Offense could help bullpen ease the pain early this season

It wasn't a pretty sight for the bullpen Friday in Philadelphia. The relievers had struggled to close out the Marlins in the rain-delayed Thursday getaway game. Miami scored four runs in the final three innings to win 4-3 in 10-innings. Then in the series opener against the Phillies, the Nationals came oh-so-close to blowing a 7-0 lead and held on for a 7-6 victory.

Move ahead to Sunday, when the Nationals fought back late on a Ryan Zimmerman three-run shot in the ninth, but surrendered another late inning run as the Phillies edged them out 4-3 for the series win.

Late last week, manager Dusty Baker had talked about getting the bullpen work. He wanted to get Koda Glover and Shawn Kelley into a game. But Friday's overuse of the bullpen affected Saturday night when starter Jeremy Guthrie couldn't get out of the first inning. The Nationals were forced to keep him in there longer than they wanted to because of their taxed 'pen.

So is the bullpen's recent skid a product of usage or what situation each reliever should be pitching in?

Baker believes the transition from spring training to the regular season might be part of the reason for the struggle.

"Number one, what happens early in the year, you're not used to playing every day," said Baker. "In spring training, only a couple of times have they been forced to go back-to-back. Because most of the time they know when they are going to pitch: you're going to pitch Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. But here you don't know when you're going to pitch. We're still trying to get our stuff together out there."

The relievers do have to do a few things better. One thing Baker would like to see is his bullpen get ahead of hitters. They have surrendered nine walks in the final three innings over their first six games.

"Right now the walks are killing us," Baker said. "The main thing is those guys are trying to get their stuff together."

But the offense hasn't flexed it's muscles completely either. The first two wins were of the comeback variety. Then Friday, the Nationals raced out to a 7-0 lead, but had to hold on for the one-run win.

"There are a number of games that we could've blown our opposition out while they're getting their stuff together," Baker said. "That's how I look at it.

"We've had a number of (opportunities with the) bases loaded. I don't think we've scored any with the bases loaded. You can check and see. We've left a lot of runners out there less than two outs and we keep the game close, which keeps pressure on the bullpen."

Baker was close. The Nationals are 1-for-6 (.167) with the bases loaded. With a man on third and less than two outs, they are 2-for-10 (.200) with one homer and have grounded into a double play three times.

And a closer look, the Nationals have grounded into an inning-ending double play in three of their four plate appearances with the bases loaded (Zimmerman twice and Stephen Drew once).

The Nationals' ERA from the seventh inning on is 7.56 in the first week. The have allowed 14 runs and 21 hits in six games from the seventh inning on.

But Baker contends, just like in football, the blame goes to both sides of the ball. The relievers struggled at times yes, but the offense has to score, too. They can't wait until the ninth inning every game to get back in it.

"Not to give them any excuse because they will and they have to be better, but sometimes when you got the chance to blow them out, you got to blow them out," Baker concluded.