Nationals: 9th Inning Comeback Falls Short Against Orioles

Despits scoring five runs in the ninth inning, the Nationals suffered their 4th straight loss,10-8, to the Baltimore Orioles

Tonight, the Beltway Series between the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles shifted to Nats Park. However, the pitching struggles continued as Tanner Roark put the team in an early 4-0 hole. While the Nationals tried to rally from a 10-3 deficit with five in the bottom of the ninth, their efforts fell just short as they lost, 10-8.

Even in a loss, Turner picked up his second consecutive four hit game. He had a hit in eight straight at-bats, which tied a Washington Nationals franchise record. Turner struck out in the ninth with a chance to go 9-or-9 in two games:

Trea Turner is now 8-for-8, which ties a Nationals record held by Dmitri Young and Andre Dawson. #Nats #Nationals #MLB
— William Ladson (@ladsonbill24) August 25, 2016

The scoring in the first inning started when Manny Machado hit a two-run home run to left, his 29^th home run of the season. Later in the inning, with two men on and one out, Roark hit Jonathan Schoop and Matt Wieters to put Baltimore up 3-0. Then, J.J. Hardy’s sacrifice fly gave the Orioles a 4-0 lead.

In the bottom of the first, the Washington Nationals got one of those runs back. With runners on the corners and two outs, Anthony Rendon doubled to left field, which scored Turner. However, the Orioles had a successful relay to the plate to get Daniel Murphy and end the inning.

Baltimore got that run back during the following inning. Machado put the O’s up 5-1 with a base hit to center that drove in Adam Jones. The Orioles third baseman ended up having a huge night as he went 4-for-6 with the aforementioned home run and four RBI’s.

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While Roark struggled early, he was able to give the Washington Nationals five innings tonight. He gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits, struck out four, and walked three on 111 pitches (59 strikes) in the loss.

With the score 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Danny Espinosa hit a solo home run to cut the deficit to three runs. It was Espinosa’s 20^th home run of the season and his second in this series.

Wade Miley ended up pitching his best game as an Oriole since being traded from Seattle at the deadline. He went five innings, gave up two runs on seven hits, struck out six, and walked one on 96 pitches (62 strikes) in his first win with Baltimore.

During the bottom of the seventh, Daniel Murphy’s two out RBI single against reliever Donnie Hart drove in pinch-hitter Ben Revere for the third Nats run. But, Hart was able to strikeout Bryce Harper swinging to end the inning.

Another Washington Nationals pitcher who had a rough night was Blake Treinen. After a one out double by Hyun Soo Kim, Machado drove in his fourth run of the night with a base hit to right.

Three batters later, Schoop made the score 7-3 with a base hit to center of his own. Then, Matt Wieters provided the knockout blow when he crushed a three run homer to center (his 11^th of the season) to put the O’s in front, 10-3. Treinen went 2/3 of an inning, gave up five runs on four hits, struck out one, and walked two.

However, the Washington Nationals would not go out without a fight. With the bases loaded against Parker Bridwell, Murphy hit a grand slam to right field. Murphy’s 24th of the season and his first career grand slam got the Nats back within three.

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After the grand slam. Buck Showalter went to his closer, Zach Britton. The rally continued as Harper singled, Rendon doubled to right center to cut the lead to 10-8, and Wilson Ramos had an infield single thanks to a decision by Britton to throw to second. But, Ryan Zimmerman grounded into a game-ending double play as the comeback fell short.

Next Game: The Washington Nationals (73-53) will look to avoid being swept by the Orioles (70-56) tomorrow night at Nats Park. You can watch the game at 7:05 p.m ET on MASN or MLB Network. Max Scherzer will take the ball for the Nats against Ubaldo Jimenez for the Orioles.

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