Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: Nats Strand 13 In Loss To Reds
May 29, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg throws against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Coming off of a big series win at Wrigley Field, the Washington Nationals were looking to get this series against the Cincinnati Reds back on track. However, they leave this game with more concerns than they would like to have. Those concerns effect both the lineup and the starting rotation. Now, the Nats will need to win the next two games to extend their series winning streak to a franchise record ten series.
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First, for the offense, even with the injury to Stephen Strasburg, Taylor Jordan did just enough to keep this team in the game. Plus, they had chances against Anthony DeSclafani and the Reds bullpen to drive in runs. However, they went 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 runners on base.
While the Nats have been one of the best offenses in the National League, they have had trouble scoring runs of late. Ever since their 8-6 ten inning win against the Yankees on May 18, they have scored three runs or fewer in six of their last seven games. It’s a long season and every team will have collective slumps like this, but it is something that should be monitored to see if the offense gets back on track.
However, this game will be remembered for Strasburg leaving the game due to a left trap muscle injury. He had an issue with the muscle in his neck, which according to Strasburg, started affecting him after the opening inning:
While Strasburg was hitting 97 miles per hour on the radar gun in the first inning when he gave up the towering home run to Joey Votto, the mechanics still are an issue for the 26-year-old who has not made it past the fifth inning in each of his last five starts.
As for the bullpen, Aaron Barrett and Blake Treinen did struggle last night. Barrett gave up the base hit to Cozart, which the run ended up being charged to Jordan. Treinen, on the other hand, was the one who gave up the home run to Todd Frazier in the bottom of the seventh that made it 5-2. Here are more of my takeaways from last night’s 5-2 loss to the Reds:
May 29, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Taylor Jordan throws against the Cincinnati Reds in the second inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Taylor Jordan Fills In Well For Strasburg
After Strasburg left the game, it was up to Taylor Jordan to try to do two things: Eat innings to save the bullpen and keep the Nats in the game. He was able to do both. The 26-year old right-hander went 4.2 innings, gave up three runs on six hits, struck out one, and walked two.
From the second thru the fifth innings, Jordan was able to get his fastball up to 93 miles per hour. However, he immediately got in trouble in the second when the Reds put runners on second and third with two outs. But, Jordan would work himself out of it by getting DeSclafani to line out to Ian Desmond and Billy Hamilton to ground out to second. In the third, he got Brayan Pena to ground out to short with runners on the corners and he got Jay Bruce to line out to center field in the fifth with a runners on second and two outs.
If Jordan is going to stay in the rotation, depending on the status of Strasburg’s injury, one thing he has to work on is to not elevate the fastball as much. Cincinnati got good swings on the fastball late in the outings, but he avoided giving up the long ball and had eight flyball outs in the process.
However, Jordan would struggle in the sixth as he walked Marlon Byrd with one out and gave up a double to Skip Schumaker to put two runners in scoring position with one out. Bryan Price would send up Brandon Phillips to pinch hit for DeSclafani and Phillips would get the job done with a sacrifice fly to left. Then, Hamilton was able to bloop a single over Espinosa to give the Reds the lead, ultimately ending Jordan’s night.
Even though he took the loss last night, Jordan is a pitcher that can slide right into the rotation if Strasburg is out for an extended period of time. Last year, Jordan filled in while Doug Fister missed the first month of the season. He went 0-3 with 5.61 ERA in five starts. Give Jordan credit for doing just enough to give the Nats a chance to win.
Next: Nats Struggle Vs. Reds Bullpen
May 29, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond (20) throws his helmet after striking out in the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. The Reds won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Nationals Miss Chances vs. Reds Bullpen
After Anthony DeSclafani left the game, it was up to the Reds bullpen to get the final nine outs of the game. Coming into the night, Cincinnati had the worst bullpen ERA of any team in the National League this season. That being said, no one expected the drama that would occur in the seventh inning of a close game.
Jumbo Diaz began the seventh inning by giving up a leadoff single to Denard Span. He would rebound by striking out Ian Desmond and Yunel Escobar. With Bryce Harper coming to bat, Price went to the lefty Tony Cingrani to face him. On the first pitch, Cingrani drilled Harper with a 93 mile per hour fastball right in the back.
To me, this wasn’t intentional because it wouldn’t be smart to put the tying run on base, even though Harper has been nearly unstoppable this month at the plate. That being said, first baseman Joey Votto had a few choice words for Harper, who was not too pleased with getting drilled in the back. Could this incident be brought up again in the next two days? It might. Check out what Cingrani told the media after the game:
Cingrani on Harper HBP: "He should have jogged, but what are you going to do? Be a baseball player. Sorry I hit you, run.” #reds
— Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) May 30, 2015
Harper would follow up that at-bat in the top of the ninth with a base hit off closer Aroldis Chapman on a 102 mile per hour fastball. It will be interesting to see how Harper responds the next couple of days at the plate after being called out by Cingrani.
The best chance the Nationals had in this game came in the eighth innings. Trailing 5-2, the Nats were able to load the bases thanks to CIngrani walking Danny Espinosa, Dan Uggla, and Denard Span during that at-bat. Before going to Chapman for the ninth, Price went to J.J. Hoover to face Ian Desmond.
Coming into the at-bat, Desmond was 2-for-7 against Hoover with a home run and the Nationals shortstop did have an infield single in the fifth inning with the bases loaded to score the first run.
In this at-bat with Hoover, the Reds right-hander challenged him with fastballs in the heart of the zone and Desmond missed them all. It looked as though he was trying for the grand slam rather than putting it in play and cutting into the deficit.
Next: Ramos Breaking Out Of Slump
May 29, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Reds left fielder Marlon Byrd (9) is safe at home under Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos (40) in the sixth inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Ramos Starting To Climb Back To Form?
On a night where the Nationals kept hitting the ball on the ground against DeSclafani, let’s give credit to Wilson Ramos who got some good swings in this one. After grounding out to third base in the second, the Nats catcher led off the fifth inning with a double to deep center field. While he would end up being thrown out at the plate on a Span ground out to first later in the inning, he was one of the at-bats where the Nats put the ball in the air against the former Marlin pitcher.
On the night, DeSclafani had 11 ground ball outs, which tied a season high (April 20). One inning later, Ramos would drive in Ryan Zimmerman with a base hit up the middle that gave the Nats a 2-1 lead.
Before that double in the fifth inning, Ramos was 1-for-his last 22 at the plate. While his hitting has cooled down since his 19-game hit streak was snapped on May 20 against the Yankees. Maybe, a 2-for-5 performance can spark Ramos in the right direction.
As for his fielding, one of the things he has to work on is fielding the short hop on throws to the plate. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Michael Taylor made a great throw to the plate on the fly ball by Brandon Phillips, but Ramos could not field it cleanly to tag Marlon Byrd. While he has been great at throwing out runners this season, he needs to work on fielding throws at the plate from his outfielders.