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ATLANTA – The Nationals have thought that in order to snap this six-game losing streak they needed better at-bats from their lineup. Specifically, they needed to accept their walks, get the ball in the strike zone and score first.
Well, the Nationals were able to do all three of those things in the second of this four-game set against the Braves. But wouldn’t you know it, that wasn’t enough as this 5-2 loss was the Nats’ seventh straight to become their longest losing streak since July 7-16, 2022 (nine).
This night immediately started on a positive note as CJ Abrams smacked Spencer Schwellenbach’s first pitch of the game over the right field wall for a leadoff home run. And just like that, for only the fifth time in their last 17 games, the Nationals scored the first run of the contest.
Abrams’ 10th leadoff homer is second in Nationals history (2005-present) only to Trea Turner’s 14. Funny that both shortstops originally started their careers in the Padres system.
Then wouldn’t you know it, James Wood drew a leadoff walk in the fourth and came around to score on Amed Rosario’s RBI single to give the Nats a 2-0 lead.
Surely the Nats had finally turned their fortunes around.
Not so fast.
It was an emotional night for starter Michael Soroka, who made his 20th start at Truist Park, but his first as a visitor.
Soroka, who spent the first six years of his major league career in Atlanta, got to face his former team for the first time. But after a strong outing in his return from the injured list last week, the right-hander was forced out of this start after four innings by a high pitch count.
With the early lead, Soroka held the Braves scoreless over the first three innings on a manageable 48 pitches. But an extended fourth inning cut his night short and let the Braves get right back in this one.
Three straight seven-pitch at-bats led to a strikeout, single and Drake Baldwin’s two-run home run to tie the game at 2-2 and energize the crowd of 32,725. Soroka then needed 12 more pitches to complete the 33-pitch frame and leave him at 81.
Since he’s still fairly fresh off the IL, manager Davey Martinez wasn’t going to push the 27-year-old any further. So he brought on starter-turned-reliever-turned-starter-turned-reliever Brad Lord for the fifth.
The Braves then promptly took the lead, thanks to a four-pitch leadoff walk, a single that should have been caught by Rosario at third base and an RBI single that should have been stopped by José Tena at second.
Lord gave up one more run in the sixth, though it was another one that probably should have been stopped. With runners on the corners and two outs, Eli White seemingly hit an offering twice, giving it a weird spin off the bat. That was enough to confuse Abrams at shortstop as he let the ball get past him and the run to score.
Jorge López surrendered one more run in the eighth. But it didn’t matter much since the offense couldn’t sustain the progress it made earlier in the night.
And so the suffering continued.
