Bullpen weighs lack of use versus overuse after Strasburg leaves early

In a game where your starter lasts only two innings, the bullpen goes into action with all hands on deck.

The only problem for the Nationals on Friday night in a 9-5 loss to the Giants was that it was the third time in the last five games the bullpen has had to go at least seven innings.

On Saturday in Atlanta, the relievers pitched seven innings of a 14-inning contest. On Sunday, when Jeremy Hellickson left injured in the first inning, the bullpen had to log 8 2/3 innings.

On Friday against the Giants, Wander Suero and Brandon Kintzler each allowed three runs. Suero finished two innings, but Kintzler was only able to record one out, allowing three hits and hitting one batter.

Manager Davey Martinez had to employ six relievers after Stephen Strasburg was pulled with shoulder inflammation after two frames.

"They were a little rusty," Martinez said of the bullpen. "The sinkerballers, the balls were up. That happens and we had days off. We'll come back tomorrow and do it again."

It's been an unusual week for the bullpen. Aside from the Saturday and Sunday work, they had Monday and Thursday off, and were used for just four innings in the Tampa Bay series on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"I've asked them to do a lot of things, and they've performed well," Martinez said. "We've had Hellickson go down and needed them. Now Stras today. Hopefully, Gio (Gonzalez) can go out there tomorrow and give us a good seven innings and we'll get straightened out."

Despite the bullpen allowing three runs in the middle innings, the club fought back. The Giants had raced out to a 5-0 lead, but the Nats whittled that advantage down to 6-5 after six innings.

Then they gave it all back with three runs surrendered in the seventh to effectively end the comeback bid.

"They're swinging the bats really well," Martinez said. "We were hoping to keep it right there, but they came back and scored some more runs. But I don't feel like we're ever out of it, even at four runs. I thought with our lineup, anything can happen. We just fell short today. Tomorrow, we'll come back and do it again."

Some arguments for the bullpen's rough outings center around too much usage - back-to-back days or long innings - but Kintzler felt Friday's ineffectiveness was because he hadn't been used recently. That contributed to his pitches not having enough sink to them and turning up flat. Kintzler last pitched June 3 in Atlanta.

"Yeah, a little too fresh or energetic, maybe too strong," Kintzler said. "I guess the ball was just staying straight a little bit or moving too early. I don't know. Who knows? Just didn't work out today."

Kintzler wouldn't use the Atlanta series as an excuse for overuse by the rest of the 'pen. He noted how well Justin Miller has pitched, throwing another scoreless inning Friday, striking out two.

"I think we all feel pretty good, especially over the last series," Kintzler said. "I think we recovered well from the Atlanta series. I know I haven't thrown for five, six days. Most of the guys haven't. Just a little too fresh for us, I think. Like Miller has thrown a lot, he is locked in right now. So that's good. Let's get it tomorrow. What, we play in 10 hours?"

Kintzler said the relievers understood what was in store for them after Strasburg was pulled so early in the game. They had to go through the same dilemma in the Hellickson start when the veteran left in the first inning with a hamstring problem.

"You want to throw up," Kintzler said half-jokingly. "No, I mean now you start thinking about who is going to cover what. Don't really care about the score at the time. Then, all of a sudden, the game gets close and now you start thinking about real game situations. But right when that happens, you just start thinking about trying to protect everyone else, cover some innings and get some outs."

The heavy workload for the bullpen in three of its last five games is softened a bit because they have nine relievers available. But with a quick turnaround, they certainly hope Gio Gonzalez can give them a good amount of innings in the noon start Saturday.