In order for the Nationals to accomplish something they hadn’t in two months, they would need to build on the offensive outputs they posted in each of the first two games against the Reds.
They claimed victories in those outings in very different ways, setting up an opportunity for their first three-game sweep since mid-May against the Orioles in Baltimore. On Monday, they jumped out to a big early lead and held on late. On Tuesday, they stayed patient against a tough starter, who they eventually got to the second time through the order, and relied on the bullpen.
Unfortunately, neither of those versions of the offense showed up this afternoon, as the Nats were shut out by Nick Lodolo in a 5-0 loss in front of 21,567 fans on camp day at Nationals Park.
Lodolo became the third pitcher to toss a complete-game shutout against the Nationals this season, joining Erick Fedde (who was coincidentally designated for assignment by the Cardinals today after going 3-10 with a 5.22 ERA) on May 9 and David Peterson with the Mets on June 11.
The Nats had trouble picking up the southpaw all afternoon, with Lodolo mixing his four-pitch arsenal well. The only hits were James Wood’s single in the first (after which he was caught stealing), Brady House’s single in the second, Amed Rosario’s single in the fourth and Luis García Jr.’s double in the eighth.
García was the only one to make it past first base, with the Nats going 0-for-2 in the only at-bats they took with runners in scoring position.
Lodolo finished the game with just four hits, no walks and eight strikeouts. He threw 105 pitches, 76 strikes, and got 14 swings-and-misses.
Michael Soroka did just about all the Nats could ask of him on the mound. Although he still struggled to complete six frames, he tossed 5 ⅔ innings of one-run ball to keep his team within striking distance.
The Reds did not see Soroka well, collecting only two hits and striking out six times against the veteran right-hander whose velocity was down in the low 90s. All their damage against him came via his own faults.
Trouble started brewing in the fourth, when Soroka issued a walk and hit a batter with two outs. But he escaped the early jam with a flyout. He couldn’t quite do that in the fifth.
After surrendering a leadoff walk to Elly De La Cruz, who then stole second base, Soroka gave up an RBI single to Jake Fraley, giving the Reds a 1-0 lead. He also hit his second batter to put two runners on with only one out, but induced two flyouts to end the threat.
But Soroka put himself in a similar situation in the sixth by walking Austin Hays with one out and plucking Noelvi Marte for the second time with two outs. That forced interim manager Miguel Cairo to turn to his bullpen and bring on Cole Henry, who got the final out on three pitches.
Soroka finished his 5 ⅔ with just two hits, one run, three walks, three hit-batters and six strikeouts on 88 pitches, 50 strikes. He now has a 4.85 ERA on the season, a 4.21 ERA over his last nine starts and a 2.45 ERA over his last three.
And with the lack of offense, the two runs Jackson Rutledge surrendered in the eighth proved too much to overcome. The right-hander gave up three straight hits and a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-0 Reds lead in the eighth. You could have almost added a two-run homer to that line, but Jacob Young made an unbelievable catch to bring the fly ball from Will Benson back from over the center field wall.
The Reds then scored two runs (one unearned) off Andry Lara in the ninth to eliminate any possibility of some late-game magic.
But a Catch of the Year candidate cannot score runs, and so it was the Nats were shut out for the eighth time this season.