Nats can't make most of quality pitching performance (updated)

Facing baseball’s hottest team, the Nationals turned to four of their least-experienced pitchers tonight, then watched as Jake Irvin, Jordan Weems, Joe La Sorsa and Amos Willingham did everything in their power to minimize damage and give their teammates a chance to beat the Reds.

Presented with that opportunity, the Nats lineup faltered, leaving the biggest crowd of the season on South Capitol Street to watch a postgame fireworks show frustrated following a 3-2 loss.

The game was there for the taking all night long, if only somebody standing at the plate in a Nationals uniform was willing to take it. Alas, they managed only hit with a man in scoring position, misfiring just about every time they had a shot at tying the game or even taking the lead.

"We were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. That hurt us from the first inning on," manager Davey Martinez said. "I talk about it all the time: Drive in that runner from third with less than two outs. We've got to find a way to do that. It's a different ballgame if we do that."

Returning home from a highly successful, 6-3 trip to San Diego, Seattle and Philadelphia, the Nats reverted back to the form that has plagued them all year long in this ballpark. They are now an inexplicable 13-28 at home, worst in the National League despite a very respectable 21-22 record on the road.

Tonight’s loss was all the more frustrating because of the identities of the pitchers who held the Reds (winners now in 17 of their last 21 games) in check. Irvin churned out six quality innings, allowing three runs. Weems, La Sorsa and Willingham then combined for three scoreless innings of relief, all of that coming with their team trailing by one run.

"All of them came in and did their job," Martinez said. "We've got to come back tomorrow and score some runs."

A season-high paid crowd of 36,290 anticipating baseball and postgame fireworks had to wait 25 minutes for the game to start, the threat of nearby rain enough to convince officials to push back first pitch. (It never did actually rain on site.)

Perhaps worried there might be more storms coming at some point in the evening, both starters worked quick and kept the game moving at a brisk pace. Irvin retired the side in the top of the first, and though he surrendered a run in the second on back-to-back two-out hits, he minimized the damage and completed the third with his pitch count a mere 39.

Irvin’s only real mistake all night unfortunately cost him quite a bit. He grooved a 95 mph fastball to Joey Votto in the top of the fourth, and one of the best hitters of his generation hammered it to left-center for a two-run homer and a 3-0 Cincinnati lead.

"I missed my spot," Irvin said, not needing to elaborate further.

Even so, Irvin finished strong, even when tasked with facing the lineup a third time. He retired six consecutive batters to complete his start, walking off the mound at the end of the sixth having held the Reds to three runs on 89 pitches.

It was Irvin’s fourth start since the Nationals skipped his turn in the rotation and gave him a chance to work out some mechanical glitches. The rookie has responded by allowing three or fewer runs in each of those starts, giving his team a chance to win each time.

"I'm just trying to keep us in the ballgame, give us a chance to win every time out," he said. "That's the biggest thing, for sure. I've taken steps forward every single time."

Irvin gave the Nats a chance, but would they make the most of it? They struggled to make the most of their scoring opportunities against Red starter Luke Weaver, who entered with a 6.96 ERA but departed having seen only one run score while he was on the mound. That came via Jeimer Candelario’s leadoff homer in the fourth, a 414-foot laser to straightaway center field for his 12th home run of the season.

Otherwise, the Nationals had all kinds of trouble delivering in key spots. They squandered Lane Thomas’ leadoff double in the first, with Candelario and Dominic Smith (bumped up to the cleanup spot, with slumping Joey Meneses moved down to the No. 5 position) each stranding Thomas on third base. Thomas had a chance himself to drive in a run in the fifth but popped up with two on and one out.

"You could look at a lot of situations like that," Thomas said. "I flew out with a chance to drive a run in that one inning, maybe a couple if you hit a double or something. You can think about that stuff all you want, but we've just got to get better in those situations and move guys and drive them in in those close games. I think that's the difference."

The Nats’ first hit with a runner in scoring position finally came in the sixth when Keibert Ruiz lined a single to right off reliever Ian Gibaut to score Candelario and cut the deficit to 3-2. It would remain right there to the bitter end, the team's last chance to make something happen squandered when pinch-runner Stone Garrett was thrown out trying to steal second with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

"We've got to kind of be aggressive, but in that situation right there, you've got to be 1,000 percent sure you can make it," Martinez said. "Obviously, we weren't smacking the ball the way we wanted to today. I'm not going to fault him for being aggressive. But in that situation, he's got to know he's going to make it."