Another unclean game from Nats in loss to M's (updated)

SEATTLE – Had they played clean baseball tonight, the Nationals might still have lost to the Mariners. Their lineup might still have gone silent after scoring three early runs off Luis Castillo. Trevor Williams might still have been pulled after four labored innings. Cory Abbott might still have surrendered the go-ahead runs in relief. Jeimer Candelario might still have struck out looking – at a pitch well outside the strike zone, for what that's worth – with the bases loaded and a last-ditch chance to tie the game with one swing in the top of the ninth.

But they certainly weren’t going to win this game playing the unclean brand of baseball they put on display in the opener of a three-game series at T-Mobile Park.

There was a comical error by Dominic Smith, who flipped the ball to first base without realizing nobody was there to catch it. There was a perfect throw by Keibert Ruiz to nab Jarred Kelenic trying to steal second, if not for CJ Abrams not holding the tag long enough. There was an automatic balk called on Williams for disengaging from the pitching rubber three times during the same at-bat.

All of that, along with some ineffective pitching and a lack of offense once the third inning ended, conspired to deal the Nationals an 8-4 loss to Seattle and halt whatever positive momentum they generated during back-to-back wins in San Diego over the weekend.

"Those little things become big things, as we saw," manager Davey Martinez said. "We'll talk about these things again tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow we play a cleaner game. Because this game was close for a while there. It was a good game. The boys battled back, but I'd like to see us get through that one inning that kind of beat us."

The eventual outcome didn’t show this, but the Nationals actually seized early control of this game, jumping on an opposing ace in impressive fashion by scoring in each of their first three innings against Castillo.

Lane Thomas opened the proceedings with his third leadoff homer of the season, his 14th overall homer since May 1. Since that magic date, Thomas has played like a guy who wants to come back to Seattle in two weeks for the All-Star Game, not to mention an MVP candidate. His 162-game pace over that extended span equates to 126 runs, 204 hits, 49 doubles, 42 homers, 94 RBI, 16 steals and a .951 OPS.

Thomas’ power barrage has become expected. A power display from Smith is not something most would anticipate these days. The offensively challenged first baseman, though, delivered with a rare blast tonight, connecting off Castillo for only his third homer of the season. Add an RBI single from Luis García in the third, and the Nats gave their No. 4 starter an early lead against the opponent’s No. 1 starter.

"We competed against a really good starter, one of the better ones in the league," Smith said. "It just wasn't enough. We need to figure out ways to ultimately get the W."

It wasn't enough because Williams could not hold that lead. Nor could he keep himself on the mound long enough to give his bullpen a much-needed breather.

Even though he allowed only one run (J.P. Crawford’s leadoff homer) through three innings, Williams needed 58 pitches just to get that far.

"I just felt like I couldn't get in a rhythm today," he said. "You tip your hat to their lineup. They were taking some good pitches in the zone. It looked like they were waiting for their one pitch. I've just got to be more efficient. Coming out after four innings isn't good."

Things only got worse in that fourth inning. Eugenio Suárez jumpstarted the rally with the evening’s fourth solo homer. Kelenic then singled and began to draw Williams’ attention leading off first base. Enough to prompt Williams to attempt three pickoff attempts, which is a big no-no this year.

Williams said he did it consciously, knowing Kelenic would be running on a 3-2 pitch. Nevertheless, his third disengagement from the pitching rubber without recording an out triggered an automatic balk call against him, moving Kelenic to second base. Four batters later, Julio Rodríguez would drive his teammate in with an RBI single to center, tying the game 3-3.

"It's a 3-2 (count). He's probably going to be put in motion," Williams said. "He's a guy that's been running for them. If there's a time to pickoff three times and take the chance, that was the time to do it. And it was close. It was a good baseball play. Unfortunately, we didn't pick him off there. But if we're going to do it, I think that was the spot to do it."

By the time the inning ended, Williams’ pitch count was up to 83, and the Mariners lineup was well into its third trip to the plate in the game. Thus did Martinez opt to pull his starter and entrust the remainder of what was a close ballgame to his beleaguered bullpen.

"He gave us everything he had," the manager said. "We could've sent him out for another hitter or two, if something had gone awry. But I wanted Abbott to start a clean inning."

With several relievers unavailable given their usage over the weekend, Abbott was summoned for a rare appearance in a tie game. The right-handed long man didn’t keep the game tied for long. He allowed four of the first six batters he faced to reach, with Suárez, Mike Ford and Kolten Wong all driving in runs to turn a 3-3 game into a 6-3 game.

Abbott, who would wind up pitching 3 1/3 innings, wasn’t helped by his defense, most notably his first baseman. When Teoscar Hernández led off the inning with a sharp comebacker the ricocheted of Abbott’s leg, Smith wound up with the ball in his hand between the mound and first. Smith, though, inexplicably made a backhanded, shovel pass to the base despite the fact he was the closest National to said base. The ball skipped away, untouched, into foul territory as Hernández happily took a free base.

"That play happened so fast," Smith said. "(Second baseman García) is going up the middle to make a play, I'm running to the ball, I see a shadow out of the corner of my eye, I hear the first base coach screaming: 'Come! Come! Come!' So I'm thinking I've got a play at first. I saw the shadow, tossed it. It ended up being the umpire."

Add it to the list of plays that defined an unclean night of baseball by the Nats.