Adon, Nats take another loss vs. NL East (updated)

PHILADELPHIA – Joan Adon found himself on the mound pitching another game for the Nationals this afternoon, the struggling rookie with a league-leading 11 losses and an ERA approaching 7.00 pressed into service again when his club needed a fill-in starter.

The assignment, against a tough Phillies lineup, wasn’t advantageous for the young right-hander, but the Nats had little choice but to put him out there and hope for the best.

The end result was rather predictable. Adon labored through four innings and was charged with four runs, sending the Nationals on their way to a lackluster 5-3 loss in the series finale at Citizens Bank Park.

A game that saw Adon struggle on the mound and Juan Soto struggle in the field also saw Luis García depart with an apparent injury. The young shortstop was pulled after the sixth inning, replaced by utility man Ehire Adrianza due to what manager Davey Martinez termed a "stomach issue," even though García could be seen wincing and grabbing his right side after grounding out to second in his final at-bat.

"No, he started feeling real sick," Martinez said.

Asked if he's particularly worried, because Nelson Cruz just missed two games with a stomach illness, Martinez said: "I'm worried that we're going on a flight right now, and he's sick."

García was carrying a surgical face mask in the clubhouse after the game.

The loss was the Nats’ 30th in 37 games this season against National League East opponents, their sixth in eight games against the Phillies so far this year, with a weekend series in Atlanta against the defending World Series champion Braves next on the docket.

The Nationals sent Adon to Triple-A a month ago with the intention of giving him some time to work on his fastball command and develop more confidence in his changeup. Circumstances, though, forced them to call him back up after only one start for Rochester, then again after only one start there.

With Jackson Tetreault on the injured list and Aníbal Sánchez and Josh Rogers not ready to return from the IL just yet, Adon was the only realistic option to make today’s start.

What did the Nationals get from the rookie right-hander? Pretty much the same thing they got every other time he has started this season, in both encouraging and discouraging ways.

There’s no denying Adon has some ability, not to mention some swagger, on the mound. He showed as much when he escaped a second-and-third, no-out jam in the first, striking out Nick Castellanos and Darick Hall. And he showed it in the second when he struck out Mickey Moniak to end the inning with a twirl and a fist pump.

"Look, he's got great stuff," Martinez said. "We've just got to continue to work with him on his command, and utilizing all his pitches and getting them around the strike zone."

But there’s also no denying Adon has a lot left to work on before becoming a reliable big league starter. He showed that during a laborious third inning in which he gave up three runs on three hits (two for extra bases) and a walk, throwing 30 pitches in the process.

"My pitches weren't doing what they were doing the first time around the lineup," he said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "They weren't as good a quality of pitches the second time around."

That inning wasn’t entirely Adon’s fault. Soto appeared to be camped under Didi Gregorius’ long fly ball to the base of the wall in right field, only to miss a relatively simple catch, turning the potential third out of the inning into an RBI triple, though there were conflicting accounts after the game of what happened.

"His glove actually got caught on the chain-link fence as he went to go catch the ball," Martinez said. "He got back to the wall and was waiting for the ball, and he was underneath it when he stuck his glove up. The fingers got caught as he went up, and he said he couldn't react to get the glove to the ball."

"No, it never touched the fence," Soto responded. "I just think I should've jumped, and I didn't jump. And then when I looked at the ball, I think I should've jumped. It is what it is. I thought I got the ball; I was under it. But the wind, everything ... I just missed it. It wasn't anything with the fans, or anything like that."

Adon continued to labor in the fourth, though, giving up another run and walking off the mound with his pitch count a whopping 96, ending his day before ever reaching the fifth inning.

What happens the next time this spot in the rotation comes up? That’s not entirely clear yet. The Nationals could stick with Adon, now 1-12 with a 7.10 ERA in the big leagues this year. They could activate Sánchez, who is scheduled to make his third rehab start for Rochester on Friday against Lehigh Valley, to make his long-delayed season debut. They could also make the bold move to promote top prospect Cade Cavalli, who carried a perfect game into the sixth inning Wednesday night for Rochester, though Cavalli was just named today to the All-Star Futures Game (if anyone wants to read tea leaves based off that).

"We're TBD right now," Martinez said. "We'll see in the next couple days where we're at."

No matter who pitches next week against the Mariners, the Nationals need to start scoring more runs of their own to give themselves a chance. They squandered an early opportunity today to put up a big number on the scoreboard, settling for only two runs off a shaky Bailey Falter.

Four batters reached in the top of the first against the Phillies lefty, but only Maikel Franco’s two-out RBI single to left brought home a run, both Yadiel Hernandez and García striking out with runners in scoring position.

Three more batters reached in the top of the second, with César Hernández, Soto and Josh Bell all producing hits, Soto’s sharp single to center bringing home Hernández for a 2-0 lead. But Cruz struck out looking to end that inning with runners on second and third, and the Nats were held in check the rest of the way by Falter and the Phillies bullpen.

"I know my teammates are trying to do their best," said Soto, who had four hits and a walk in his first six plate appearances since returning from a minor calf injury. "We're not going to blame anybody. We are a team. Sometimes we're good, sometimes we're bad. It's OK. I know those guys, they've been fighting really bad to bring the runs in, but it didn't happen. Give credit to the pitching. The starter was kind of good today, and they made good adjustments."