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Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: Nats Unable To Dig Out Of Early Hole Vs. Padres

By Ricky Keeler |
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Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

After winning three straight games, the Washington Nationals lost a tough one last night to the San Diego Padres by a final score of 6-5. Trailing 6-2 in the seventh inning, the Nats did put three runs on the board to cut the San Diego lead to one, but Yunel Escobar swung at a 3-0 pitch and grounded into an inning ending double play.

Gio Gonzalez took the ball last night for Wasington and he continued his downward spiral by giving up five runs (four earned runs) and he wasn’t able to finish the fifth inning. After being the most consistent starter in the month of July, Gonzalez has been one of the worst, if not the worst starter on the team this month.

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On the plus side, Denard Span continues to make an impact now that he’s back in the lineup. The Nats’ center fielder went 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored to increase his season average up to .301. But, until that seventh inning, the Nats could not do much against Padres’ starter, Tyson Ross. Ross went 6.1 innings, gave up four runs on six hits, struck out nine, and walked two in the win.

With the loss last night, the Nationals find themselves in a difficult hole as they are 6.5 games behind the New York Mets in the NL East with 37 games to go. Yes, Matt Williams fixed the rotation to get his top three starters against New York in less than two weeks, but if they don’t start going on a long winning streak soon, that’s not going to matter.

Before Andrew Cashner takes on Tyson Ross’ brother Joe tonight at Nats Park (7:05 PM ET, MASN), here are my takeaways from last night 6-5 Nats’ loss:

Next: Gonzalez's August Struggles Continue

Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Gonzalez’s August Struggles Continue

After Stephen Strasburg’s solid start on Tuesday night, it was up to Gio Gonzalez to take the ball last night and keep the momentum going. Unfortunately, the Nats’ left-hander was not able to get the job done. Gonzalez went 4.2 innings, gave up five runs (four earned runs) on seven hits, struck out six, and walked two on 86 pitches (56 strikes).

While Gonzalez did throw first pitch strikes to 17 of the 23 batters he faced, he was not able to have a single 1-2-3 inning. The closest he came to that came in the fifth inning, but Jedd Gyorko would single to left with two outs and would end up being Gonzalez’s final batter of the evening.

Gonzalez played with fire the whole night, but he ended up getting burned in the third inning. With one out and Tyson Ross on first, Melvin Upton Jr. hit a groundball to third that Yunel Escobar bobbled and made a bad throw to first on. Then, the damage would happen as a Matt Kemp two-run double and Justin Upton two-run homer put the Padres ahead 4-0 before Gonzalez could even blink.

Before the game, Williams made the decision to put Wilson Ramos behind the plate instead of Gonzalez’s personal catcher, Jose Lobaton. I agree with that decision because Ramos was coming off the home run the night before and he’s been swinging the bat better. Plus, when you have been as bad as Gonzalez has been lately (14 ER in last three starts and a 5.68 ERA in August), the personal catcher isn’t going to make that much of a difference.

Next: Upton Continues To Be Thorn In Nats' Side

Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Justin Upton Continues To Be Thorn In Nats’ Side

When you think about hitters that have been “Nats killers” over the years, two of the names you would think of would be the Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton and the Braves’ Freddie Freeman. One name you have throw on the list now with those players is Padres’ right fielder Justin Upton.

Upton, who is in the final year of his contract with San Diego, has been able to hit Nats’ pitching all season and last night was no different. In the third inning, Upton swung at a 93 mile per hour fastball and hit it into the left field bullpen for a two-run homer.

Then, in the seventh, against reliever Doug Fister, Upton got ahead in the count, 3-1, and eventually hit a solo shot to center field in what would end up being the deciding run. Fister did pitch well in relief of Gonzalez, but his one mistake ended up being the difference.

San Diego has not been a good offensive team, but as we mentioned when the series began, Upton and Matt Kemp are the two main players to watch on this team. If you make mistakes against those two players they will make you pay.

Upton, who went 2-for-4 with the two home runs last night, is now hitting .381 (8-for-21) against the Nats this season with four  home runs and six RBI’s. If you are Joe Ross tonight, you have to pitch around Upton and let Jedd Gyorko, who is hitting .240 this season, be the one that gets the big hit instead.

Next: Escobar Swinging 3-0 Decides The Game

Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Escobar Swinging 3-0 Decides The Game

Yunel Escobar has had a good season for the Nationals in his first season playing in the Nation’s Capital. However, last night was one of those nights he would rather forget.

Earlier in the game, Escobar made his fifth error of the season on a throwing error in the third inning. His lowlight of the night wouldn’t come until four innings later. He came to bat against Marc Rzepczynski with runners at the corners and one out after Bryce Harper’s two-run single got the Nats within a run.

In the at-bat, Escobar stayed patient and worked the count to 3-0. Then, he did something uncharacteristic of his game and swung at the next pitch. He ended up grounding into a 5-4-3 double play to end the game. After the game, Williams addressed the situation:

Zuckerman had another tweet after the game about the success Nats’ hitters had last night when putting a 3-0 pitch in play:

However, coming into last night’s at-bat, that stat did not apply to Escobar. He had eight walks in a 3-0 count and had not put a pitch in-play. Plus, you have Ryan Zimmerman hitting behind you, who has been one of the Nats’ best run producers this month and had driven in the first two runs of the game.

Once Escobar grounded out, that took all the momentum out of the building as the final six batters of the games went down in order. Another interesting stat to bring up regarding the Nationals in late game situations is that they are 3-50 when trailing after seven innings. While it looked to be a good pitch to hit, Escobar should have taken ball four and kept the line moving and the momentum going.

Next: Recap: Nats Comeback Falls Short, Lose Ground In NL East

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