Late-inning bullpen concerns continue for Nats in 7-2 loss

A night after playing one of their tighter games of the year, the Nationals seemed to unravel in a 7-2 loss to the Mets, mostly due to poor relief pitching and shoddy fielding.

Rookie Joe Ross was impressive in his return to D.C. after a month at Triple-A Syracuse. The right-hander took a 2-1 lead into the seventh when Wilmer Flores led off with a single. Kirk Nieuwenhuis followed with a bouncing ball down the first base line.

"Clint (Robinson) decided to come get it and couldn't get it," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "We didn't help ourselves out defensively in that regard."

Ross faced runners on second and third with no outs after the error. He sawed off Kevin Plawecki, coaxing a popup to Danny Espinosa for the first out. When Mets manager Terry Collins decided to send Eric Campbell to the plate to pinch-hit, Williams opted to counter with right-hander Aaron Barrett, thus ending Ross' night at 88 pitches.

Campbell slapped Barrett's 0-1 slider to right for a two-run single, giving the Mets the lead.

"Barrett's a good matchup for Campbell," Williams said, defending the move. "He just left a slider up."

Barrett didn't have a problem with the placement of the slider when he reviewed it after the game.

"Looking back on it, it was the right pitch location down and away," Barrett said. "Tip your cap. He flipped it over (Espinosa's) head. It is what it is. You're gonna get beat sometimes. I wanted him to beat me with my best pitch."

The Nationals entered the ninth trailing by only one and knowing their top of the order, including slugger Bryce Harper, was due up in the bottom of the inning. However, any chances slipped away as the Mets poured in four runs on four hits, one walk and an error against right-hander Tanner Roark.

Roark, battling command issues, was only able to record one out in the frame. The rough outing seemed to affect him particularly hard after the game.

"I think I'm trying to do too much right now," Roark said. "I feel like I'm underperforming and I need to pick it up. I just need to do better, pitch better. It's my job to get outs. Right now, it's hard to come by. I have to work harder and get better."

It's hard not to wonder if Roark's normally tough mindset has been bothered by the Nationals juggling him back and forth from starter to reliever, especially on a night when the 22-year-old Ross rejoined the rotation for the time being.

Meanwhile, Barrett chose to look to Wednesday afternoon when the Nationals have a chance to win this important series over the Mets.

"That's baseball," Barrett said. "You can't sit here and dwell. You gotta just keep grinding and working to get better. Obviously, I thrive on those situations of being the guy to be able to get the big out there and it just didn't work out today."

With the non-waiver trade deadline only nine days away, the pressure is on for the Nationals bullpen to prove their worth.