Nats shut out in Peterson's first complete game (updated)

NEW YORK – Manager Davey Martinez was hoping to get some “thump” from his right-handed-heavy lineup. The Nationals rank in the lower third in the National League in batting average and OPS against left-handed pitching.

Although a new-look lineup featured six right-handed hitters, they faced a tough task in Mets southpaw David Peterson, who entered the night with a 2.80 ERA.

And try as they might, there was no “thump” to be had. In fact, there was anything but “thump” from the Nats during this 5-0 shutout loss in front of 40,681 fans at Citi Field.

Peterson, who also owned a not-so-impressive 1.259 WHIP at the start of the game, held the Nationals to just six hits without any walks while completing the first complete game and shutout of his six-year major league career.

“I think he was just getting ahead and getting early contact," said James Wood. "I think that let him go the distance today.”

It was not like the 29-year-old was blowing Washington hitters away. He only struck out six with his low-90s fastball and sinker. The Nats could only make weak contact off him, sending only nine balls out of the infield.

“He threw strikes, one. His changeup was really good. His two-seam was good. He kept us off-balance," Martinez said. "But we hit some balls hard. Riley Adams hit some balls hard. Luis (García Jr.) had some good at-bats today, which was great against a lefty. But for the most part, he kept us off-balance today.”

Ironically, it was the right-handers who struggled the most against Peterson. Of the Nats' six hits, only two came off right-handed bats.

“We need to stay on the ball a little bit better. Hit the ball," Martinez said. "I know he's pitching in, but we need to lay off some of those balls. They weren't strikes in there. Look for the ball up and out over the plate. That's when the damage is done against him. But like I said, he kept us off-balance, he threw some really good changeups. He pitched a complete game.”

“I think there was some loud contact," Wood said. "But I think overall, I think he pitched a great game. And I don't want to take that away from him. I feel like we could have been better today.”

The Nats’ only legit scoring opportunity came late in the eighth. Luis García Jr. (a lefty hitter) doubled off the right-center wall and made his way home on Jacob Young’s single up the middle. But the throw at the plate was in time to nab García despite the Nats’ last-ditch effort with a challenge that didn’t reverse the call.

So it was the Nationals who were the victims of a complete-game shutout for the second time this season after old friend Erick Fedde accomplished the same feat in his return to Nats Park on May 9.

“I just think good at-bats, good contact," Wood said of what the Nats could have done to throw off Peterson's momentum. "It's not easy. I mean, he was rolling today. And we just weren't able to get him out of his rhythm, really.”

With what Peterson was doing on the mound, Jake Irvin had to be equally as dominant to keep the Nats in the game. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite as good on this night.

Irvin surrendered an early lead when a one-out walk in the first came back to bite him on Pete Alonso’s two-out RBI double.

And then he had to deal with Juan Soto.

Last night against MacKenzie Gore, Soto struck out in his first at-bat before homering in his second. Tonight against Irvin, Soto struck out in his first at-bat before homering in his second.

In the first at-bat, Irvin stayed low and away against the former Nationals slugger, eventually getting him to strike out on a foul tip of a low sinker. But then in the second at-bat, Irvin left a second-pitch curveball right over the middle of the plate for Soto to crush to right-center field. The two-run shot traveled 408 feet and had an exit velocity of 107.5 mph.

Irvin then surrendered a leadoff home run to Brandon Nimmo in the fifth on a ball that didn’t seem like it would leave the yard off the bat. While traveling only 100.7 mph off the bat, the ball landed 387 feet away in left-center field, which was only good enough to be a home run in five major league ballparks.

Unfortunately, Citi Field was one of them.

“He's done that to me a few times in his career," said Irvin. "This park does play perfect for that ball. It's a well-executed pitch. He put a good swing on it. He's a good ballplayer.”

Irvin finished his five frames on an even 100 pitches (61 strikes) while giving up five hits, four runs, three walks and one hit-batter with four strikeouts.

Nimmo then capped off the night by greeting Jackson Rutledge in the seventh with his second homer of the game.

“I didn't get ahead of guys and didn't get deep into the game," Irvin said. "That's a little bit of a recipe for disaster. And you saw that, the score reflected it. I'm disappointed that I didn't give us a chance to win today.”

But at the end of the night, it didn’t matter what Irvin and the bullpen did because the Nats hitters had nothing going against Peterson.

“We gotta start hitting," Martinez said. "The key is to start taking our walks, like I said, and start utilizing the middle of the field. That's when we're really good. We do that, we'll be in good shape. Like I said, the boys are playing hard, but we gotta start hitting. We got shut out today. We gotta come back tomorrow and score some runs.”

“Yesterday was tough, and we had some good at-bats, some good swings. But we couldn't come out on top," Wood said. "And today, we just weren't able to bounce back. But we got tomorrow, so just got another day to bounce back.”