The Nationals’ once-mighty offense continues to struggle in loss to Phillies

PHILADELPHIA — What a difference a week makes.

The Washington Nationals’ lineup Tuesday night didn’t feature Luis García Jr., Curtis Mead or James Wood. García and Mead were both traded in an effort to beef up the pitching depth throughout the organization, and Wood was placed on the 10-day injured list with a mild oblique strain.

The offense has thrived with a next-man-up mentality this season, but that’s hard to replicate without the trio of players missing at Citizens Bank Park in a 5-0 shutout loss to the Phillies.

“In times like this, it’s easy to hang your head,” CJ Abrams said. “But you got to stay strong and keep your chin up and take care of the task at hand.”

As the team is in the midst of its worst stretch of the season, the Nationals need their supporting players to step into starring roles and seize those opportunities. Over their seven-game losing streak, the Nationals (55-60) scored three runs or fewer six times.

Among qualified Washington hitters, Daylen Lile’s .715 OPS is the second-highest after Wood and Abrams. Injuries happen over the course of a 162-game season, but the Nationals had been pretty fortunate until Wood’s injury — catcher Drew Millas is the only other position player to be on the injured list this season.

Resilience has been a hallmark for the Nationals. Their ability to consistently bounce back defined the first half. Manager Blake Butera pointed out that most teams have dealt with extended absences from key contributors, and now they’re no different.

“We can’t act like: ‘Oh, look at us ... we lost this guy and this guy’” Butera said before the game. “Every team has gone through it. Every team is going to go through it. Now it’s up to the resiliency you mentioned. It’s up to somebody picking up the slack, and looking at this like an opportunity to showcase their skills.”

Abrams’ second-inning leadoff double immediately got the Nationals a runner in scoring position. But he remained stationed at second base after two flyouts and a groundout ended the top half of the inning.

With one out in the fourth, Brady House hit a line-drive single and advanced to second on a passed ball. Abrams, the team’s best hitter with runners in scoring position, was called out on strikes, but Harry Ford’s two-out walk kept the inning alive. Jacob Young struck out to end the scoring threat.

In the seventh, Ford hit a one-run double to again give the Nationals a scoring opportunity. But, as has often happened over the past two weeks, they stranded him.

“There’s a lot going on with where we’re at,” Butera said after the loss. “We’re in the middle of an eight-game stretch on the road against two of the best teams in baseball. You blend in the trade deadline, losing players like Curtis, Luis, [All-Star lefty Foster Griffin], while we’re in this eight-game stretch ... it’s not easy.

“But at the end of the day, we got to find ways to to get through this.”

The Nationals were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position Tuesday, and are 3-for-46 in those situations on this eight-game road trip. They’ve struggled to cash in runs at the level they did earlier in the season.

“The offense has been really, really good all year,” said right-hander Zack Littell, who allowed four runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. “So for this little stretch where we’re not putting up six, seven [or] eight runs in a game, it’s our job as pitchers to try and pick up that slack.”

Littell acknowledged that the losing streak coupled with the emotional ramifications of the trade deadline had been a mental challenge for the young roster.

As a nine-year veteran, Littell knows the roller-coaster ride of a baseball season, filled with injuries and slumps. To this point, the Nationals had been mostly healthy and stopped losing streaks before they escalated. They have hovered around .500 for most of this season, never being more than five games under .500, or four games over.

But with many of their deadline additions still developing in the minors, and the offense in a significant rut, the Nationals will have to dig deep to stop the bleeding.

“As we play longer and longer, guys are getting worn down,” Littell said. “The really good teams are going to continue to get stronger and stronger, especially after adding guys, and we’re just gonna have to keep playing the game that we played up to this point.”

The Nationals’ resolve is being tested right now. Abrams said he’s reminding the guys each day to keep their head up regardless of the outcome of the game. Butera is meeting with pitchers and hitters regularly, but given the adversity that has hit the team over the past week, “it feels like one thing after another.”

Adversity can either bring a team together, or tear it apart. It’s also significant that the players the Nationals traded were among the most respected in the clubhouse. Without them, new leaders have to step up. But earning that resect is not easy when players aren’t performing, and the team isn’t winning.

Veterans like Miles Mikolas, Jake Irvin, Abrams and Littell have to be that calming voice. Baseball seasons are tests of endurance, and the Nationals are experiencing that. Winning games in the first half boosted the team’s confidence and restored respectability to a franchise that had spent years mired in irrelevance.

“I know it feels like the sky’s falling a little bit right now, but nothing changes,” Littell said. “We’ve had that conversation with guys throughout the locker room. This team still has the ability to go out there and play competitive baseball, and beat really good teams and put ourselves in a good spot going into mid-to-late September.”