Nats stuck playing another day of seven-inning games

In their attempt to minimize the amount of time players and staffers spent around each other at the ballpark during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Major League Baseball for the first time reduced all doubleheader games to seven innings. It was unconventional, and many fans weren't big fans of it, but most agreed it was acceptable under the circumstances of that unprecedented season.

When MLB decided to retain the seven-inning doubleheader games again this season, though, there was more outcry among fans who want to protect the sanctity of the nine-inning game that has been a part of baseball since 1856.

Well, I'm sorry to say you're going to just have to deal with it for at least the rest of this season. Including today, when the Nationals and Brewers attempt to play two after Friday night's game was rained out.

The two teams are scheduled to take the field at 2:05 p.m. for the seven-inning opener, then again at 7:15 p.m. for the seven-inning nightcap. Once again, it will feel strange. And chances are, at least some of the folks who attend either game won't even know about the change in length until the game ends two innings earlier than they expected.

The rationale at this point for shortening the games is to protect pitchers. Eighteen innings is a lot to ask pitchers to cover in one day, especially when there's another nine-inning game to be played the following day. Teams typically end up making transactions, calling up at least one reliever from Triple-A to help cover the extra workload. (They're also allowed to add an extra player, a 27th man, for doubleheaders.)

It's for that reason Davey Martinez has come to embrace the seven-inning game. The Nationals manager didn't like it at first last season. But now that he's been involved in several of them, he appreciates the stress it reduces for him and his pitchers.

"I think because of what we've gone through, having played two games on one day, I do think it has some merit to it," Martinez said Friday during his Zoom session with reporters. "It's based a lot on pitching, and keeping guys healthy and keeping them ready to go the next day. You don't see all these crazy (transactions), as opposed to playing two nine-inning games. If you've got to use your bullpen, you're making all these moves to get fresh arms in here. So I think it's good."

Maybe so, but the shortened games do add pressure to teams to take an early lead and then hold onto it. There are fewer opportunities to mount late rallies, especially when opponents are pulling their starters after five innings and handing over the final two frames to their best late-inning arms.

The Nationals have struggled this season to score early, so you'd think this format hurts their chances of winning, right?

"The big thing, as we always talk about in these games, is the games are shortened. It's important to go out and score first," Martinez said. "And you shorten the game a lot when you do that. For us, tomorrow the emphasis is on trying to put some runs on the board early."

If both are played today, these will be the 16th and 17th seven-inning games the Nationals have played the last two seasons. They went a solid 8-4 in them last year, splitting their first four doubleheaders before sweeping their final two during a late-September surge.

It hasn't gone as well so far this year: The Nats are 0-3 in seven-inning games, having dropped a doubleheader to the Braves during opening week and then losing 3-0 to the Reds in Thursday night's game.

Who knows what might've happened had they played nine innings instead of seven. But didn't Martinez wish his team had the chance to find out?

"I mean, at the end of the game, you always wish you could play (more), 'cause you want to win," he said with a laugh. "But with that being said, that day just didn't work out. It is what it is and we've just got to come back. Hopefully, we were coming back (Friday) to play, but we're not. Now we've got to do it again (today) in seven innings."