Offense silent again in seven-inning loss to Brewers (updated)

The weather was abysmal, but there was a doubleheader to be played rain or shine, so the Nationals and Brewers went ahead and got the first seven of today's 14 scheduled innings in despite the awful playing conditions.

And it produced a result that looked awfully familiar for the Nats.

After Patrick Corbin dug them into an early four-run hole, the Nationals lineup could not come close to producing enough offense to get back in this one. They trudged off the field having lost 4-1, with three hours now to warm up in the clubhouse before returning for the 7:15 p.m. nightcap.

Both teams totaled only four hits in the opener, but the Brewers made theirs count more. Three of them went for extra bases, including Avisaíl García's first-inning homer and Christian Yelich's RBI triple in the third.

The Nationals got only one extra-base hit, and though it was a towering blast into the third deck by Kyle Schwarber, it came with nobody on base and thus produced only one run.

"Let's think about this for a second," manager Davey Martinez said during his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "They get four hits. Obviously, they get a home run. They got a ball that went through the infield right down the line. We hit the ball, and right now it's just no timely hitting. ... For me right now, it's frustrating when we just don't have that timely hit. We're missing that one hit with guys on base again."

The Nats also lost Luis García to a freak injury prior to the top of the third. The 21-year-old second baseman felt his right hamstring cramp up prior to the top of the third, went down to the grass during the between-innings warmups and had to be helped off the field by Martinez and director of athletic training Paul Lessard.

"He said when he ran out between innings, it kind of bit him a little bit, but he didn't think nothing of it," said Martinez, who added García would likely get an MRI on Sunday morning. "And then as he started taking his ground balls between innings, it got tighter and tighter to where it really grabbed him really good where he had to lie on the ground. Hopefully, it is just a cramp."

The conditions - 51 degrees, a light rain falling, the wind blowing in from center field - were miserable for Memorial Day weekend, but not so miserable they couldn't start the game on time. The sparse crowd bundled up in a vain attempt to keep warm and dry, the grounds crew covered the infield with all the drying agent in the house and the two teams took the field for the first of 14 scheduled innings of baseball today.

And as too often been the case this season, the Nationals found themselves staring at an early deficit.

Corbin didn't give up a homer to the game's first batter the way Stephen Strasburg did Thursday night, but the big blast did come three batters later when Avasaíl García drove a 1-1 fastball through the rain and wind into the left field bullpen for a two-run homer.

It was the fifth first-inning home run Corbin has surrendered this season out of 11 overall.

"I felt really good those first couple hitters of the game," the lefty said. "I thought I located pretty well, threw some good sliders. I'm not sure why that's happening. But I did feel pretty good. I thought I located some pitches."

Also a considerable problem: the Nationals' lack of offense, which is only amplified when they find themselves trailing in a game shortened by two innings. It happened Thursday night when they trailed the Reds right from the get-go. And it happened again today, with this lineup feeling immediate pressure to make up the 2-0 deficit Corbin handed it.

Things went about how you've come to expect them to go. Every batter who reached base felt like he had achieved something significant. And only three of them did through the first three innings against Freddy Peralta: Starlin Castro (infield single), Andrew Stevenson (bunt single) and Trea Turner (walk).

The latter two did set up the kind of scenario the Nationals should desperately want: two on, one out, Juan Soto at the plate. But that's not a scenario that's working in their favor these days, because Soto is simply not hitting the ball the way he always has.

His subsequent grounder to second produced his sixth double play already this season. (He had only one during last summer's 60-game schedule.) Soto hit the ball hard (100.6 mph) but he did not hit it in the air. And when he slammed his helmet to the ground, his frustration was evident.

"It's kind of tough," he said. "We've been working a lot trying to drive the ball to the middle of the field. And to roll over there in a big situation where we can get some runs is pretty tough for me. I try to control it, but the emotions just come out."

The Nationals did finally get on the board in the fourth when Schwarber launched a ball 439 feet into the third deck down the right field line. That blast will earn Schwarber a seat painted red in his honor. It did not earn his team a victory today, though.