Lord makes one late mistake in eventual blowout loss

The Nationals overcame a bullpen meltdown this afternoon, brushing off a six-run top of the seventh to storm back and beat the Guardians.

It was an impressive display of gumption from a young team that has proven more than once this season it can pull off such rousing comebacks. But it’s far from a plan for consistent success, and tonight’s blowout loss was a stark reminder of that.

After another strong start from Brad Lord ended with one ill-timed mistake, the Nats bullpen proceeded to give up six runs over the final three innings, creating a deficit the lineup never threatened to overcome in an eventual 9-1 loss.

With a doubleheader split, the Nationals remain three games under .500 at 17-20, now looking to win this condensed interleague series Wednesday at the early matinee time of 12:05 p.m.

Bullpen struggles aside, the more consequential story this evening involved the rookie making his sixth major league start, with no guarantee he’ll get to make a seventh.

Despite pitching well under the circumstances, Lord only earned a spot in the rotation after Michael Soroka landed on the 15-day injured list with a biceps strain. Now that the veteran right-hander is ready to return Wednesday, the Nationals have to bump somebody from a starting job, and Lord would be the easy choice to go back to the bullpen.

"I think at this particular moment, we'll probably push him back to the bullpen," manager Davey Martinez said after confirming Soroka will be activated and start Wednesday. "Kind of give him a breather. And then we'll see what happens in the next couple weeks."

Thing is, the 25-year-old has progressively pitched better and better with each start and has more than made a compelling case to stay in this role for now.

Five nights ago, Lord carried a shutout into the fifth in Philadelphia before surrendering two late runs to that potent lineup. Tonight, he carried a shutout into the sixth against Cleveland, cruising his first two trips through that lineup with one hit and one hit batter the only blemishes on his pitching line.

So Martinez let the kid keep going, to the point where he was one pitch away from completing the sixth with another zero on the board. And then Lord tried to sneak an 0-2 fastball by Carlos Santana and wound up leaving it right over the plate. The seasoned slugger destroyed it, his three-run homer landing in the home bullpen for a truly game-changing blast.

"Definitely right after, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. You wish you could have that pitch back," Lord said. "But looking back, it was still a very good outing. We had a great plan going into the game, and I feel like we executed it pretty good. It's just one bad pitch. I wish I could have it back."

It was a mistake pitch, to be sure, but a mistake made by a rookie learning on the fly who has been way more encouraging than discouraging so far in his brief career. And it raises a valid question: What do the Nats do with him now?

Lord appears likely to go back to the bullpen, where he would help a group that could certainly use the help. But the Nationals could also make the argument he’d be better off at Triple-A Rochester continuing to start every fifth day and waiting for the inevitable call to return once there’s a rotation vacancy again. Or they could make the bold decision to keep him right where he is and bump someone else from the current rotation, whether the recently struggling Mitchell Parker or the versatile Trevor Williams.

"It doesn't matter the role I'm in," Lord said. "I treat it all the same. Just treat it like any other outing."

Lord departed after the top of the sixth tonight, having received no run support from his teammates, who just hours earlier scored 10 runs to win the day’s first game. They finally got one run across the plate in the bottom of the sixth courtesy Riley Adams, who once again took advantage of his rare playing time to showcase his power stroke.

Adams’ solo homer off Ben Lively was his second in his last three games started behind the plate. He has also doubled and driven in six runs during this mini-stretch, perhaps earning a few more starts when Martinez is willing to sit No. 1 catcher Keibert Ruiz.

That’s as much offense as the Nationals would muster tonight, though. Potent in Game 1, they were overmatched in Game 2 against Lively and the Guardians' bullpen.

"After the first inning, I felt like we got flat," Martinez said. "We started chasing again. We took some pitches we should've hit, and then we started chasing. We've got to be aggressive in the zone."

With his team trailing, Martinez entrusted the later innings to his lesser relief arms, which only made the deficit grow. Lucas Sims retired only one of the four batters he faced, charged with three runs after Jackson Rutledge couldn’t put out the fire. Sims, signed in spring training for $3 million, now owns a 12.34 ERA and 1.971 WHIP in 17 appearances. (That WHIP jumps to 2.486 if you include Sims’ six hit batters.)

Eduardo Salazar then made a mess of the eighth inning, giving up one run without benefit of a hit (a walk and two wild pitches) and then another with one monster swing of the bat (a Daniel Schneemann homer). Salazar’s ERA over 17 appearances now stands at 9.77, his WHIP at 2.234.

A long day and night of baseball concluded with Zach Brzykcy, called up from Triple-A to serve as the 27th man for the doubleheader, serving up a leadoff homer to Austin Hedges in the top of the ninth, the final blow of many inflicted upon Nationals relievers today.

"We can't shy away from the strike zone," Martinez said. "It's almost becoming a bad habit. The bases on balls are killing us. We've got to pound the zone. We've got to get ahead. We've got to come in with conviction and get big outs. Every time a reliever comes in there, it's to close out an inning. But the problem is, we go out there and we give guys free passes and you create problems for yourself."