Washington Nationals: Takeaways From 4-3 Loss To Cubs
Check out our three takeaways from last night’s 4-3 Washington Nationals loss to the Cubs
In last night’s Washington Nationals loss to the Chicago Cubs, a trend continued from the first five games they have played in 2016. All six head-to-head matchups this season have been decided by three runs or less.
Late in the game, Cubs manager Joe Maddon went to his closer, Hector Rondon to try to get a five out save. While Rondon blew the save in the eighth, he ended up getting the win when one of Maddon’s eighth inning changes, outfielder Albert Almora, doubled to left center in the ninth to drive in the go-ahead run.
It was a well-pitched game as both starters, Gio Gonzalez and John Lackey, put together quality starts. While Gonzalez had nine strikeouts, he had his moments where he struggled against the bottom of the order for Chicago.
As for Lackey, he was able to get out of some key jams as the Nats went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position on the night. When these two teams face other, every run and every chance to drive in a runner who is in scoring position is critical.
With Jonathan Papelbon now on the 15-day disabled list, the Washington Nationals are looking to see who will take that closer role. It’s tough to go off last night since Sammy Solis was in his second inning of work when he gave up the double. Although Solis gave up the game winning hit, he has still been one of the better relievers in the bullpen for the Nats this season.
Before Jason Hammel takes on Stephen Strasburg this afternoon (4:05 p.m ET, MASN) in the rubber game of the series, here are my takeaways from last night’s Washington Nationals 4-3 loss to the Cubs:
Next: Offense Fails To Get Timely Hit
Offense Fails To Get Timely Hit
Last night, the Washington Nationals scored all three of their runs via the sacrifice fly, but they missed out on opportunities to have that big inning against John Lackey.
In the bottom of the third, the Nats had bases loaded with one out. Jayson Werth drove in the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly to right. Two batters later, with the bases still loaded,Daniel Murphy hit a hard line drive to right, but it went right to Jason Heyward.
Later in the game, the Nats had runners on second and third with no out and Cubs manager Joe Maddon went to Pedro Strop to face pinch-hitter Wilson Ramos (struck him out on three pitches). Ben Revere drove in another run with a sac fly to left, but that was all the offense in the inning as Werth struck out swinging for the third out.
One inning later, with runners on the corners, Anthony Rendon hit a sacrifice fly to right to tie it at three against closer Hector Rondon. Even though the Washington Nationals didn’t come away empty-handed in any of those situations, they failed to get that crooked inning against Lackey or any of the relievers in the Cubs bullpen.
In this game, the Nats offense was 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base. While they did find a way to come back to tie the game, and ended up getting Rondon to blow his first save of the season, those missed opportunities to drive in more runs ended up costing them at the end.
Next: Gonzalez Finds Success With Curveball
Gonzalez Has Success With Curveball
Even though Gio Gonzalez put together his second straight quality start against a Chicago baseball team, he still ran into some trouble against a good Cubs lineup.
His first issue came in the third inning. Gonzalez had only allowed one hit through the first eight hitters of the game, but then he surrendered a two out single to Lackey. That would be followed up by a double from Dexter Fowler and a single from Heyward that put the Cubs up 2-0.
In the top of the fourth, the Nats’ left-hander walked a pair of Cubs and allowed Ben Zobrist to steal third on the second walk of the game. David Ross, the number eight hitter, would make Gonzalez pay for the walks with a base hit to center to put Chicago in front, 3-1.
All in all, it wasn’t a terrible game from Gonzalez, but he failed to pitch out of some key jams in the game. He went 6.1 innings, gave up three runs on five hits, struck out nine, and walked four on 111 pitches (68 strikes) in the loss.
Despite those bad innings, Gonzalez did have nine strikeouts and he has now had three straight games of eight strikeouts or more.
His put away pitch in this game was the breaking ball, which ended up being the final pitch in seven of his nine strikeouts. According to Brooks Baseball, 23 of the 37 curveballs he threw went for strikes and only three breaking balls were put into play.
Even though Gonzalez still hasn’t won a game since May 2 against the Kansas City Royals, he has shown signs of improvements in his last couple of outings after giving up 18 runs in a three-start stretch (May 23-June 3).
Next: Lackey Stifles Nats Once Again
Lackey Stifles Nats Once Again
As we talked about in the preview of this series, it was going to be tough for the Nats offense to have success against John Lackey. The Cubs right-hander went six innings, gave up two runs on four hits, struck out seven, and walked two on 98 pitches (64 strikes).
One of the things Lackey did well in this game was that he threw a first pitch strike early and often. Out of the 26 batters he faced, 19 of them saw a first pitch strike. Right out of the gate, Lackey had only 54 pitches after four innings.
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The Washington Nationals offense did give him trouble in the fifth and made Lackey throw 24 pitches, It was an inning that featured the Nats winning their second challenge of the night when Gonzalez successfully beat out a throw to first on a double play attempt. However, Lackey worked his way out of the jam when Harper grounded out to first base with runners on first and second.
When people talk about the Cubs rotation, the first two names that come to mind are usually Jake Arrieta or Jon Lester. However, Lackey has quietly pot together nine consecutive quality starts, has a WHIP of 0.93, and has only given up two home runs in his last six games.
Next: Bullpen Falters Late In Loss To Cubs
Plus, if these two teams were to meet again in October, the Nats will have to figure out someway to beat Lackey, who has dominated them in his career. He is 2-0 in six starts against the Nats and has only given up ten runs in his last four outings, dating back to last season.