Fedde knocked out early in loss to A's (updated)

This was supposed to be an uplifting homestand for the Nationals, a chance to watch one of the brightest pieces of their future make two starts and the team as a whole face a pair of fellow rebuilding clubs and perhaps emerge with more victories than losses before embarking on a September schedule that figures to be unrelenting.

What, exactly, has gone right for the Nats so far? Next to nothing. They lost two of three to the Reds, including Cade Cavalli’s disappointing debut. Then they learned Cavalli won’t be making his next start this week because he’s heading to the injured list with shoulder inflammation that could bring an abrupt halt to his rookie season.

Then they went out and opened a three-game series with the Athletics – owners of the second-worst record in baseball – and proceeded to slog their way through an uninspired, 10-6 loss in which Erick Fedde didn’t make it out of the third inning.

"It's for sure frustrating," Fedde said. "I should've just pitched better, I guess."

It was the latest lackluster loss in a season filled with them. The Nationals (43-86) now lead the A’s (49-81) by 5 1/2 games for worst record in the majors, not that it matters these days with the new draft lottery giving the sport’s three worst teams the same 16.5 percent chance of securing the No. 1 pick in next summer’s draft.

With Cavalli on the shelf, MacKenzie Gore perhaps on track to make one or two starts in late September and an upcoming schedule loaded with games against the likes of the Mets, Phillies, Braves and Cardinals, the number of victories still out there for the Nats to notch is dwindling.

Fedde took the mound tonight feeling good about the way he felt last week in his return from a four-week stint on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. The right-hander was really pleased with his five strong innings against the Mariners, so he had every reason to be encouraged as he prepared for tonight’s outing.

Then Fedde gave up a game-opening double to Tony Kemp, an RBI single to Sean Murphy after turning an 0-2 count into a 3-2 count and needed 34 pitches just to face six batters in the top of the first. Clearly, this was not going to be another encouraging night.

"I've had a lot of time to think about it here," he said at night's end. "I just thought maybe I was a little too passive. I think I just threw a lot of breaking balls, never really threw hard (inside). I let guys be comfortable, which leads to a lot of the singles on pitches I felt were better than maybe the result was."

Fedde never did find his groove. He managed to get through the first two innings with only the one early run on the board, but everything bottomed out in the top of the third. Dermis Garcia’s two-run homer (the first of the 24-year-old rookie’s career) was the big blast, but then Fedde compounded matters by allowing three straight two-out singles, unable to get out of an inning that wouldn’t end.

Davey Martinez decided he’d seen enough and pulled his starter with two runners on base and an inflated pitch count of 76 over 2 2/3 innings.

"Nothing was crisp today," the manager said. "Fastball, breaking ball weren't the way it was the other day. Just a bad day for him today. All his misses were really poor misses. And then when he had to throw a strike, he threw the ball almost right down the middle. Just a bad day for him."

Martinez summoned Hunter Harvey, the flamethrower typically reserved for late innings but called upon here to try to escape a jam in the third and keep the game tied. That did not happen, because Harvey (making his third appearance in four days) immediately gave up a two-run double to Kemp, giving the A’s a 6-4 lead, with all six runs charged to Fedde, whose ERA suddenly jumped to 5.29.

"I like to see Harvey in those leverage situations, regardless of (the inning)," Martinez said. "I want to see what he can do. He wasn't very happy about giving up the hit, but he comes back the next inning and shuts them down. So, to me, that meant a lot moving forward."

It would only get worse from there, with an already overworked Nationals bullpen now tasked with covering 6 1/3 innings on the first of 13 consecutive days with a game on their schedule. Steve Cishek put the final nail in the coffin when he served up a grand slam to Murphy in the top of the fifth, that blast coming after he allowed a two-out single and a two-out walk.

"They've been pitching well," Martinez said of his bullpen. "But they've been pitching a lot."

The Nationals actually enjoyed their best offensive night in more than a week, which is to say they finally scored more than three runs. They surpassed that modest mark in the bottom of the second, thanks to the exploits of their productive 1-2 combo atop the lineup.

Lane Thomas led off the first with a homer, his 14th of the season (now tied with the departed Josh Bell for most on the team in 2022). He drove in another run with an RBI single in the second, then watched as Joey Meneses delivered the second of his three doubles on the night to drive in another run.

There’s nothing to find fault right now with Meneses, the 30-year-old rookie sporting a cool .348 batting average and 1.001 OPS through the first 23 games of his career.

"I'm very proud of the fact that, in a way of saying it, I didn't throw in the towel," he said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "I'm out here giving my full effort and just trying to give the most I can to show the team that I belong here." 

As for the rest of the Nationals? Well, they’ve lost three of four on this homestand against two of the worst teams in the majors. What does that say for the 31 games against National League East foes and other contenders that await after this?