The Nats followed up a 7-19 month of June with one of their most pathetic performances of the season this afternoon. We knew this Tigers team was good; we knew this would be a challenging series. We knew all of this, and I am still baffled at what we just watched. My mom always said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” In an effort to follow that advice, I’ll end my intro here and just get right into the game action.

This one was off the rails from the very beginning. Trevor Williams just did not have it this afternoon, and the Tigers took full advantage in the top of the first. They scattered seven hits and a walk in the first frame, but the big blows were a pair of three-run homers off the bats of Riley Greene and Jake Rogers. Trevor Williams needed 54 pitches to get out of the top of the first inning, and did so down 6-0.

The game remained there until the third inning when Trey Sweeney added a run with a sacrifice fly, extending the Detroit lead to 7-0. That would be all we saw from Williams this afternoon, considering this was game one of a double-header, a three-inning outing was far from what Dave Martinez and this ballclub needed from Trevor.

What they did need was some runs, which, unlike on the other side, just weren’t coming in this one. The Tigers saw a weakness in the Nats’ ability to hit left-handed pitching, as they used the opener strategy with Tyler Holton and Brant Hurter to keep the Nationals’ offense silent until the fifth inning.

• Tyler Holton: 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 28 pitches
• Trevor Williams: 3 innings, 9 hits, 7 runs (all earned), 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, 86 pitches

This Greene guy is pretty special. In the top of the fourth, he added to his day with a second three-run shot, making it a 10-0 game. This swing of the bat would put all thoughts of a comeback win out of mind, and the thinking turned to “let’s just even it up tonight.”

The Nats finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth as James Wood (who else) scored CJ Abrams with a single to left. Unfortunately, that was all they got and the score would sit at 10-1 headed into the sixth.

The Tigers got that run right back immediately in the top of the sixth as Spencer Torkelson welcomed Eduardo Salazar to the game with a solo shot to lead off the inning and make it 11-1. The Nationals got a leadoff single from Alex Call in the bottom of the frame, followed by walks from Daylen Lile, Jacob Young, and an RBI walk from Josh Bell to bring a run home and make it 11-2.

The score would remain 11-2 the rest of the way home, which leads me to the biggest positive we had over this entire game. Andry Lara, welcome to Major League Baseball. A guy who was a breakout prospect in the Nats’ system last season has battled injury and had some struggles in the minors this year, but nevertheless, got the call to be the 27th man for today’s double-header. He got the ball in the top of the seventh and got the Nationals all the way home, throwing three scoreless innings of 1-hit ball, while striking out four.

Before I cover the two offensive standouts from today, let me quickly say my piece on the rotation situation. I understand Cade Cavalli is having struggles with his command this season in Triple-A. But days like today, and days like the days we’ve seen in a lot of Trevor’s starts this season, make me really quick to think about whether I’d rather just watch Cavalli figure it out here on the big league stage instead of continuing to trot Williams out there every fifth day. Even if Cavalli isn’t the guy they’d like to go with, Andry Lara made a case today to not be the guy they send back down tomorrow after this double-header. At a certain point, the frustration of seeing Williams struggle like this becomes too much, and maybe it’s a lack of patience, but I’m there.

The Nats got two multi-hit performances today: Alex Call went 3-5, and Daylen Lile was 2-4. Before I just skip right over that, Daylen Lile has been excellent of late. The Nats needed somebody to step up in the absence of Dylan Crews, and I’m very happy to see Lile start to figure things out as a big leaguer. Hopefully, he can continue to develop and adapt to being a major leaguer, and Hassell will eventually rejoin the fold, creating the youngest and hopefully the most exciting outfield in baseball.

The best news of all is that, as bad as this game was, it only counts as one. The Nats have another game tonight at 6:45 with ace Mackenzie Gore (3-8, 3.09 ERA) on the mound against Jack Flaherty (5-9, 4.80 ERA). A win tonight and the homestanders will have an opportunity to win the series tomorrow night, so let’s shake this one off quickly and come back tonight for hopefully a much better ballgame.