Washington Nationals: Takeaways From 3-2 Loss To Dodgers

Check out our three takeaways from last night’s Washington Nationals 3-2 loss to the Dodgers

The Washington Nationals (43-29) were looking like their three-game losing streak was going to be snapped last night when they had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the eighth against the Los Angeles Dodgers (40-33). Instead, Yasmani Grandal had other ideas.

In the eighth, Grandal hit a three-run home run against Tanner Roark that ended up being the game-winner and handing the Nats their fourth straight loss while the Dodgers picked up their fifth consecutive win.

Roark still put up a strong outing despite taking the loss and he did have his first two hits of the season. But, the effort was wasted by the offense as they managed only two runs against Scott Kazmir and both came from solo home runs by Bryce Harper and Danny Espinosa.

There were a couple chances to break the game open, but the Washington Nationals were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Plus, there were some questionable base running decisions such as when Wilson Ramos was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a single from Roark in the eighth.

While tonight’s game isn’t exactly a must win and the Washington Nationals are still 4.5 games ahead of the Mets in the NL East, they could definitely use the win to go into the off day on a positive note before they begin their weekend series against the Brewers.

Before Joe Ross takes on Julio Urias in the series finale tonight (10:10 p.m ET, MASN and ESPN), check out my three takeaways from last night’s 3-2 loss to the Dodgers:

Next: Zimmerman's June Slide Continues

Zimmerman’s June Slide Continues

Last night, the main struggle for the Washington Nationals offense was hitting with runners in scoring position. In their two games against the Dodgers, the Nats are 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position and have managed to score only three runs.

They had a couple of chances to put the game away last night for Roark, but they failed to capitalize. One situation I want to look at came in the fifth inning. Roark led off with a double and eventually the Nats had second and third with two outs.

In that situation, Dodgers starter Scott Kazmir decided to intentionally walk Daniel Murphy with first base open despite Murphy hitting only .229 in June. That loaded the bases for Ryan Zimmerman and he failed to deliver. He struck out on four pitches to end the inning.

After hitting .262 in the month of May, Zimmerman has the worst batting average of any regular starter this month on the Nats (.167). Plus, he has four hits in his last 24 at-bats. His double in the fourth inning last night was only his third extra-base hit since June 8.

We have seen a few teams this season pitch around Harper or Murphy and Zimmerman, more often than not, has failed to make them pay. He is hitting .169 with two home runs and 19 RBI’s with runners in scoring position and he is 0-for-9 with two RBI’s and four strikeouts with the bases loaded.

Even though the offense as a whole has had its fair share of struggles, Zimmerman has to find a way to get more big time hits or as the season progresses, more teams are going to pitch around Harper and/or Murphy to get to him. Otherwise, maybe he needs to be moved further down in the order.

Next: Harper's Home Run Starts The Night

Harper’s Home Run Starts The Night

Despite the night ending on a bad note for the Washington Nationals, Bryce Harper got the Nats off to a good start in the first inning. With two outs, he took a 2-1 two-seam fastball from Kazmir and hit it the opposite way for a solo home run (his 15^th of the season). It was his second opposite-field home run of the road trip with his other one coming last Thursday at PETCO Park against the San Diego Padres.

Harper tacked on his second hit of the night in the seventh when he hit a two-out single to center against Adam Liberatore. He was one of four players on the team last night that had a multi-hit game (Jayson Werth, Danny Espinosa, and Roark were the other three). Harper and Espinosa had the only RBI’s of the night (both solo home runs).

The West Coast trip hasn’t been kind to the Washington Nationals so far as they have lost four of their six games. But, at the same time, Harper has shown signs that he could be breaking out of his slump despite having a night like he did Monday when he struck out three times against Clayton Kershaw.

Over the course of this West Coast trip, Harper is 8-for-24 with two home runs and five RBI’s and has had three multi-hit games. The offense has helped Harper while he was slumping since that Cubs series in early May. Now, it is time for the reigning NL MVP to help out the struggling offense.

Next: Roark's Great Outing Ruined In 8th