Nats squander Parker's gem, drop fourth straight (updated)

Having already passed just about every test thrown his way in his first two months in the majors, Mitchell Parker stared down a new challenge tonight: Face an opponent for the second time, and ideally try to beat that club again.

Parker did everything he could to pass the test, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Braves and a shutout into the seventh. But he ultimately departed with no-decision after surrendering a game-tying homer in the seventh, and was forced to watch and see if his teammates could pull off the win late.

They could not. Hunter Harvey, one of the most reliable late-inning relievers in the sport, gave up three runs in the top of the eighth, and the Nationals lineup did nothing against the Atlanta bullpen en route to a disheartening 5-2 loss.

The Nats’ fourth straight loss bore some resemblance to the previous ones in their inability to produce at the plate early on. This one differed from the others, though, in the manner the back end of their bullpen gave up the decisive runs late.

"We've played some good teams lately, and it just seems like on nights we hit and pitch, they're just not on the same night," right-fielder Lane Thomas said. "We took some good swings tonight. You've just got to take more than two off a team like that."

Harvey had been as reliable as they get, entering the game with a 2.08 ERA and 0.890 WHIP in 28 games this season. He had allowed only two earned runs across his last 18 1/3 innings, and he hadn’t allowed three runs in any appearance since May 25, 2023.

Harvey got two quick outs in the eighth against the bottom of the Braves lineup, but then Ozzie Albies doubled down the right field to start the rally. Austin Riley followed with a bloop RBI single to right-center to give the Braves their first lead of the night. And then Marcell Ozuna ambushed Harvey’s very next pitch to left-center for the two-run homer that completed the killer rally.

And when the Nationals (who scored both of their runs in rapid fashion in the sixth) couldn’t mount anything else down the stretch, their fate was sealed and Parker’s start was wasted.

"Any time (our starter) keeps us in a game like that, we want to come in and shut it down and give us a chance to win," Harvey said. "This is a big game for us, (trying) to beat these guys again. We just came up short today."

Ten days ago in Atlanta, Parker faced the Braves for the first time and cruised through six scoreless innings before finally succumbing in the seventh, giving up a big blast to Adam Duvall to end his night. Who could’ve foreseen a nearly identical outcome in the rematch?

Parker was better for most of the night. He mowed through the Atlanta lineup through the fourth, retiring the first 12 batters he faced on a mere 36 pitches. He finally put a man on base in the fifth when he hit Duvall with a slider, but he completed the inning without any more issues. And though he surrendered a leadoff double to Orlando Arcia in the sixth to end his no-hit bid, Parker got through that inning without anybody scoring, thanks in part to a tremendous running catch by center fielder Jacob Young.

"We've been going with the same approach every start: Try not to overthink it, and attack them," said Parker, who became the first pitcher in club history to allow three or fewer earned runs in his first 10 career starts. "And when we attack them, good things obviously happen. Just try not to overthink it."

Parker was brilliant, but it wasn’t going to matter if his teammates couldn’t push at least one run across the plate against Reynaldo López, the former Nationals prospect who merely entered the game with a 1.73 ERA. And for five innings, they gave no indication they were going to complete even that most basic of achievements.

Only three batters reached base through the fifth, two via single, one via walk. Nobody advanced beyond first base. Nobody really made López work.

"We've got to be on time," manager Davey Martinez said. "We've got to be ready to hit the fastball, and everything else will handle itself. The big key is give yourself a chance to hit every pitch. When they do that, they can hit."

Chief among the culprits was CJ Abrams, already mired in a funk prior to this game and looking more and more lost with each at-bat. The Nats leadoff man struck out in the bottom of the first on three pitches, the last of which wasn’t close to the strike zone. He struck out again in the bottom of the third, at least taking one ball this time but still whiffing at a pitch outside the zone.

And when Abrams’ sixth-inning at-bat began, it appeared to be headed for the same outcome: down 0-2 and on his heels. And then with one mighty swing at a high fastball, he busted out of the slump with authority. The ball soared 412 feet to right-center, and as Abrams stood at the plate and watched it go, you could almost see the weight lifting off his shoulders after the frustration perhaps got to him during the previous two strikeouts.

"The first one, yes," Martinez said. "After the second one, no. Before his third at-bat, he walked by and said: 'I've got him this time.' And he did. He got him. Hopefully that will get him going a little bit."

Martinez has often espoused a belief his team seems to relax once it scores, which leads to even more scoring. Whether that was on Lane Thomas’ mind as he followed Abrams with a home run of his own to make it 2-0 is anyone’s guess. Regardless, the Nationals happily took the result, not to mention the two hits that immediately followed the two homers.

"I don't know if I was thinking quite like that," Thomas said. "I was glad to see (Abrams) turn it around, get a big hit in a game their guy was throwing well in. I think we've just got to build off those at-bats and get guys on in those situations. Two solo shots? You've got to score more than two runs against a team like that."

Sure enough, even with the luxury of a lead at his disposal, Parker took the mound for the seventh hoping to post another zero. That zero, though, quickly turned into a two when Marcell Ozuna lined a leadoff single to left and Duvall followed two batters later with a two-run homer to left off a first-pitch fastball, an eerie coincidence if ever there was one.

"It sucks, but it's going to happen," Parker said. "You've just got to be able to move on, get the next guy, limit the damage. That's all you can really do."

Parker completed the rest of the inning unscathed and returned to the dugout with a still-low pitch count of 71. But with the game now tied and the back end of the bullpen fresh, Martinez opted not to push his rookie starter any further and hoped the rest of the staff could handle the rest of the night.

"There is no balancing act," Martinez said when asked about the decision to pull Parker. "He did his job. That's it. We've got two guys at the back end of our bullpen who have been really good. ... It was hot. He did his job. He gave us seven innings."

"Obviously, I knew the situation," Parker said. "Just hand it off there, give us the best chance to win."

If only it was that easy.