Nationals pitchers stifle Diamondbacks; bats shine in series win

PHOENIX — This is the Zack Littell the Nationals hoped they were getting when they signed the veteran right-hander to a one-year, $7 million deal.

The Nationals envisioned Littell eating innings (he pitched 186 2/3 last season for the Rays and Reds) and serving as a reliable presence. But the beginning of his Washington tenure was strenuous, as he posted a 7.85 over his first six appearances.

But since May 3 Littell has been one of the team’s best pitchers, and his improved play continued in the Nationals’ 6-1 win over the Diamondbacks on Saturday, clinching a series win for Washington. He’s allowed two runs or fewer in seven consecutive outings.

“Thought he threw the ball outstanding,” manager Blake Butera said. “He was making it tough on the opposing hitters. They seemed like they were chasing a lot out of the zone, especially on his off-speed.”

On Saturday, 74% of Littell’s first pitches were strikes. Getting ahead is paramount for any pitcher, particularly Littell. Entering the start, hitters were slashing .320/.448/.587 when they were ahead in the count against him. When he was in a favorable count, he held hitters to a .217/.217/.237 slash line.

“I felt like I was able to get them to follow me out of the zone pretty quickly as soon as they were in counts where they didn’t have much leverage,” said Littell, who threw five innings, allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts.

Littell was pitching a gem — he had a perfect game until the fourth inning — but ran into trouble in the fifth with a two-run lead.

After allowing a leadoff single, he recorded back-to-back outs before leaving a slider over the middle of the plate that rookie LuJames Groover drove to center field for an RBI single. Groover advanced to third after Jacob Young was charged with an error for allowing the ball to roll past him.

Littell then walked Tommy Troy before inducing an inning-ending groundout to keep the Nationals in the lead. Littell said he felt he “let his foot off the gas” in the fifth, which resulted in the traffic he dealt with.

“[I] got out of what I was trying to do, and it cost me a couple of hits and a run,” Littell said. “Overall, felt like today was a really good job of just staying ahead of guys.”

In the seventh, the Nationals provided insurance runs when Dylan Crews’ solo homer and Nasim Nuñez’s sacrifice bunt extended the lead to 4-1. In the ninth, the Nationals added two more on Nuñez’s single and Keibert Ruiz’s fielder’s choice RBI.

Because of Littell’s strong outing, Butera was able to line up the game the way he wanted for his bullpen, which was nails closing out the game — Brad Lord, Orlando Ribalta and Mitchell Parker combined to throw four scoreless innings.

Despite his run of success — he posted a 2.35 ERA in May — Littell is taking things day by day.

“The goal was always just to make strides start to start,” he said. “I’ve got a pretty good grasp at this point on what I do well and what leads to success. Today was another good step, and just happy to come out with a win.”

Saturday’s win clinched a series victory over an athletic Diamondbacks team that is fighting for ground in the National League’s wild-card picture after the Nationals suffered a sweep against the Marlins. The Nationals improved their road record to 21-12.

“That’s really what [the] Major League Baseball season is about,” Littell said. “You got 162 of them, and the competitor in all of us wants to get hung up on that one game that we probably could have won, whether it be a mistake or one pitch or something that we could have done better.

“For the guys to show up the next day and get back after it against a really good Arizona team that is coming off the walk-off win, it’s super impressive.”

This article has been updated.