A night to forget in Cincinnati

By Dan Kolko

Nationals

April 05, 2013, 6:25pm

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Dan Haren got smacked around, allowing four longballs and six runs overall in just four innings in his Nationals debut. Zach Duke, Henry Rodriguez and Ryan Mattheus combined to give up nine runs in relief. The Nats put up just five hits and were shut out by a trio of Reds pitchers. Kurt Suzuki and Ian Desmond both committed fielding errors. Pretty much nothing went right for Davey Johnson's boys in tonight's 15-0 loss to the Reds. In fact, this is the most lopsided loss in the Nationals' history, since baseball returned to D.C. Six home runs allowed, 19 hits allowed, nine extra-base hits allowed. That ain't good. It sure ain't good. You often hear players say that the close losses - the hard-fought, tight, one-run defeats - are the toughest to get past. If that's the case, this one should be pretty easy to put in the rear-view mirror. The Nats got stomped tonight, but the positive side of it all is that a loss is a loss. Haren's struggles will be something we'll discuss. Rodriguez's poor outing is a bit of a concern given his history, even though it followed a 1-2-3 inning the other day. Adam LaRoche is still hitless on the season. The Nats won't go 162-0 this season. But 161-1 is still in play.