Nationals’ quiet offensive day spoils strong pitching performance in loss to Blue Jays

The few times Nationals fans could cheer were when they were saluting 2019 World Series champion Max Scherzer, who could have made his final start at Nationals Park.

The offense was largely quiet against the Blue Jays in Monday’s series-opening 3-2 loss. Early on, the Nationals produced quality at-bats against their former ace. In the first, they loaded the bases with one out, but Dylan Crews struck out on a 3-2 changeup and Daylen Lile grounded out to end the inning.

“Just a really good bullpen,” manager Blake Butera said. “We knew that, and I think that if we could do it over again, we had to take advantage right out of the gates when we had them on the ropes there in the first inning. Not scoring there, first and third, nobody out to start that inning is is a gut-punch.”

Washington scored its first run in the second after a two-out single by Nasim Nuñez, a James Wood walk and an RBI double by Luis García Jr.

They had another opportunity in the third when CJ Abrams walked, stole second and stole third. With one out, Daylen Lile fouled off six two-strike pitches from Scherzer before whiffing on a curveball in the 12th pitch of the at-bat.

After throwing 75 pitches, Scherzer’s day was done: 2 2/3 innings, four hits, one earned run, three walks, four strikeouts.

He walked off the mound to a loud ovation and waved to the Washington crowd.

With the trade deadline a week away, any loss hurts the team as they fight to avoid a sell-off. The offense has shown that it’s one of the most formidable in the sport, but the pitching staff has largely lagged behind. So when the team receives a strong pitching performance and can’t record a win, it hurts.

“It just felt like a night where where we had opportunities and we just couldn’t capitalize, and it’s frustrating doing that when the pitching was as good as it was tonight for us,” Butera said.

Eddy Yean, who opened Monday’s game, allowed two runs on three hits over 2 1/3 innings. Andrew Alvarez then kept the Nationals in the game, allowing one run on four hits over 4 1/3 innings despite issuing three walks.

Alvarez was optioned to Triple-A Rochester after the game. Despite limiting hard contact and inducing a high number of groundballs, the lefty can get into trouble with uncompetitive pitches that ratchet up his pitch count. Butera hoped tonight’s game is a reminder to Alvarez of how good he can be when he’s throwing strikes.

“The way he finished the game was really good, but early on, just felt like things maybe sped up a little bit at times,” he said. “The walks, and he had three walks tonight, and giving up the stolen base there to Kazuma Okamoto — that was his first stolen base on the year — ended up being a run there. Just things like that within the game, being able to slow it down and take control of."

The Nationals haven’t shown the ability to build any momentum in the wild-card race. Their longest win streak this season is four, and their longest losing streak is five, which is why the team finds themselves just over .500 in late July.

Before Monday’s game, the Nationals had a 9.6% chance of clinching a wild-card spot, according to FanGraphs. Though it’s unlikely they reach October, playing meaningful baseball is still possible for an organization that hasn’t been in the race this deep into the season since 2019.

Butera said pregame that the team is treating each series as a playoff series from here on out, and that the looming Aug. 3 trade deadline heightens the team’s urgency. They value every game, but they know how critical this stretch is.

“Every game is important — definitely right now it does feel a little bit more important,” García said through a team interpreter.

The acquisition of left-hander Connelly Early could significantly upgrade the rotation. Part of the calculus in acquiring Early was that, once he recovers from left elbow inflammation, he’ll showcase the promise that made him a coveted prospect in the Red Sox organization. He’s young enough to be a part of the team’s future, while also good enough to impact this season.

While they away Early’s Washington debut, the players are trying to give president of baseball operations Paul Toboni a lot to think about as he weighs his trade options.

“If we want to play winning baseball, if we want to play in October, we have to capitalize on those those innings early on,” Butera said. “We had runners in scoring position with less than two outs, and those come back to bite you when you face bullpens like this.”