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No matter if and when the Nationals' offense showed up today against the Brewers, the pitching simply needed to be better.
After allowing 16 runs and giving up a club-record 25 hits in Friday’s series-opening loss, the collective effort on the mound had to drastically improve for the home team or else they again would have no shot to beat the team with the best record in baseball.
Leading that charge on the hill was Jake Irvin, who was looking to follow up his strong outing his last time out in his home state of Minnesota. But the right-hander surrendered an early lead en route to another short outing in the Nats’ 8-2 loss in front of 28,869 fans on South Capitol Street.
Before he tossed seven strong innings of two-run ball against the Twins, Irvin turned in his shortest start of the season against the Reds, giving up five runs in just 3 ⅔ innings on 72 pitches. He just barely eclipsed that Saturday afternoon.
The Brewers were all over Irvin from the jump, their lineup filled with lefties and switch-hitters who were easily pulling his pitches into right field. They ended up scoring in each of the first three frames to put the Nats in an early hole.
“They do a lot of the little things right and they put the ball in play," Irvin said after the game. "That's a recipe for kind of disaster anytime out is just being able to grind out at-bats and put the ball in play. So they took advantage and hit their pitches.”
Irvin gave up three runs in the first on four hits and a walk while throwing 30 pitches. Then a leadoff double came around to score against him in the second. And Christian Yelich greeted him with a first-pitch homer leading off the third to make 5-0 Brewers before the Nats could even get their first baserunner.
The fourth inning was Irvin’s first scoreless frame, but it was also his last of the day with his pitch count already at 75 and multiple relievers warming in the Nats bullpen.
Irvin finished his 23rd start, charged with five runs on eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts, while not pitching past the fourth for the second time in his last three outings.
“Make better two-strike pitches," he said while unpacking his start. "Yeah, I would have liked to make better two-strike pitches. ... Don't leave it over the heart of the plate.”
Ultimately, it was Shinnosuke Ogasawara who replaced Irvin out of the ‘pen. And the recently recalled lefty actually impressed in his first major league relief appearance, tossing three strong innings to preserve the rest of the Nats' bullpen. But he couldn’t get out of his fourth while being charged with two runs without recording an out in the eighth.
“He was unbelievable. He pitched his butt off today," interim manager Miguel Cairo said of Ogasawara. "And that's what we're looking for, guys that know how to pitch. Pitchers that want to compete. He competed today. He kept us in the game. And it was amazing. He was awesome.”
Jackson Rutledge then gave up a run in the ninth for the final dagger.
Even still, with the early deficit, it mattered little what the Nats' offense could accomplish today. In the end, it was very little against Brandon Woodruff and the Brewers' bullpen.
“He was just mixing his pitches well, whether that's the fastball, the cutter, the two-seam, the changeup," said James Wood of Woodruff. "Just keeping us off-balanced and getting quick outs and making good pitches.”
The lone bright spot was Robert Hassell III’s two-run home run off the veteran righty in the third inning. Hassell was able to hit an elevated sinker 106.7 mph off the bat and 416 feet to right field for the second longball of his young career. It was also his second extra-base hit since he was recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Friday.
“It was good to see," Hassell said. "I've been working down in Triple-A, and I felt like I've been feeling some stuff, some good stuff. Being able to pull the ball in the air a little bit. So to see it happen one time, hopefully it happens more, but in the first start back, it's nice.”
But the rest of the day was filled with frustration, mostly from Wood.
The struggling slugger was twice called out on seemingly incorrect calls by home plate umpire and crew chief Chris Guccione, the second leading to the ejection of Cairo.
In the third inning, Wood was called out on an outside fastball from Woodruff that clearly missed the plate. The usually calm rookie was visibly upset with the call and spoke to Guccione before walking back to the dugout.
Then in the sixth, Wood was called out on a check swing that Guccione didn’t even ask for a second opinion on from third base umpire Edwin Moscoso. On replay, Wood’s bat did not cross home plate, giving him plenty of reason to express his frustration even further.
“Obviously, it's just frustrating," Wood said. "It's not really in your control, so at the end of the day, you can't do much about it. Just gotta find a way to move on.”
And even though he did so calmly while walking away, Cairo came out of the dugout to defend his young outfielder and was quickly ejected for the second time in the last three games.
“Of course, I'm gonna get my player's back," the interim skipper said. "I'm gonna go over there and support him. No one's perfect. They're human. They're gonna make mistakes. But I'm always gonna get their back. And there were a few calls that didn't go our way. And I just let him know.”
That pretty much showed the Nats’ frustrations in a nutshell, as they were held to just two baserunners – two hits and two walks – on the afternoon, while the Brew Crew collected seven runs on 14 hits.
As they fall to 22 games under .500, the Nats are now 0-5 against the Brewers this season with one more chance to salvage a game on Sunday.
"Nothing is going to be given to anyone," Cairo said. "So like I said before, you got to come to work. You gotta make sure you do the thing the right way and get good at-bats. Do the little things that make you a good player and a winning player. That's the culture that I'm gonna make. You gotta play to win. You gotta expect to come to the ballpark and win a game."
