Milone Steals the Show in Fister’s Debut

May 9, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Washington Nationals manager

(9, far left) receives the baseball from starting pitcher

(58) in a pitching change against the Oakland Athletics during the fifth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Two days after wining two out of three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Washington Nationals struggled in game one of their first West Coast trip of the season, falling to the Oakland Athletics, 8-0.

Over a month into the 2014 season, the Nationals finally got to see their prized offseason acquisition in action, as Doug Fister made his regular season debut. But the dominant pitching performance did not come from the Nationals’ right-hander, it came from former Nationals’ prospect Tommy Milone.

Milone, whom the Nationals traded to the Athletics in the deal that brought Gio Gonzalez to the nation’s capital, held the Nationals to just two hits over eight shutout innings while striking out seven.

Fister, on the other hand, showed some rust in his first outing against a big league lineup since last season. The Nationals right-hander gave up seven runs, five earned, on nine hits over four and a third innings. Fister was hit hard by the long ball, giving up three home runs.

While Fister certainly wasn’t at his best, it didn’t help that the Nationals’ defense turned in a lousy performance, committing three errors.

They’ll be back at it tonight as Tanner Roark looks to bounce back from a rough start and get the Nationals back on track against Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray. First pitch is scheduled for 9:05 p.m. EST.

With the loss, the Nationals are now 19-16, a half a game behind the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins in the division.