District On Deck
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Washington Nationals: Starting pitching continues to flail in loss

By Blake Finney

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 14: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals follows through on a sixth inning RBI single against the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 14, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 14: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals follows through on a sixth inning RBI single against the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 14, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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The Washington Nationals have slipped under .500 again, as Austin Voth couldn’t turn around the fortunes of the starting rotation with a poor debut.

It felt like the Washington Nationals needed a strong finish heading to the All-Star break to get back in the playoff hunt. But in their ten games against sub .500 teams, they’ve gone 5-5.

Their starting rotation has been awful lately, and Austin Voth was the latest man up, who couldn’t get it done. He gave up seven runs, on nine hits, walking three and striking out three.

Voth did actually have three very good innings, where he allowed just one hit and one walk between them. So there’s something to work on. But the second and fifth innings, it all unraveled.

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In the second, they singled him to death, with four straight base hits. Then they manufactured another couple of runs with a sac fly and groundout.

Also after the game, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reported that Max Scherzer stayed behind to go over film with Voth. It was a pretty cool moment, that should help him build on the positive he did have in his debut.

Adams scorching since returning

Matt Adams continues to be on of the team’s best hitters since he returned from the DL just under two weeks ago. In that time, he’s hitting .314 with a .899 OPS, and two homers, including one he hit Saturday.

He’s going to be a key presence in the middle of the order, there to drive in the likes of Adam Eaton, Anthony Rendon when they reach. With all of the inconsistencies, it’s a breath of fresh air to have Adams who continues to hit no matter what.

Suero excels in mop-up duty

With Voth only able to go 4.1 innings, the ball was turned over to Wander Suero to eat some innings with a big deficit. And he did his job with aplomb by firing 2.2 near-perfect innings.

The only blemish on his line was the HBP to Michael Conforto, but Suero was stellar on Saturday. Although he may be optioned when Sean Doolittle returns, he’s going to be a big part of the bullpen in the near-future with more performances like this.

Next: Five potential starting rotation targets

Now the Washington Nationals hope to get back to .500 before the All-Star break on Sunday. It will be Jeremy Hellickson facing off against Corey Oswalt, in what feels like a must-win for the Nats.

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