Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: Joe Ross Loses Command In Loss To Dodgers

Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Nats Strategy Vs. Greinke Doesn’t Pay Dividends

Back on July 19, the Nationals’ offense was unable to get anything going against Zack Greinke at Nats Park. In that outing, Greinke went eight innings, gave up no runs on three hits, struck out 11 batters, and walked one on 119 pitches.

Last night, while Greinke shut out the Nats again, they did take a different approach against him and worked up his pitch count. Greinke went six innings, gave up no runs on six hits, struck out six, and walked one on 109 pitches (71 strikes).

Out of the 25 batters Greinke faced, only 15 of them saw first pitch strikes. Plus, the Nationals made Greinke throw 19 or more pitches in four of those six innings. Give the Nats credit for working up the pitch count, but they didn’t have many chances to drive in runs.

The Nats’ best chances came in the early stages of the game. In the second inning, Washington had two on and one out thanks to singles by Clint Robinson and Ian Desmond. However, Wilson Ramos struck out on a foul tip and Michael Taylor lined out to third on a full count to end the inning.

Then, one inning later, Yunel Escobar and Ryan Zimmerman singled to set the team up for another scoring chance with two outs, but Robinson swung at the first pitch and flew out to left.

As a team, the Nats went 1-for-4 with men in scoring position and left eight men on base. While the team didn’t put a run, they at least chased Greinke out earlier than expected, but they were not able to get back in the game against the Dodgers’ bullpen.

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