Washington Nationals: Mistakes doom Game 1 loss

A lackluster effort from the Washington Nationals makes Saturday’s NLDS Game 2 a must win. Here is what you should take away from Game 1.

The championship hopes of the Washington Nationals took a major dent Friday night after a 3-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

If this is the year the Nats break through and move past the National League Divisional Series, then they must play better in Saturday’s Game 2. For a 97-win team which steamrolled to consecutive NL East crowns, Friday’s on-field performance leaves you bewildered and cynical. The bell rang, and the fighter remained on the stool.

Give Kyle Hendricks and the Cubs credit. They remained patient and waited for a mistake. When Anthony Rendon misplayed a questionable grounder, Chicago pounced.

Washington wakes up Saturday to a team in trouble. The season rests on the arm of Gio Gonzalez as a loss puts the Nats in an 0-2 hole with the next two scheduled games at Wrigley Field. They awoke a sleeping bear, or in this case 25 Cubs.

A win in the twilight will settle nerves and even the series with Max Scherzer stalking the mound on Monday. Although he is a tremendous ace to have in the hole, the Nats must take care of business Saturday for it to matter.

As for Friday’s loss, outside of a catastrophic injury, this was the worst-case scenario. A team flatter than an open bottle of ginger ale on a kitchen counter that would not help themselves.

Although curses are not real in sports, it is understandable fans feel if they are. Here are three takeaways from a bad night at the office from the Nats.

NO OFFENSE

When the last base hit of the night comes in the second inning, you know there is trouble. The Nats mustered six base runners in Game 1 and left them all on base.

It never fails in a short series. The team who cannot score with runners in scoring position will lose. On Friday, Washington went 0-for-2 while Chicago was 3-for-9. In a rare playoff game this year dominated by pitching where no ball left the yard, the Nats strung nothing along.

Stymied by a combination of soft contact by Hendricks and laying off good pitches in the strike zone, the Nats failed to pressure the Cubs. For a team accustomed to working opposing pitchers hard and grinding out plate appearances, Chicago faced 32 hitters on 128 pitches.

Stephen Strasburg and company threw 121 against 35. Yet, it was Chicago with the timely hitting moving the game along.

Although the heart of the order drew two walks, Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy went a combined 0-for-10 with three strikeouts. Table-setter Trea Turner fanned twice. Bryce Harper and Michael Taylor were the only Nats with base hits.

If Jon Lester continues this for the Cubs, the series is over.

NO PASSION

There were times Friday when the Nats were zombies on the field.

From Rendon’s miscue on a borderline grounder at third in the sixth inning to Dusty Baker failing to get tossed in the ninth after Zimmerman was called out running out of the base path, mental errors hurt the Nats.

On most nights, Rendon would make a throw to first before a fair/foul call by the third-base umpire. Friday, he thought the call on Javy Baez’s grounder was foul and lost his concentration. Chicago turned the mistake into two runs.

Whether Laz Diaz made the right call is irrelevant as Rendon never truly questioned it and Baker stayed in the dugout. The play could not be reviewed, but Rendon and Baker never pressured the umpires to huddle on the call.

Flash forward to Zimmerman’s play in the ninth, it was Jayson Werth who argued the hardest on the play. This was Baker’s best chance to fire the team and 43 thousand fans up for Saturday’s game and nothing happened. Sometimes a little dirt kicking goes a long way.

Because the Nats were so even throughout the season, it is understandable they were perplexed when behind. But, the regular year is over.

From failing to adjust to Hendricks pitches to being too professional, Washington did not show how bad they want the series. You cannot do that.