Sidelined due to right shoulder inflammation, Erick Fedde made his return to the mound against the Seattle Mariners for the first time in 30 days.
Looking to snap the Washington Nationals’ embarrassing streak of 39 straight games where a starter hadn’t earned a win, Fedde quickly showed no signs of rust.
The 29-year-old started his outing by retiring the first four batters he faced, including a 15-pitch first inning. Carlos Santanabroke up an early no-hitter, with a bunt single in the second inning. After falling behind Eugenio Suárez 3-0, Fedde was able to even up the count before losing the slugger. Fortunately, he was able to retire the next two batters to escape the early jam — capped off by striking out Cal Raleigh on a nasty curve.
Fedde’s best inning came in the third, getting a 1-2-3 on nine pitches, including a strikeout of rookie sensation Julio Rodríguez. Unfortunately, the righty ran momentarily ran out of steam in the fourth. Jesse Winker singled to center, with CJ Abrams unable to make the tough play. Running across the middle, the speedster couldn’t cleanly field the ball on the move. And on queue, Mitch Haniger followed it up with a two-run bomb to left, Fedde’s only bad pitch of the game.
Fedde immediately bounced back with a vengeance, striking out the next three batters. He came back out for the fifth inning, retiring the side on 15 pitches — striking out Rodríguez to end his outing. On a pitch count due to having just returned from the IL, 81 pitches marked the end of his night.
Sadly for Fedde, the offense was unable to pick him up as the Nationals went on to lose 4-2. Despite being the losing pitcher, Fedde was solid, striking out five in five innings, allowing only two runs on three hits, and walking one. The Nationals’ streak of a starting pitcher being unable to earn the win continues, reaching 40 games.
Fedde wasn’t the only lone bright spot in another disappointing Nationals game. While the majority of the offense was non-existent, long-time minor-leaguer Joey Meneses continued his rampage, hitting his sixth homer in only 18 games. The 30-year-old finished 2-4, with a homer and a double, while scoring Washington’s only two runs.