Tonight we saw one of the more frustrating losses so far on this young campaign, as the Nationals did all they could to provide starter Zack Littell with a sizable early lead, only to see it quickly disintegrate. The boys got off to an early 4-1 lead, only to see it quickly erased on a night where Littell just wasn’t fooling anyone. The Braves got on him early and often, but to his credit, he ended far stronger than he started, and ate up enough to get the Nationals through six innings with a reasonable shot to win the game. Let’s get into it.

The Action

The game did not start out hopeful, as the ‘Zack Littell batting practice experience’ began with the second batter of the game. Drake Baldwin continued his terror reign on Nationals Park with a first-pitch solo homer to right, putting the Braves ahead 1-0 early.

That lead did not stick around long, and frankly was drowned in the bottom of the first. Daylen Lile got an opportunity with two men on and two outs, and all he did was blast his third homer in four days, putting the Nats instantly ahead 3-1. The damage continued as Jacob Young followed that up with an infield single, and Jorbit Vivas came up huge with an RBI double, scoring Young from first, and giving Washington an early three-run advantage.

From there, Littell was just never able to hold it down, unfortunately. A dropped popup by Vivas allowed Ozzie Albies to reach base leading off the second, setting the table for Michael Harris to take a hanging splitter and deposit it over the wall in right for his fifth of the season, bringing the Braves within one at 4-3. The game would be tied just a few batters later, on a scorched sacrifice fly off the bat of Ronald Acuna, and despite the Nats’ best efforts, the game would go to the third inning tied at 4.

Michael Harris was a real terror tonight. After his homer in the second, he waited a whole one inning before inflicting more pain. This time it was a fastball from Littell that got smacked, as Harris went to left field this time for his second homer in as many innings, and the go-ahead shot that put Atlanta ahead 5-4.

The big blow (and what I thought would be the end of the road for Littell) came in the top half of the fourth inning, as Zack left yet another pitch down the middle, and this time it was Matt Olson‘s turn to get all of it. Unfortunately, this occurred with two men already on, so what was once a 4-1 Nationals’ lead had become an 8-4 deficit in a matter of two innings. To his credit, while Didier Fuentes was pulled after three rough innings, Zack Littell stood in there and wore it tonight. After that fateful shot in the fourth, he retired the next seven batters he faced, getting the Nationals through the top of the sixth with the score right where it was, and keeping their bullpen from being overtaxed.

• Didier Fuentes: 3 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs (4 earned), 1 walk, 7 strikeouts, 74 pitches
• Zack Littell: 6 innings, 7 hits, 8 runs (6 earned), 2 walks, 1 strikeout, 96 pitches

The Nationals got a shot in the arm in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a good ol’ power surge. Joey Weimer took Martin Perez deep for his third of the season, and then two batters later, James Wood did the same for his ninth of the year. This brought the Nats back to 8-6, giving them and the sparce contingent of fans some life here, trying to will the home team to a big comeback win.

The bullpen did its job in making that happen. Mitchell Parker and Julian Fernandez were excellent tonight. They covered the final three innings of this one for the Nats, and in doing so, only allowed one hit and a walk. Curiously, neither was able to record a strikeout, Parker in his two innings of work, and Fernandez in his one. That wasn’t altogether unique, though, as it came on a night where the Nats as a staff only struck out one batter.

Unfortunately, the Braves’ bullpen was up to the task as well, as twice the Nationals had the tying run at the plate but never could cash in. Dylan Lee, Tyler Kinley, and Robert Suarez combined for the final three innings, keeping this one knotted at 8-6 and giving the Braves their second win in three games so far in DC.

The Positives

Mitchell Parker and Julian Fernandez both put on a good look for this Washington bullpen tonight, but there were certainly some offensive performances worth noting tonight as well. James Wood was 2-3 with that homer and two walks, raising his average to .255 on the year, with a sexy .999 OPS. Daylen Lile and Jacob Young both checked in with two-hit nights, on top of Joey Weimer’s 1-1 night off the bench with a home run and a walk. On a night where the starting pitching really struggled, our silver lining comes in the 11 hits and three home runs that the offense managed to string together in order to keep this game competitive.

What’s Next?

This four-game ordeal will finish up tomorrow afternoon in what many would call a lunchtime matinee, with first pitch being thrown at 1:05. The pitching matchup in store for tomorrow is certainly a juicy one, as the Nats will send out their ace, Cade Cavalli (0-1, 4.12 ERA) for what they need to be a ‘show me’ start. Cavalli’s recent outings have not quite resembled the ace that I think we all believe he can be, and with the opportunity to earn a split against these red-hot Braves, we need him to come up big tomorrow. The Braves will counter with the second ranked prospect in their system, and 79th ranked prospect in all of baseball, right-handed JR Ritchie. And Ritchie will be making his big league debut tomorrow afternoon, and will look to provide support to a staff that’s really limping already.

Down on the Farm

AAA Rochester

• 2-0 win today at Scranton Wilkes-Barre
• Chandler Champlain: 4.2 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts
• Dylan Crews: 0-4
• Yo-Yo Morales: 2-4, double
• Abi Ortiz: 2-4
• Andrew Pinckney: 1-4, home run (2), RBI
• Tomorrow: 6:35 game at Scranton Wilkes-Barre (Luis Perales pitching)

AA Harrisburg

• 6-1 loss today versus Altoona
• Alex Clemmey: 3.1 innings, 2 hits, 2 runs, 6 walks, 4 strikeouts
• Sam Petersen: 1-4, home run (4), RBI
• Jack Rogers: 1-3, double, walk
• Kervin Pichardo: 2-4
• Tomorrow: 6:30 game versus Altoona (Davian Garcia pitching)

High-A Wilmington

• 18-2 loss today at Frederick
• Riley Maddox: 4.2 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts
• Randal Diaz: 1-3, home run (3), RBI
• Cristhian Vaquero: 1-4, stolen base
• Tomorrow: 7:00 game at Frederick (Bryan Polanco pitching)

Low-A Fredericksburg

• 7-6 win today at Salem (10 innings)
• Alexander Meckley: 4 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
• Eli Willits: 1-4, walk
• Yeremy Cabrera: 2-5, double, RBI
• Luke Dickerson: 3-5, 2 doubles, triple, 2 RBIs
• Coy James: 1-5, home run (3), 2 RBIs
• Sir Jamison Jones: 1-5, home run (4), RBI
• Jordan Williams: 2-4
• Tomorrow: 6:35 game at Salem (Miguel Sime pitching)