Familiar pattern in Nationals' 8-6 loss to Phillies (updated)

If Mike Rizzo's message in standing pat at this afternoon's trade deadline was to let his Nationals players know he still believes this group is capable of a second-half push into a pennant race, the message they sent back to their general manager tonight in Philadelphia was that nothing has changed on the field.

This 8-6 loss to the Phillies bore far too much resemblance to so many losses that have preceded it this season. The starting pitcher, Erick Fedde, again dug his team into a sizeable early hole. The lineup, despite ample opportunities, couldn't get clutch hits from anyone other than Trea Turner or Juan Soto.

And even when it looked like the first late-inning comeback of the season was possible, a reliever, Wander Suero, handed momentum back to the opponents and all but sealed the loss.

Having now lost six of their last seven, the Nationals are 12-20 and barely ahead of the Pirates for the stigma of owning the National League's worst record. With only 28 games to go, the odds of a late surge are diminishing by the hour. And Rizzo's strategy of standing pat instead of either buying or selling at the trade deadline - while a relief to some within the clubhouse - doesn't look likely to have much impact.

"I think all of us in this clubhouse believed from day one that we have the guys in here to win," Turner said during a postgame Zoom session with reporters. "I don't think any of us thinks we need somebody or something to help us get going. We've got it right here. It's just a matter of playing good baseball and getting on the right track and getting on the winning side. It's easier said than done, but I think we've got the guys in the clubhouse to do it."

They may have the guys, but the guys who are taking the mound at the start of each game aren't consistently giving everyone else a chance. Tonight's culprit was Fedde, who allowed six runs by the fourth inning.

Fedde's evening started off in odd fashion. He induced mostly weak contact through the first three innings and even missed bats to record three strikeouts. Only two Phillies reached base. Alas, both homered after Fedde fell behind in the count.

Rhys Hoskins blasted a 2-0 fastball to left in the bottom of the first. One inning later, Jay Bruce sent a 3-1 changeup soaring to right. If he didn't know it already, Fedde was reminded of the importance of getting ahead of hitters.

"It surely doesn't help" to get behind in the count, he said.

Then in the fourth inning, he got a harsh reminder about the importance of not giving away free bases. Fedde opened the frame by walking Bryce Harper, then plunked J.T. Realmuto with his very next pitch. And when Didi Gregorius' soft grounder found the empty hole on the left side of the Nationals' shifted infield, the bases were loaded for Jean Segura in a most dangerous situation.

Sure enough, Segura took advantage of an advantageous scenario. He ripped Fedde's 2-1 fastball to the gap in left-center, clearing the bases and putting the Nationals into a 5-0 hole that quickly became 6-0 on Alec Bohm's sacrifice fly.

"We've got to get some of these guys to understand: The big innings are killing us," manager Davey Martinez said. "We've got to get them to understand to keep us in the game. We're gonna score runs. But we've got to limit the damage."

For the third straight day, the Nationals trailed by at least four runs early. And the domino effect of all those early deficits and quick hooks for starters? Martinez couldn't afford to pull Fedde after only three innings. He had no choice but to leave the right-hander on the mound and hope he could at least provide a few more innings before handing over the keys to the bullpen.

To his credit, Fedde did just that and salvaged the start. He retired the last nine batters he faced and wound up completing six innings for the first time this season, and still only threw 85 pitches.

"It's something I think is very important, and something I want to continue to improve on," he said. "I set myself up to even go back out there in the seventh if we didn't put a couple runs up on the board. Giving the bullpen time off when I can is a really big part of the job, as well."

That at least gave the Nats lineup a chance to mount its first comeback of 2020. As always, they had little trouble putting runners on base: At one point, they had only gone down 1-2-3 once in a span of 25 innings. But they continue to have a devil of a time driving those runners in, stranding at least one man on base in 24 of those 25 innings.

The only saving grace of this lineup right now is the best 1-2 punch in the majors right now, the guys now batting 1-2 in the order. Turner and Soto are practically playing a game of hitting H-O-R-S-E these days, each trying to match or even top the other.

"He's amazing," Soto said. "He's amazing how he's driving the ball right now. Every time he hits the ball right now, it's hard contact. I'm just glad that I'm hitting right behind him."

After a ridiculously torrid weekend in Boston, Turner notched another four hits tonight, leaving him an unfathomable 15-for-20 on the road trip. Not to be outdone, Soto blasted yet another opposite-field homer, a two-run blast to left-center in the top of the fifth for his 10th in only 24 games played this season to go along with a batting average that has hovered around .360.

Then, as if on cue, Turner followed Michael A. Taylor's solo homer in the seventh with another one of his own, also to the opposite field, raising his majors-best batting average to a stout .372 - one more hit later raised it to .377 - and cutting the Nationals' deficit to 6-4.

But just when it seemed they might have some positive momentum against a suspect Phillies bullpen, Suero gave up two killer insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh. The deficit was back to four runs, and the Nats were on their way to another disheartening loss.

Turner and Soto did it again in the top of the ninth, a single and another homer cutting the deficit back to two runs. But despite the dynamic duo's efforts, the Nationals simply can't win with production from those two alone. Even when those two are combining to hit as well as any two hitters in the sport right now.

"I think every loss is frustrating," Turner said. "It doesn't matter who scores the runs, who makes the outs. Obviously, the goal is to win. I think any loss is frustrating."