Nationals’ pitching falters in blowout loss to Mariners

Zack Littell couldn’t finish Friday night. Not the at-bat, and not the second inning.​

The Nationals right-hander was removed after 1 2/3 innings after being tattooed for five runs on four hits on 56 pitches. The veteran got to two-strike counts on six hitters in the second inning.

But time after time the Mariners fought back, fouling off pitches and elongating at-bats. The Mariners entered Friday with the 11th-highest chase rate in the majors, but they weren’t biting when Littell expanded the strike zone. They chased only 8% of his pitches.

“I think they had a really good plan tonight. They executed really well,” Littell said.

Finishing off hitters is where starters with plus stuff thrive. They can overpower helpless batters in the zone with heaters. Those who don’t possess that firepower have to get favorable counts and win with guile.

Littell excelled at getting ahead, but he didn’t have the finish in Friday’s 10-2 loss after a more than two-hour weather delay. The Nationals fell to 12-21 at home.

He got to a two-strike count on the first three batters during the second inning and allowed a single, a walk and a two-run triple. A sacrifice fly drove in a run before a single and a Colt Emerson home run put the Nationals in a deflating 5-0 hole. After Littell induced a lineout, manager Blake Butera made the change.

“I know he’s frustrated with it, just trying to figure out what went wrong and why that is,” Butera said. “We’ll take a look at it as a group and figure that out, but I think the lack of swing and miss and the ability to put guys away once he did get to two strikes is what stood out the most.”

Right-hander Riley Cornelio recorded the final out of the second inning. Cornelio, who was stretched out as a starter at Triple-A Rochester, threw 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on three hits, with two walks and two strikeouts.

Paxton Schultz allowed a solo homer and three hits over two innings after giving up five runs in one inning on Wednesday.

For Littell, it was a bad outing after a string of impressive ones. Before Friday’s game, he was sporting a 2.27 ERA since May 3. Now Littell will return to the drawing board to uncover what happened.

“When you’re not throwing, you know, 97-98 mph, you got to be fine with your command and have really good location,” Butera said. “I think he was in the zone a lot. It was just, when he got to two strikes, he just couldn’t get that pitch out of the zone that they would chase.”

This wasn’t what the Nationals were hoping for after Wednesday’s inconceivable loss to the Giants. The Mariners are one of the few teams in the American League with a record above .500.

Mariners starter Bryce Miller was sharp and efficient. He allowed two runs on four hits over eight innings, with seven strikeouts and no walks. More than half of Miller’s pitchers were in the zone. He held the Nationals’ vaunted offense down by throwing his fastball and playing his slider and splitter off it.

Outside of a fourth-inning solo shot by James Wood and another solo homer by Dylan Crews in the eighth, the Nationals didn’t threaten.

Now the Nationals return to .500 after Friday’s loss. That loss against the Giants halted the team’s momentum from its West Coast road trip. The Nationals still were impressive on the six-game trip, going 4-2, but that blown win was crushing.

Losing to the Mariners isn’t a sign of anything major in the aggregate. They have a potent lineup and a stout pitching staff. But, on the heels of Wednesday’s meltdown, it set a bad tone for the rest of the six-game homestand.

Wood said the confidence isn’t wavering in the clubhouse and that the Nationals believe they’re a good team.

“You kind of find out who you are in sort of games like that,” Wood said of the past two losses. “It’s very small margins, so just improving on those margins.”

This article has been updated.