Washington Nationals: Three home games which defined the season

August 24th, Miami 11, Washington 8

Another theme which reared its ugly head was the fact the Washington Nationals were having to play from behind more times than not. With the starting pitching having issues, opposing teams would be staked to 3, 4, even 5 run leads before the game was half over.

On August 24th, the Miami Marlins jumped out to a 7 run lead before the Nationals were able to push a run across. Coming from behind on a nightly basis is mentally taxing on teams.

Nationals starter Austin Voth couldn’t get out of the fourth inning and the parade of relievers was on. Faced with a 7-0 deficit, the Nationals struck for three runs in the fifth to draw closer.

Even though the Nationals offense came to life, late, it was too late. They managed to score five runs in the 7th and 8th innings, only to see their bullpen surrender four runs during that time.

When all was said and done, the final tally was a 11-8 defeat.

If the offense is going to put up eight runs, the team needs to walk away with a win. We have addressed the pitching malfeasance of Austin Voth before, and the bullpen has had its share of misery as well.

For a team which scored two or fewer runs in seven of the first twelve home games of the year, having the offense explode for a eight-spot, only to lose the game, was disheartening.