What could easily have been a dramatic turnaround of a wretched start to the season instead ended on a sour note for the Nationals. A 1-0 loss to the Braves on Wednesday was just the latest near-miss for a team that had countless opportunities to win games over the last week but more often than not fell short.
After opening the season 0-7, the Nationals held the lead or were tied entering the ninth inning seven straight times. However, they won only three of those games, ruining a chance to get back to the .500 mark and re-establish some positive momentum. In every case, Washington's bullpen factored into the losses. That unit is now 0-6 with a 5.62 ERA, having allowed 80 men to reach base in only 49 2/3 innings.
Thus, the Nationals finished their season-opening homestand with a 3-5 record that easily could have been 7-1.
"It was tough, because we had an opportunity to erase the first week of the season by having a great homestand," manager Manny Acta said. "It's over now, but we wasted those three games against the Marlins. We won this series, which is nice, but still we had an opportunity to take the three games and completely erase that first week and get everybody behind us."
BRAVES 1, NATIONALS 0: A tense pitchers' duel finally turned in the ninth, when Washington's bullpen imploded and issued three straight walks to force in the game's only run. RHP Garrett Mock allowed a single and the first free pass. LHP Mike Hinckley then issued the next two walks, allowing the run to score and wasting a stellar effort from starter John Lannan, who tossed seven scoreless innings but was handed a tough no-decision.
