Nationals begin final series before trade deadline with loss to Braves

ATLANTA — The Nationals got pitching reinforcements for Thursday’s game.

No, it wasn’t from a trade adding an established starter to the rotation. Nor was it a high-velocity reliever joining the bullpen to stop the late-game bleeding. But the team getting Jake Irvin back from injury is not insignificant.

Irvin’s performance was uneven in the Nationals’ 5-4 loss. He allowed five runs on three hits with two walks and a strikeout. His stuff hovered around its yearly averages.

“It was great,” Irvin said. “Funny to come back to the place where you last threw, but felt really good.”

Irvin’s last start came in a May 23 start against Atlanta, when the right-hander was dialed in. His stuff was up, and he mowed through the Braves’ lineup for five no-hit innings. After the fifth inning, he came back to the dugout and complained of shoulder tightness. He described the removal as precautionary but ultimately missed two-plus months of action.

Through four innings Thursday, Irvin picked up where he left off. He cruised through the Braves’ lineup despite allowing some hard-hit balls that didn’t find grass. But the Braves broke through in the fifth with the Nationals leading by two runs.

Irvin recorded the first two outs of the inning but allowed a single to Dominic Smith — James Wood got a bad jump on the line drive and compounded the mistake by throwing behind Smith, allowing him to reach second. Mike Yastrzemski then pounced on Wood’s mistake, launching a two-run homer to right field.

“He just looked like his first step got stuck,” manager Blake Butera said. “He wasn’t sure whether he’ll go back or in. Then, once he did recover, I thought he was going to get to that; looked like it just went in and out of his glove.”

Things snowballed in the sixth inning as Irvin issued back-to-back walks before being replaced by lefty Carson Palmquist. Palmquist induced a flyout and a groundout but allowed a two-run single to Ozzie Albies.

The offense supplied Washington with a three-run lead heading into the bottom of the fourth after a Luis García Jr. solo homer and two Daylen Lile solo shots.

The Nationals also missed opportunities to pad their lead. They had runners on first and second with no outs but weren’t able to drive a run across home plate. Washington cut the lead to one on García’s line-drive RBI triple — which left him a single shy of the cycle. But the Nationals couldn’t get that big hit to drive him in.

Butera said at-bats change with runners in scoring position because of how badly the group wants to win. Washington finished 0-for-9 with RISP. It did not score after putting runners on second and third with no outs in the fifth.

“I think everybody wants to be the hero,” Butera said. “I love that they want it that badly, but it’s honing that in a little bit and understanding like you almost need to do less at those times.”

The Braves executing with RISP — 2-for-4 — proved to be the difference. But, with a change in approach, the offense should improve in those situations.

Getting Irvin back helps the team’s pitching depth, and having him pitch into the sixth is notable for the trickle-down-effect on the rest of the pitching staff. It slots guys back into roles they’re more comfortable with and adds a starter the team hopes can go deep into games.

While recovering, Irvin said, he worked on his cutter and changeup, specifically being able to execute those pitches in any count.

That would allow Irvin to keep hitters off balance. The cutter was his third-most-used pitch, and its velocity was up 2.2 mph from the yearly average. The changeup was up 1.7 mph and used entirely against left-handers.

This is the biggest series of the year for the Nationals. It’s their final opportunity to show the front office this is a group worth investing in after years of playing meaningless baseball in August and September.

“We’re playing competitive baseball, and that’s what it’s all about this time of year,” Irvin said. “It’s been really cool coming to the field, going through our process, trying to stay pitch to pitch, but it’s a lot of fun.”

This article has been updated.