Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
If you can explain what happened tonight in this 2-0 loss, let us know. Patrick Corbin was roughed up in the first inning and then went into shutdown mode for the remainder of his 7.0 inning outing, but he got zero runs of support. You will not win a game when you score zero. The offense was basically Trea Turner and Victor Robles and nobody else. They combined for the Nats four hits in the game. Twice, Turner was in scoring position in this game with less than two outs, and in the first inning he was stranded on second base, and in the eighth inning he was stranded on third base after a triple with one out. In fact, in the eighth inning, the Nationals loaded the bases and could not score. That is baseball, and the hottest team in baseball got sent a message.
“It was one of those days,” manager Dave Martinez said.
Clearly, the Nationals had their chances and did not take advantage. The team looked flat, and who knows why. The last time the Nats got shutout was on June 13 by the Arizona Diamondbacks with Zack Greinke on the mound. On this night, Aaron Brooks who entered the game with an ERA north of 6.00 kept the Nats off-balance with the help of former Nats catcher Pedro Severino who was behind the plate in this game and a key part in frustrating his ex-teammates. Sometimes it just is not your day. Regroup and come back tomorrow.
The Nationals have Max Scherzer back on the mound as he works back to full strength after his rhomboid injury. Now the Nats will be looking for a win to split this series.
