The Nationals didn’t need a gem out of Trevor Williams today. They needed length. And, ideally, a minimal amount of damage sustained to keep the opener of today’s day-night doubleheader against the Tigers within reach.
Eight batters into the game, the second half of that preferred equation had already been thrown out the window. But Davey Martinez had no choice but to try and at least get length out of his No. 5 starter, which explains why Williams was still on the mound in the top of the first throwing his 54th pitch of the most laborious inning of his life.
And why Williams retook the mound for the top of the second and top of the third before Martinez finally decided enough was enough. When he needed length from his starter, he got three innings, 86 pitches and a massive hole en route to an 11-2 thrashing that set a decidedly negative tone to this long day and night of baseball on South Capitol Street.
The Nats could not have drawn up a worse script for this unexpected matinee, the result of Tuesday night’s rainout. They’ll try to lick their wounds, regroup and split the doubleheader behind ace MacKenzie Gore later this evening.
"It's an unfortunate spot. I put us in a really big hole in the first game of a doubleheader," Williams said. "But I know the guys are going to come out in the second game ready to win."
Game 1 essentially was over before the Nationals ever came up to bat. Williams took the mound looking to lead by example and wound up showing everyone else what not to do in his particular situation.
Four batters in, Williams trailed 3-0, the Tigers getting a leadoff double from Colt Keith, a walk drawn by Gleyber Torres and a three-run homer blasted by Riley Greene. Eight batters in, Williams trailed 6-0, the Tigers getting a single by Spencer Torkelson, a double by Zach McKinstry and a three-run homer by Jake Rogers (his first of the season). The 33-year-old who tries to live down in (or even below) the strike zone was unable to get Detroit's patient lineup to give in.
"In the first, the only pitch I want to take back is the second homer," Williams said. "I thought every other pitch, we did a good job of putting the ball where I wanted it. So you tip your hat to those guys. They executed a game plan, or hit it to where we didn't have guys today."
This would typically be the point a manager makes the long walk to the mound and removes his starter, first inning or not. But with his pitch count already up to 42, Williams kept going, the Nationals bullpen only beginning to stir at that point.
By the time the top of the first ended, Williams had thrown 54 pitches, the most by any major league starter in the first inning of a game since the Tigers’ Daniel Norris on Sept. 29, 2015, according to MLB.com researcher Sarah Langs.
And with 17 innings of baseball still to be played before anyone could go home, Williams was sent back out there for the top of the second, not to mention the third. He finished with seven total runs allowed on 86 pitches, all while recording only nine outs.
"Look, I'm going to fill as many innings as I can, even throwing 50-plus pitches," the right-hander said. "It's just one of those where I'm going to go until Davey takes the ball out of my hand. I do that every time I go out there. Today, he unfortunately took the ball out of my hand in the third because of the high pitch count in the first."
Had this been a one-off, the Nationals could shrug it off and move ahead as if it never happened. But Williams already entered the day with a 3-9 record and 5.65 ERA, looking far more like the guy who struggled throughout the 2023 season than the one who posted a 2.03 ERA in 13 starts sandwiched around a long injured list stint in 2024.
Throw today’s stats into the mix, and Williams is now 3-10 with a 6.21 ERA. He is 2 1/3 innings shy of qualifying for the league leaderboard (despite the fact he’s made all 17 starts) but if he did he would rank last in the majors in ERA by .76 earned runs.
"I really hope this is just a one-(off), really just a one bad inning," Martinez said. "We'll talk to him, see how he's feeling tomorrow. I know he's going to work on some things, but we need him. We need him five days from now. He's got to get ready to get on that bump."
The Nationals have some decisions to make in the coming days, regardless. This doubleheader creates the need for a fill-in starter Sunday against the Red Sox (the team’s sixth game in five days, barring any more rainouts). Top prospect Cade Cavalli struggled in his last start for Triple-A Rochester – he gave up seven runs in three innings, same as Williams today – but had a 2.43 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings over his previous seven outings.
The remainder of today’s game saw reliever Jackson Rutledge give up his own three-run homer (also launched by Greene), Andry Lara toss three scoreless innings with four strikeouts in his major league debut and Paul DeJong get his first major league action since he was struck in the face by a fastball 2 1/2 months ago.
"It's incredible," Lara said of his successful debut, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. "It's something I've dreamed about since I was a kid, me and my family. I just don't have any words."