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Washington Nationals fall to Giants in Reynaldo Lopez’s second career start

By Pablo Roa

Jul 30, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; Washington Nationals pitching coach Mike Maddux (51) visits the mound to talk with starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez (49), catcher Pedro Severino (29) and shortstop Danny Espinosa (8) during the second inning of the game against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 30, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; Washington Nationals pitching coach Mike Maddux (51) visits the mound to talk with starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez (49), catcher Pedro Severino (29) and shortstop Danny Espinosa (8) during the second inning of the game against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Hours after Washington Nationals fans celebrated the acquisition of All-Star closer Mark Melancon from the Pirates, the team fell to the Giants, 5-3, in the third game of the series in San Francisco.

The Washington Nationals snapped a three-game winning streak Saturday afternoon in San Francisco, dropping the third game of the series against the Giants, 5-3.

Reynaldo Lopez made his second big league start and wasn’t terrible, though he continues to have serious command issues. The 22-year-old right-hander pitched four innings, allowing three runs on four hits while walking five batters and striking out four.

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The Nationals gave Lopez some early run support. Washington scored two runs in the top of the third inning on a two-run homer by third baseman Anthony Rendon. It was Rendon’s 13th big fly of the season.

An inning later, the Nationals added to their lead on an RBI double off the bat of Danny Espinosa. All three runs were charged to Giants starter Jake Peavy, who also pitched just four innings.

Unfortunately for the Nationals, that was all the offense they could muster off of the Giants’ pitching staff, and San Francisco was quickly right back in the game.

The Giants scored three runs against Lopez in the bottom of the fourth inning. Two of those runs came on an RBI double off the bat of Edwardo Nunez. The Giants then tied the game at 3-3 on an RBI groundout off the bat of Angel Pagan.

San Francisco took the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring their fourth run on a sacrifice fly by Joe Panik. The Giants took a 5-3 lead later in the inning on a bases loaded walk to Trevor Brown. Both runs were charged to Nats reliever Yusmeiro Petit, who earned the loss in today’s game.

With the loss, the Nationals are now 61-43 on the season.

Next Up: The Nationals and Giants wrap up their four-game set tomorrow afternoon in San Francisco. Gio Gonzalez gets the start for the Nationals, while Matt Cain takes the mound for the Giants. First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m. ET.

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