The Washington Nationals entered Friday looking to change its recent misfortunes. Injuries left a depleted Nationals limping into the All-Star break. But with the NL East crown still in reach, Washington looked to right the ship beginning in Friday’s opener to the second half of the season against the San Diego Padres.
Instead, things have seemingly unraveled for the Nationals leading to a disastrous start following the All-Star break.
Starlin Castro goes on administrative leave
Before they took the field, the start of the second half of the season look bleak. Early Friday afternoon, infielder Starlin Castro was placed on administrative leave stemming from MLB’s investigation into domestic violence allegations. Washington was left scrambling to reshuffle their roster which already has been decimated by to a number of injuries.
Manager Dave Martinez was left answering questions on Castro. In the process, he made it clear MLB and the Nationals “don’t tolerate that kind of behavior.”
Castro’s distraction added another layer for a team looking look to prove it can get back in the postseason picture two weeks ahead of the trade deadline.
Disastrous second inning against Padres
Whether it was a distraction or not, the negative vibes carried over into Friday evening on the field against the Padres.
After tying the game at 3-3 in the first inning off a Juan Soto three-run blast, the wheels fell of for the Nationals in the second inning. The Nationals were forced to burn through three pitchers in the frame.
Starter Erick Fedde, who gave up three runs in the first, loaded the bases with one out off three walks before Martinez took him off the mound. His replacement Andres Machado wasn’t much better. Machado allowed a two-run double, walked the next batter and gave up an RBI-single to load the bases before Martinez hooked him off the mound for Paolo Espino.
Espino kept the trend going, as he was greeted in the game by giving up a grand slam to Wil Myers that busted the game wide open. In all, the Padres scored seven runs in the inning to jump out to a 10-3 and they never looked back.
… Victor Robles leaves game
What made matters worse the Nationals lost its center fielder, Victor Robles, to “heat-related” dizziness in the second. Martinez said the team decided to take him out of the game as a precautionary measure. They hope he will be fine Saturday.
Meanwhile, the runs kept trickling in for San Diego. The Padres scored a run in all but one inning — the seventh. That included six in the sixth inning en route to a 24-8 beatdown of the Nationals.
Franchise record for runs allowed
The Nationals blew through seven pitchers. Reliever Ryne Harper was the only Nationals pitcher who didn’t give up a run.
Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth hit for the cycle in the process.
The 24 runs scored by San Diego was the most allowed by the Nationals since the team moved to Washington from Montreal in 2005. It also matches the 1940 Senators for the most runs allowed by a Washington-based MLB club.
The loss is the Nationals fifth straight, dropping them to a record of 42-48. With a number of injuries it doesn’t appear re-enforcement is coming. Not with starting pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Joe Ross on the injured list along with position players such as Kyle Schwarber and Yan Gomes.
Washington would love to throw Friday’s events away. However, it could be an indicator of just how bad things may get if they don’t right the ship fast.
