After winning eight of their last nine games, the Washington Nationals ran into some trouble with the defending National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks by losing two of three games, as both teams entered the series very high in the NL Wild Card race.
The Nationals took the Wednesday contest by the score of 3-1, while the DBacks won 5-0 on Tuesday and 5-2 on Thursday. These two losses bumped Washington down to 36-38 and down a few spots in the NL Wild Card standings for now.
Washington had a chance to get to .500 in the two games they ended up losing, and if the team had won Thursday’s game, then that would have given them 10 wins in the last 12 games, a series win, a .500 record, and sole possession of the second Wild Card in the NL.
Jake Irvin has been solid this season, but Tuesday’s loss didn’t do him any favors as he gave up eight hits and four earned runs in five innings pitched. The Arizona lineup of players like Ketel Marte (who had three RBIs), Corbin Carroll, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was just too much for the Nats here.
Washington only managed to get four hits in the defeat, with two hits each coming from C.J. Abrams and Jesse Winker, who continue to step up for this team. This loss also snapped the team’s three-game winning streak from their series sweep against the Miami Marlins.
Wednesday’s contest seemed like it would be another win for the Diamondbacks, at least until the sixth inning where Winker hit a two-run home run to put the Nationals up 2-1, while IldemaroVargas hit an RBI single to make it 3-1. The offense also got hits from Eddie Rosario, Joey Meneses, Luis Garcia Jr., and KeibertRuiz.
Patrick Corbin got the start and actually looked solid as he struck out seven Arizona batters through five innings, while Derek Law pitched two perfect innings and was credited with the win, and Kyle Finnegan recorded his 21st save of this season, the third-most in the majors.
Finally, the Thursday contest saw a mixed bag of a start for the usually reliable MacKenzie Gore, where he finished with seven strikeouts but gave up 10 hits, two walks, and four earned runs, including three in the third inning, all on 103 pitches through five innings. This loss drops Gore’s record to 6-6 on the season.
The bullpen tried its best to keep the game close the rest of the way, at least until Christian Walker of the DBacks hit a solo homer off reliever Jordan Weems in the ninth to make it a three-run game.
As for the Nationals’ offense, the team amassed only four hits once again, with Lane Thomas and Winker each hitting solo homers, as the Diamondbacks saw an efficient seven-inning performance from Ryne Nelson.
Next up, the Nationals will be on the road for the next three series the rest of the month, as they face the Colorado Rockies this weekend for three games, followed by the San Diego Padres on June 24-26, and then the Tampa Bay Rays on June 28-30, before returning home to face the New York Mets on July 1st.
