Quiet loss for Nats at end of successful trip (updated)

TORONTO – They left Washington some 10 days ago, bound for the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pa. They’ll finally return home tonight, having played games in four cities across four states and two countries.

Along the way, the Nationals promoted their top pick from this year’s draft to Double-A, agreed to a new contract with their manager, worked toward a new deal with their general manager, saw a burgeoning young outfielder break his leg and learned their onetime ace has made the decision to retire because he couldn’t get his arm healthy again.

They also won more games than they lost, putting themselves on the verge of completing one of their best months of baseball in nearly four years.

The Nats lost to the Blue Jays today, 7-0, failing to pull off a sixth consecutive series victory. Patrick Corbin reverted back to the form that has been on display too much over the last three seasons, and a tired lineup was shut down by Chris Bassitt.

But as they pack up and finally prepare to head home after the longest road trip of the year, it’s impossible for the Nationals to view the overall situation around here as anything but positive.

"Oh, you have to be positive after the road trip we had," manager Davey Martinez said. "Forget about this one. We're playing well. Today was just one of those days we ran into a buzzsaw."

Maybe this didn’t finish as a great trip, with two losses in three days north of the border. But the Nats still went 6-4 in Williamsport, New York, Miami and Toronto, every opponent still playing what it believed were meaningful games at the time (though the Yankees now look all but mathematically out of the American League wild card race).

They got contributions from a host of young players trying to further establish themselves as key parts of the long-term plan, plus a few less-touted guys trying to thrust themselves into the conversation. They went 5-1 in one-run games during this trip, getting clutch performances late from both their lineup and their bullpen.

The Nationals will open a new series with the Marlins in D.C. on Thursday, and they’ll do so with a 17-10 August record to their name. Regardless of the result, they will conclude their first winning month since June 2021, only their second winning month since they won the World Series in 2019.

"We'd obviously have loved to win this series today. It just didn't happen," Corbin said. "We're still playing good baseball. We've just got to forget this and move on."

If only they could’ve kept the winning vibe going today against a good Blue Jays team.

Taking the field on a somewhat-chilly, 67-degree Toronto late afternoon, the Nationals hoped to jump out to an early lead and put themselves in an advantageous positon for the series win. Then the exact opposite of that happened.

After going down quietly in the top of the first, the Nats dug themselves into a 2-0 hole in the bottom of the inning when Corbin issued a walk, allowed a one-out single, allowed both runners to steal (though they might’ve had a shot at the trailing runner had Ildemaro Vargas covered second base sooner) and surrendered a two-run double to Alejandro Kirk.

It was that kind of afternoon for Corbin, who allowed two more runs in the fourth, then was pulled after allowing three straight hits to open the sixth. He finished with 10-plus hits surrendered for the sixth time this season. And he allowed six-plus runs to score for the 22nd time in 89 starts over the last three seasons. (No other pitcher in the majors has done that more than 15 times.)

"Just one of those days where it seems like when they put it in play, they found a spot," Corbin said. "They hit some balls hard. I got some strikeouts. But I think just overall a tough day for all of us."

The Nationals might have been able to withstand Corbin’s struggles had they mounted more of a fight at the plate, but they were totally shut down by Bassitt. The veteran right-hander cruised through eight scoreless innings on 110 pitches, allowing only three hits and a walk. The Nats took only one at-bat with a runner in scoring position against the Toronto starter.

"We're still going to try to grind at-bats," third baseman Carter Kieboom said. "If we're behind, ahead, it's going to be the same. We all have the same approach at the plate: See pitches, grind at-bats, try to get on base, try to string something together. Today, it just didn't really happen for us."

It all made for a blah game at the end of a long road trip. The kind of game they simply haven’t experienced much during an otherwise uplifting, sustained stretch of winning baseball.

"Look, we had a good road trip," Martinez said. "We're going home, play the Marlins. It'll be a tough series. We've got to get some rest and come back tomorrow and try to go 1-0 tomorrow."