Defense, bullpen faulter after good start by Zimmermann
After a tightly-played 2-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves in their season opener on Thursday, the Washington Nationals declared it the best way to lose. Three days later, the Nats demonstrated the worst way.
In a 11-2 defeat to Atlanta on Sunday, Washington committed several inning-extending sins, got woeful work from its bullpen, and mustered just four hits before a bi-partisan crowd of 22,210 at Nationals Park.
Officially, the Nats (1-2) made just one error and permitted one unearned run. But there were many outs to be made that weren’t. Rookie Danny Espinosa struggled at second base and right fielder Jayson Werth misplayed a catchable fly ball into a gift double for the second straight game.
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| Nats at Marlins |
| When » Tuesday, 7:10 p.m. |
| Where » Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens |
| TV » MASN |
| Radio » 106.7 FM/1500 AM |
| Jason Marquis faces Anibal Sanchez in the opener of a three-game series against the Marlins (1-2). |
“It was a sloppy game,” Nats manager Jim Riggleman said. “We just didn’t play good baseball today.”
Starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, who gave up four hits, three walks, and three runs (two earned) in six innings, deserved better. He could have departed the game with a 1-1 tie, rather than a 3-1 deficit.
“We made some good plays and we had a couple little mishaps,” Zimmermann said. “We could have avoided those and saved a couple of runs. But it’s baseball.”
The first came in the opening inning when a potential inning-ending, double-play grounder popped out of Espinosa’s glove and the Nats settled for one out, allowing Braves catcher Brian McCann (three hits, four RBI) to bring home center fielder Nate McLouth with single.
In the fifth inning, Espinosa dropped a cut-off throw on Martin Prado’s double, allowing Braves pitcher Tim Hudson to score an unearned run for a 3-1 lead. Espinosa might have incurred another error as well, as he over-threw third base, but Zimmermann, backing up the play, flagged down the wild toss.
“Those are my mistakes that I understand I made, and they’ll be fixed,” Espinosa said.
It was a departure from Espinosa’s stellar work in the field in the Nationals’ first two games. Helping ease the pain were his two hits, half the Nats’ total against Hudson and two relievers.
After allowing four of the first seven hitters to reach, Hudson mesmerized the Nationals, getting 18 outs from the final 17 batters he faced. In his seven innings, Hudson surrendered three hits, all singles, one walk and fanned five.
“Once he got the lead, he got tougher,” said Nats center fielder Rick Ankiel, who went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
Almost as unsightly as the Nats’ glovework, were the bullpen struggles of Todd Coffey, Doug Slaten, Brian Broderick and Chad Gaudin. In two innings, the foursome allowed eight hits, three walks, and eight runs. Broderick, in his first big-league appearance, balked home a run.
“I think he was probably a little nervous,” Riggleman said. “You add that to we’re not playing good behind him, balls finding holes all over the place. Just an ugly day.”
