marlins.
