Scarce offense and bullpen woes leave Nats swept in Cincinnati

After sprinting through May with baseball's best record, the Nationals stumbled to the finish line, succumbing to a three-game sweep in today's 8-2 loss to the Reds. The normally explosive Nats offense managed just two hits against Reds rookie right-hander Michael Lorenzen - and one of them came from starter Tanner Roark.

"A little blip," Nationals manager Matt Williams said to reporters after the loss. "We got two out of three in Chicago and came here and things didn't go our way, but we got a chance to correct that tomorrow."

Roark gave the Nats his second straight solid outing, throwing six innings while allowing just two runs on solo homers from Reds third baseman Todd Frazier and second baseman Brandon Phillips.

Roark left with the game tied after Nats rookie Michael A. Taylor evened the score on a two-run single in the seventh.

Unfortunately for Williams, Roark had reached his pitch limit on the afternoon.

"He got to 90 (pitches)," Williams told reporters. "If we send him back out there, he's gonna have to go through that inning and we risk getting him well over 100. At this point, we don't want to do that. He pitched well."

Things unraveled quickly for the Nats bullpen in the seventh, beginning with right-hander Aaron Barrett. Reds left fielder Marlon Byrd started the inning with a single to center. Then Barrett dropped center fielder Billy Hamilton's popped-up bunt. He was able to force Byrd at second, but left the speedy Hamilton on first. After Hamilton stole second, Brandon Phillips knocked him in to give the Reds the lead. That was only the beginning of the damage, as Williams called for lefty Matt Grace.

Grace was unable to retire a single hitter, as the Reds battered him for four runs on three hits and two walks.

Williams then turned to recently recalled right-hander Taylor Hill, who promptly gave up another run-scoring single before finally ending the assault.

The six-run seventh inning followed right-hander Casey Janssen's disastrous four-run eighth last night to leave the Nats bullpen reeling on its way back to D.C. Relievers were charged with all four losses on the road trip and in the three games in Cincinnati, they surrendered 14 earned runs over 11 2/3 innings.

"They've been pushed," Williams said to reporters. "With the short starts and with the spot start, they've been pushed a lot on this road trip. It helps if we go deep in a game from a starter's perspective. It didn't happen much on the road trip so they've been pressed into duty."

With the game seemingly out of reach, Denard Span was taken out for precautionary reasons in the eighth inning.

"His (right) knee is a little sore," Williams said to reporters. "There was a ball in Chicago where he had to go get it and then had to go to the ground to catch it, and he banged it a little bit. So it's been a little bit sore."

Bryce Harper was 0-for-2 with two walks and a run scored after missing yesterday's game with back soreness.

Williams told reporters after the game that the team would have more information tomorrow on the plan for Anthony Rendon coming off a weekend of minor league rehab games for Double-A Harrisburg in Bowie.

The sweep ends the month on a sour note as the Nats finish with an 18-9 record in May, a half-game ahead of the Mets in the National League East.