Manager Blake Butera says Nationals ‘don’t deserve to win if we’re going to walk that many guys’

After left-hander Andrew Alvarez issued a two-out walk in the sixth inning, one might have expected Nationals manager Blake Butera to come out from the dugout to make a pitching change.

But Butera left him in the game to face catcher Christian Vázquez, the Astros’ No. 9 hitter, with runners on first and third. Alvarez threw a 92-mph four-seam fastball in the heart of the zone that Vázquez sent to right field for an RBI single to give the Astros a three-run lead. The skipper then brought in right-hander Justin Lawrence to face the top of the Astros’ lineup, and Lawrence struck out second baseman Jose Altuve to end the frame.

Facing a deficit, the Nationals will give their starter more of a runway, Butera said after Tuesday’s 6-3 loss. That way, if the offense does enough to mount a comeback, the team’s high-leverage relievers will still be available.

Alvarez faced Houston’s lineup three times and threw a career-high 5 2/3 innings Tuesday, but he allowed five runs on four hits with three strikeouts and five walks.

“I just gotta be a better attacking zone,” he said. “I thought I matched up well with their hitters, just gotta be better, gotta give the team a chance.”

For Butera, it wasn’t the hits that bothered him — it was the tentative approach.

“I don’t know if it was pitching scared, that’s what it felt like,” he said.

In the fourth inning, Butera didn’t love that Alvarez threw a 3-0 breaking ball to second-year outfielder Cam Smith that missed low and inside, putting runners on first and second with no outs.

“If we’re gonna go down, we got to go down attacking. I’ve said that from the beginning of the year,” he said. “I was just surprised to see that.”

He also acknowledged in his pregame remarks that Washington is not always putting its relievers in the best spots.

Butera said he would “100% wear Cole Henry’s poor second inning” in Monday night’s series opener. The right-hander pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, was brought back out for the eighth and promptly surrendered four runs while recording two outs.

“We did Cole a disservice because we didn’t have him throw multiple innings at Triple-A,” Butera said. “A lot of times when we bring players up from Triple-A, it’s because our bullpen is thin and we’re going to need them to throw multiple innings. We’ve seen it with Cole Henry, we’ve seen it with Zak Kent, we’ve seen it with Paxton Schultz. Pretty much every guy we brought up from Triple-A, they’re not here just to throw one inning because they’re coming up because we need coverage.”

The Nationals needed five relievers in Sunday’s loss to cover for right-hander Cade Cavalli, who lasted only 2 1/3 innings.

That required longer outings from Miles Mikoas on Monday and Alvarez on Tuesday, even if they didn’t have their best form. Washington scored 12 runs behind Mikolas, who conceded seven earned runs over six innings, only for the game to nearly slip away with Henry’s four runs.

The lineup didn’t have the same firepower Tuesday, going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and leaving 11 men on base.

Command issues surfaced again when left-hander Matt Krook — who was claimed Sunday from the A’s and activated Tuesday — was brought on to pitch the seventh inning. He struck out All-Star Yordan Álvarez before surrendering a single to Isaac Paredes and allowing Christian Walker to reach base on a hit by pitch.

He induced a groundout to third baseman Curtis Mead, who touched the bag to get the lead runner. Then he walked Zach Dezenzo on eight pitches to load the bases and was replaced by Riley Cornelio, who struck out Brice Matthews to end the threat.

Despite their problems on the mound, the Nationals still had a chance to send the game into extra innings.

Trailing 6-2 in the ninth, the Nationals made a late rally. José Teña hit a solo homer with one out, and James Wood followed it with a ground-ball single.

After Andrés Chaparro struck out, Mead singled and advanced to second on a throwing error by Nick Allen, and All-Star CJ Abrams walked to load the bases. Dylan Crews came on to pinch hit for Keibert Ruiz and laid off the first two pitches from Josh Hader. The next two were strikes and he chased a high fastball to end the game.

The Nationals have four games left before the All-Star break, which couldn’t come at a better time for the club. Their starters have pitched the second-fewest innings in the majors, while their bullpen has thrown the most.

Walking seven batters isn’t a winning formula. Butera said that the coaching staff will continue to tell Alvarez that he has the stuff to compete in the majors, and that he has to “attack these guys, make them swing the bats.”

His inability to throw strikes ultimately put the team in too deep of a hole Tuesday night.

“Honestly, we don’t deserve to win if we’re gonna walk that many guys,” Butera said.