The Nationals pitching staff couldn’t handle the heat.
Washington’s bullpen turned a close game into a blowout by allowing seven runs in the final two innings of Sunday’s 11-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Nationals manager Blake Butera said after the disappointing loss that the District’s ongoing heat wave was at least partially to blame for Sunday’s pitching struggles.
The late slump — combined with a weak start by Nationals pitcher Cade Cavali — created an insurmountable deficit for Washington’s usually high-scoring lineup.
Cavalli allowed six hits and four runs in just 2 1/3 innings of work.
“The heat just got to him,” Butera said after the game, noting Cavalli reported a headache during his outing. “He got pretty dehydrated there, just ran out of gas.”
“I don’t understand why my body reacted the way it did [to the heat,]” Cavali said. “In the second inning, I threw a pitch where I hit one after the other and got a little light. … Just a weird feeling I was having. That’s not an excuse for how I threw the ball.
His relentless pace sank every innings. After a scoreless first, Cavali allowed three runs on singles in the second and a solo home run to lead off the third. Butera pulled his starter after another batter reached the outfield on a ground ball.
But the Nationals rallied after Cavali’s early exit despite a 4-0 deficit. Washington’s relievers pitched five scoreless innings while the offence found its spark.
First baseman Luis Garcia Jr., whom manager Blake Butera called Washington’s “Barry Bonds” before the game, slapped a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to cut Pittsburgh’s four-run lead in half.
It was Garcia’s 19th home run of the season, a new career high for the infielder who debuted in 2020. He has added 16 to his total in the past six weeks.
The Nationals gave the Pirates the lead again an inning later.
when outfielder Dylan Crews scored on second baseman Jorbit Vivas’ groundout from third base.
In the bottom of the fifth, shortstop CJ Abrams took the plate with the bases loaded and no outs. His pop fly made a diving catch by Pirates shortstop Connor Griffin, allowing James Wood to score the tying run from third base.
But Washington’s bullpen, as has been the case all season, couldn’t hold a lead.
Reliever Brad Lord allowed five runners to reach base after starting his outing with four consecutive strikeouts. Each of the five batters faced two strikes before eventually going to the first baseman.
“Maybe it was trying to do too much with two attacks,” Lord said.
Butera again cited the heat — gametime temperatures started at 92 degrees, with Washington’s humidity pushing the heat index into the triple digits — as a possible reason for the Lord’s struggles.
“The weather was tough,” the manager said. “He couldn’t finish hitters off when he was ahead in the count. He started to run out of some gas there in the second inning. The heat was real.”
Griffin took advantage of the bases-loaded opportunity with a two-run single.
The next batter, second baseman Brandon Lowe, cleared the bases with a three-run homer to give Pittsburgh a 9-4 lead.
The Pirates added two more runs in the ninth to seal the win.
Sunday was the latest disappointment in Washington’s ongoing bullpen struggles, a flaw that threatens to tank an upstart Nationals squad aiming for a postseason berth. Washington leads the league with 51 saves on the season. Relievers have converted just 26 of those opportunities.
The Nationals’ bullpen ranks fifth in the majors in ERA and has allowed eight more homers than any other MLB group.
Butera could not offer a solution to the ongoing problem on Sunday.
“Those guys were told to give us multiple innings out of the bullpen,” he said. “It’s difficult to do normally. It’s even harder to do when it’s hot, but these guys fought through.”
The 46-45 Nationals will continue their homestand with a three-game set against the Houston Astros starting Monday night. Washington currently trails the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves by 7 1/2 games. The Nationals are three games behind the St Louis Cardinals for the final wild-card spot.
