The Nationals saw a strong outing on the mound from Josiah Gray on Tuesday night, though it was mooted by Shohei Ohtani‘s seven nearly hitless innings, leading the Angels to a 2-0 win.
Ohtani’s one hit served up was a CJ Abrams‘ double in the top of the fourth with two outs that put two in scoring position, though Michael Chavis was not able to cash in. Ohtani walked five while striking out six and he hit a batter.
Gray went 5 2/3 innings, yielding a pair of runs and lowering his season ERA from 4.91 to 4.32. Los Angeles got on the board in the fourth off Gray, as the righty drilled a pair of batters to lead off the inning before Ohtani singled to load the bases. Former National, Anthony Rendon, would pick up an RBI on a sac fly, though Washington would get an inning-ending double play to retire the side.
Logan O’Hoppe then led off the sixth with a solo homer, and Gray would load the bases on a single from Taylor Ward and a pair of walks with two outs, forcing Washington to summon Thaddeus Ward to get out of the inning. Ward would set down Rengifo on strikes to get out of the jam. Ward literally had not been seen on the field since April 5. This was his third appearance of the season for this Rule-5 draft pick.
Ward tossed a scoreless seventh and started out the eighth, though was relieved by Anthony Banda. He would load the bases but salvaged a way to get out of it to keep it a two-run game heading into Washington’s final chance at the plate. It didn’t matter much though, as the Nats went down 1-2-3 to give them their eighth loss of the season.
The two sides close out the series tomorrow afternoon at 4:07 p.m. ET, with MacKenzie Gore and Griffin Canning facing off on the mound.
