Opening weekend at Nationals Park was supposed to be a celebration. Big crowds, a good early record and a chance to test themselves against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers. Instead, it turned into a harsh reality check.
The Nationals were swept in their home opening series and now stand at 3-6 after starting the season 3-1. The Dodgers won the three games 13-6, 10-5 and 8-6. The frustration stems not just from losing all three games, but also from how they lost them. Washington led 3-0 in the opener and 6-1 in the finale and still walked away with an 0-3 weekend.
Here are three takeaways from a brutal home opening series.
1. Pitching was disastrous outside of Foster Griffin
This sweep mostly comes down to pitching. The Nationals allowed 31 runs in three games, which comes out to more than 10 runs per game. You are not beating any team allowing that many runs, especially not the Dodgers.
In the home opener, Miles Mikolas allowed 11 runs, which set a club record. Los Angeles hit five home runs in that game and turned a 3-0 deficit into a 13-6 win. The loss for the Nationals marked their fifth straight fall in the home opener.
In Game 2, Jake Irvin pitched a bit better than Mikolas, but not by much. Irvin allowed six runs in four innings. Brad Lord allowed three runs after that and the Dodgers kept piling on. Through two games, the Dodgers had scored 23 runs on 32 hits.
Foster Griffin served up the only real pitching bright spot of the series in the finale. Griffin went five innings, allowed just one run and struck out six. He left the game with a 6-1 lead and looked like he had given the Nationals exactly the kind of start they needed to finally win a game in the series.
Then the bullpen collapsed. PJ Poulin allowed a two-run homer. Cionel Perez gave up four runs without recording an out. Clayton Beeter allowed another run. The Dodgers scored seven runs after Griffin left and turned a 6-1 Nationals lead into an 8-6 loss.
If there was one theme of the series, it was this. The pitching, both the starters and the bullpen, simply fell short, and at times it looked a lot like last year all over again.
2. The offense is doing its job
The crazy part about this series is that the Nationals actually hit well enough to win. Washington scored 17 runs in the three games, scoring six runs in Game 1, five runs in Game 2 and six runs again in Game 3.
That should be enough to win one or two games, especially at home. The offense gave the team chances all weekend, but the pitching just could not rise to the occasion.
This also fits the bigger story of the Nationals season so far. The Nationals rank top three in the majors in runs scored but sit 30th in ERA. The offense is producing but the pitching is struggling badly, and that was on full display against Los Angeles.
The Nationals showed they can score against elite pitching, including starters like Emmet Sheehan, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki. That is a good sign for the lineup. Now they just need the pitching to keep games under control, which is easier said than done.
3. Garcia, Abrams and Wood stood out
Despite the sweep, some offensive bright spots stood out, especially Luis Garcia Jr., CJ Abrams and James Wood.
Luis Garcia Jr. was probably the best overall hitter in the series. He had the most hits of any National in the series, going 6-for-14 with four extra base hits, including a double, a triple and a two-run homer in the finale. He also finished a homer shy of the cycle in Game 2 and emerged as one of the most consistent hitters in the lineup all weekend.
CJ Abrams drove in the most runs in the series. He went 4-for-10 with two home runs, six RBI, four runs scored and three walks. He hit a three-run homer in the opener and a two-run homer in Game 2 and was one of the most dangerous hitters in the lineup all weekend.
James Wood did not have as many hits as Garcia or Abrams but he still made a big impact. Both of his hits were extra base hits, including a three-run homer in the finale and a double earlier in the series. The homer also broke him out of an early season slump.
Washington did not get the home opening weekend they wanted, but they will be right back at Nationals Park tonight with another chance against the 5-4 Cardinals.