Nationals drop series opener to Diamondbacks 6-3

The Nationals aren't going to score 23 runs every night, and it's not going out on a limb to say so. But neither are they going to score six or seven runs every night, which is what they averaged in April.

There are going to be nights like this one, when the lineup produces a couple of clutch hits but misses several opportunities for more. And on those nights, the Nats are going to have to rely on their pitching staff to win games.

The staff couldn't deliver in tonight's series opener against the Diamondbacks, a 6-3 loss in which starter Tanner Roark needed a whopping 125 pitches to complete six innings and struggling relievers Blake Treinen and Joe Blanton couldn't prevent key insurance runs from crossing the plate.

Returning to the park 48 hours after their record-setting 23-run explosion against the Mets, the Nationals went down quietly and with little fanfare tonight against the Diamondbacks, who produced just enough at the plate and then got some effective pitching from starter Taijuan Walker and their relief corps.

It was clear from the outset both starting pitchers were going to be put to work on this night. Roark needed 33 pitches to face only four batters in the top of the first (all went to full counts) and Walker needed 28 pitches to face five batters in the bottom of the inning.

The two right-handers slogged their way through the rest of their respective outings, pushed by their managers to provide as many innings as possible.

Walker topped the 100-pitch mark in the fourth inning, allowing three runs that scored via RBI singles from Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy. He finally got pulled with two outs in the fifth, his pitch count at 117 (one shy of his career high).

Roark took it several steps farther. A pair of fourth-inning homers by Jake Lamb and Chris Herrmann left him and the Nationals trailing 4-3, but he kept chugging after that, allowed to take the mound for the top of the sixth with his pitch count at an even 100.

With two outs in the sixth, the left-handed Herrmann at the plate, Oliver Pérez ready in the bullpen and Roark's pitch count now at 119, Dusty Baker figured to emerge from the dugout. Instead, the manager let his right-hander go after one more batter, a move that paid off when Roark struck out Herrmann on his 125th pitch of the night.

That was a career high for Roark and the 14th-highest pitch total for anybody in club history. (Eleven of the previous 13 starts all belong to Livan Hernandez, with one apiece for Esteban Loaiza and Gio Gonzalez.)

Trailing 4-3 through the middle innings, the Nationals needed perfect relief to keep the deficit where it was. But Treinen couldn't offer that, allowing a run in the top of the seventh. The struggling right-hander has been without a clean, 1-2-3 inning since his save on opening day.

Blanton added to his woes when he served up a leadoff home run to Jeremy Hazelbaker in the top of the ninth, the fifth homer the veteran reliever has allowed in 11 innings this season.

Those extra runs made life even more difficult for the Nats lineup, which had some late opportunities but couldn't convert, finishing the night 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.