Photo by Marlene Koenig for TalkNats
The Nationals grabbed an early 4-0 lead thanks to Victor Robles first career home run that flew 427 feet, and Anthony Rendon added a 2-run home run. Erick Fedde exited in the 5th inning with a 4-2 lead, and then the Nationals bullpen gave up 6-runs. At one point, the Marlins were up 5-4 and the Nationals tied it up, but then Koda Glover fell apart on the mound walking 2 batters along with 2 hits to turn it to a 7-5 deficit on the way to a final score of 8-5.
Usually when Bryce Harper and Juan Soto are not hitting, the Nationals do not win, and in this case, Soto hit into some bad luck while Harper struck out 3 times in his 4 at-bats.
But the story on this night was the meltdown of the bullpen. For many of these players like Jimmy Cordero, Koda Glover, and Austen Williams — this was a showcase for next year, and they failed. The Nationals continue to lose too many games in the bullpen since the All-Star break.
“Walks killed this team all the way around,” manager Dave Martinez said. “When you come in and walk guys, it’s not going to work.”
In total, Nationals pitchers walked 6 batters tonight, and is the case those walks seem to score too often.
