How bad have things gotten for the Nationals? It's to the point where even the seemingly simple act of throwing the ball over the plate has become an arduous task.
In the course of Thursday night's 9-4 loss to the Cardinals, Nationals pitchers issued an astounding 11 walks. Starter Daniel Cabrera uncorked four wild pitches. Reliever Julian Tavarez hit a batter. All of it left manager Manny Acta exasperated. "They're just walking themselves into trouble, over and over and over and over and over," Acta said. "Walking guys after 0-2 counts. Walking guys in the bottom of the order. I don't know why. ... You shouldn't be afraid. You're pitching for a last-place team in a half-empty stadium. What can be intimidating right now?"
Apparently the challenge of throwing strikes is too daunting for Nationals pitchers, no matter how many fans are in the stands. The Nationals have issued 96 walks in 21 games this season, tops in the National League.
"For some reason they don't want to throw the ball over the plate," pitching coach Randy St. Claire said. "Whether it's being too fine, whether it's not being aggressive enough, only they can answer those questions. But you can't put guys on base."
CARDINALS 9, NATIONALS 4: A game that was tied entering the ninth inning quickly devolved into another catastrophe. Julian Tavarez allowed five runs to score in the ninth, walking two batters, allowing two hits and plunking another batter during an unsightly inning.
The Nationals, who led 4-3 entering the seventh, watched as the bullpen blew its seventh save in 10 tries this season. Ryan Zimmerman homered in the first inning to extend his career-high hitting streak to 19 games.
