Lackluster offense continues as Nats rally late but drop sixth straight (updated)

ATLANTA – The most recent homestand wasn’t kind to the Nationals. A rainout on Monday forced a doubleheader Tuesday, and with a noon game already scheduled for Wednesday, they had to play all three games against the Guardians in under 24 hours.

The Nats won the first game of that twinbill. And that still stands as the last time they found themselves in the win column.

With tonight’s 4-3 loss in the opener of a four-game series against the Braves, the Nationals have now lost six in a row, their longest losing streak since also dropping six straight Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2023.

After a ninth-inning rally tied the game at 3-3, Jackson Rutledge and Andrew Chafin combined to give up the winning run in walk-off fashion in the bottom frame.

While closer Kyle Finnegan, who hasn’t pitched since the Nats’ last victory Tuesday, sat in the bullpen, Rutledge gave up a leadoff single, with the runner advancing to scoring position on a sacrifice bunt.

Chafin, making his sixth appearance since joining the Nats, then gave up the walk-off RBI single to Alex Verdugo. The southpaw threw seven straight sliders before leaving a sinker up in the middle of the zone.

“It's just one of those things (where) I don't think I threw the wrong pitch, it was a very poor execution of location," Chafin said after the game. "I think if I run that sinker up and in, like I was trying to, it changes everything. And that was that.”

That was also a peculiar decision by manager Davey Martinez to leave Rutledge in the game and bring in Chafin with it on the line while Finnegan sat in the 'pen.

“He's throwing the ball well. We had the bottom of the order up. He threw the ball really well," Martinez said of Rutledge. "Chafin, he's a guy we count on to get lefties out. He put a good at-bat up. For me, I don't want to put my closer in a tie game in the ninth inning. So I thought that they threw the ball well. It was just unfortunate a ground ball got through the infield.”

The Nats’ ninth-inning rally started with back-to-back one-out singles against Braves closer Raisel Iglesias. And after Josh Bell moved the runners up with a groundout, Dylan Crews stepped to the plate representing the Nats’ last hope.

Down to his last strike with the count full, Crews hit a sharp grounder to Nick Allen. But the shortstop threw well wide of the bag, allowing the two baserunners to score and tie the game 3-3.

“We got the ball in the zone," Martinez said. "We got the ball in the zone and we moved the baseball.”

Earlier in the night, Washington’s offense didn't get the ball in the zone, continuing to struggle to get out of its rut. With Martinez pleading with his hitters over the last few days to be patient and accept walks, the Nats had nothing going against Braves starter Grant Holmes, who entered the evening with a 4.58 ERA and 1.246 WHIP.

Holmes’ fastball-slider-curveball combination induced 11 swings-and-misses by the Nationals. They only drew one walk and collected four hits while striking out four times over his 6 ⅓ innings.

The only sign of life was James Wood’s 11th home run of the season in the top of the fourth. He smacked an outside fastball 108.7 mph off his bat the other way and deposited it 413 feet into the left field seats.

“He was getting ahead early. So I just want to be patient and just get a good pitch to hit. And just able to do that," Wood said. "It was carrying well tonight, so I got a little help there.”

But that was the single productive thing this offense was able to do on another frustrating night at the plate. The only other baserunners against Holmes were a leadoff walk by Crews in the third that was immediately erased by a double play, a leadoff single by Bell in the fifth, and a one-out double by Luis García Jr. in the seventh, which knocked the Braves right-hander from the game.

José Tena gave the Nats one last chance to get back in this one with a leadoff double in the eighth. But after pinch-hitter Alex Call was hit by a pitch, CJ Abrams hit into a double play and Wood struck out to end the threat.

“I talk about it every day: We had some opportunities in those situations and we chased some pitches out of the zone," Martinez said. "When we don't chase, we get some action, we hit the ball hard. So we just got to continue to work on it, continue to talk about it. Everybody in the league knows that we're going to go up there and swing. But we got to start swinging at strikes.”

At least the Nats got a better effort on the mound. Jake Irvin tossed their first quality start in their last five games, keeping his team in the game through his six innings.

“It was fine," he said. "Two-out walks stink and I'm pissed off about that. But otherwise, I gave the boys a chance and just tried to get as deep as possible.”

The night didn’t start off perfectly for the right-hander. He had to work around a leadoff double and a two-out walk in the first, finishing the frame in 20 pitches.

The issues with two outs came back to bite Irvin in the third as he issued a walk, single and back-to-back RBI singles to put himself in a 2-0 hole after three. And after Wood’s homer made it a one-run game, Irvin served up a two-out home run to Marcell Ozuna in the fifth to give the Braves a two-run cushion again and the home crowd of 32,696 a reason to feel at ease.

Although most of his damage came with two outs, Irvin was able to give his team a strong outing from the starting pitcher, something they haven’t received in almost a week. And the three relievers following him out of the bullpen were able to keep the Nats within striking distance by posting zeros.

“It's ball. I gotta make better pitches," Irvin said of his struggles with two outs. "Go right at the guys, especially with two strikes, make them earn it.”

But this lackluster offense, while showing some signs of life late, once again prevented the Nationals from snapping their losing streak.

“It's tough," Wood said. "I feel like the pitchers have been doing their job, just giving us a good chance to win a game. And we haven't been doing our part. So we just gotta keep battling. There's nothing we can really do except lace them up and try again tomorrow. So that's what we'll do.”