The Nationals’ low point in 2009 was a weekend series at home against the Marlins. They lost all three games after entering the ninth inning with the lead.
This weekend’s Battle of the Beltways in Camden Yards brought the same sinking feeling, with the Nationals giving up leads of 6-0, 5-0 and 3-0 in losing a trio of one-run games to the team with the worst record in baseball.
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At least this year’s nadir came in June, not in April.
Talk about déjà vu. Deflation comes in many forms on the diamond; blowing leads is perhaps the most disheartening. Manager Jim Riggleman, however, remains positive.
“We played hard. We played good,” Riggleman said. “But it’s just not happening for us. It’s going to. If we play with that effort and cleanness that we played with [Saturday] and [Sunday], we’re going to win our share of games.”
How unusual in baseball is it to blow a lead of five runs or more? This weekend was the first time in franchise history (dating to 1969) that the Nats/Expos lost consecutive games after leading by five or more runs. In the Nationals’ six previous years, they had lost a total of seven games after leading by five or more runs.
“Anytime you have leads and you give them up, that’s frustrating,” Riggleman said. “I like the fact that the glass is half full.”
But Riggleman has to be troubled that his established formula — grab an early lead and lean on stellar relief pitching from Drew Storen (seventh inning), Tyler Clippard (eighth) and Matt Capps (ninth) — was unreliable at Camden Yards.
The Nats have lost 12 of their last 15. Their downward spiral comes at a curious time, considering the bump in attendance, interest and hope brought by rookie sensation Stephen Strasburg, who pitches Monday night in Atlanta.
For the silver lining, Riggleman can look back to 2009, when the Nationals — coming off those three devastating losses to Florida — traveled to Atlanta and won two straight, reversing the trend by protecting one-run leads in the ninth inning.
Déjà vu all over again?
