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.
And 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.
Ironically, it was the right-handers who struggled against Peterson. Of their six hits, only two came off right-handed bats.
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.
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.
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.
But at the end of the night, it didn’t matter what the Nats pitchers did because the hitters had nothing going against Peterson.