Nats get the pitching, can't get the hitting in 2-0 loss to Mets

On a day in which they got another quality (if abbreviated) start from Brad Lord and then a bunch of zeroes from members of their bullpen who haven’t put up many of those this season, the Nationals gave themselves a golden opportunity to beat the best team in baseball for the second time in 24 hours.

Surprisingly effective pitching is great, but it does still take some modicum of offense to win a ballgame, and the Nats had very little of that during a 2-0 loss to the Mets on a rainy, then windy, Saturday on South Capitol Street.

Despite holding New York’s potent lineup in check aside from one early homer off Lord, the Nationals missed their chance to follow up Friday night’s inspired win with another one before a crowd of 33,867 that weathered two early rain delays followed by strong wind gusts during a day game that turned into a night game.

“You look at what’s going on, you think we’re going to snap out of it and get a couple of hits,” manager Davey Martinez said. “It just didn’t happen today with guys on base. We got some hits, but not any big hits, timely hits.”

The Nats totaled seven hits (all singles) and two walks against Clay Holmes and a quintet of Mets relievers. They took only two at-bats with runners in scoring position, both in the bottom of the seventh.

“Late in the game, we just chased a little more,” Martinez said. “But you’ve got to give those guys credit. They came in here, and they threw the ball well.”

The Nationals delayed first pitch by 25 minutes to let a storm cell pass, and when the game began at 4:30 p.m., everyone seemed confident they were in the clear weather-wise for the rest of the day. Until a sudden cloudburst emerged in the bottom of the first, forcing the umpires to pull players off the field and the grounds crew to roll out the tarp once again.

It took 46 minutes for this rain delay, not enough time to prevent the starting pitchers from returning but perhaps enough time to prevent Lord from having a realistic shot at pitching deeper into a big league game than he had to date.

Still building his arm up after opening the season in the bullpen, Lord had yet to throw more than 56 pitches or complete five innings in his first three starts. He cleared the pitch total by a healthy amount today, but that didn’t translate into more length.

Lord made only one costly mistake: a slider up to Francisco Alvarez that wound up sailing just past the right field foul pole for a two-run homer. He did put five batters on base in only four innings, though, and the Mets did a good job driving up his pitch count to 80, ending his afternoon.

“I was hoping to locate some sliders down and away (to Alvarez),” Lord said. “Unfortunately, I just left one up and in, right to his bat path, and he was able to hit it to the opposite field.”

Needing to keep the deficit close, but also needing to get some struggling relievers work after nearly a week off, Martinez entrusted the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to Eduardo Salazar and Lucas Sims. Those two right-handers rewarded their manager’s trust with three scoreless innings, a nice bounce-back performance for each. Cole Henry and Jackson Rutledge then finished off the impressive day from the bullpen as a whole, combining for two more scoreless frames.

“It was awesome,” Martinez said. “They kept us in the game. ... It was good to see them come out there and pitch the way they did.”

But it wouldn’t matter much if the Nationals' lineup couldn’t get something going at the plate. That proved a massive challenge today.

Holmes, the former Yankees closer now trying to thrive as a starter for the Mets, showed off the best version of himself over five scoreless innings of work. Always a groundball specialist, Holmes used his trademark sinker to perfection, recording 11 of his 15 outs on the ground.

The Nats never even put a man in scoring position against the opposing starter, who scattered four singles without issuing any walks.

“They’re really good for a reason,” Dylan Crews said of New York’s pitching staff, which sports a major-league-best 2.36 ERA. “They know how to attack us. We have game plans up there, as well. I think it’s just about sticking to our approaches and not falling into their traps.”

They finally threatened to do something in the seventh, recording a pair of hits off reliever Reed Garrett. But with two on and one out, José Tena sent a long fly ball to center and Jacob Young sent a soft liner to second, killing the rally.

Another potential opportunity arose in the eighth when A.J. Minter, who gave up the game-winning hit Friday night, winced after throwing a pitch to James Wood and had to depart with an apparent injury. But Max Kranick, after throwing a ball to Wood to complete the walk, struck out Nathaniel Lowe and won a nine-pitch battle with Josh Bell to end the inning and keep a zero in the Nationals’ run column.

Minter found himself on the mound in the ninth Friday because Edwin Díaz was unavailable. That wasn’t the case today, and the Nationals saw firsthand how much of a challenge it is to even make contact with Díaz’s electric repertoire. They sent four batters to the plate; Keibert Ruiz drew a walk, the other three struck out, the Mets' defense left with nothing to do but watch before celebrating the win.

“You’re just trying to string some at-bats together,” said Crews, who struck out on a 98 mph fastball in full count. “It’s all about swinging at the right pitches and passing it on to the next guy. Fell short of that today, but we have another chance tomorrow to hopefully come out with a win.”