Gonzalez down on himself for inability to give bullpen a break

Pitchers can live with the hits they surrender, even the home runs. What they can't live with are the walks they issue that drive up their pitch count and prevent them from reaching the game's latter innings.

So when Gio Gonzalez was upset with himself following the Nationals' 9-4 loss to the Cardinals tonight, it wasn't so much because of the six runs he surrendered via a flurry of two-out hits (including one by opposing pitcher Adam Wainwright). It was because he couldn't even complete the fifth inning, forcing manager Dusty Baker to use five relievers just to finish the game.

"I can't stand it," Gonzalez said. "I'm a way better pitcher than what I'm showing out there. And it sucks that these guys are constantly picking up my mess."

Even though Gonzalez had been quite effective through the season's first six weeks - he sported a 1.86 ERA only five days ago - he still wasn't doing quite enough to save the Nationals bullpen. Only once in 10 starts has he completed seven innings. Only once in his last five starts has he completed six innings.

"I'm tired of putting so much work on our bullpen," he said. "Those guys don't deserve that. They deserve a better pitcher. And I've got to be a better pitcher doing that."

Gonzalez would have been better tonight had he simply been able to put away St. Louis batters when he had the chance, especially during the four-run second that set the tone for the game.

Three times in that inning, the left-hander was one strike away from recording the third out and sending the Nationals back to their dugout. And three times, he prolonged the inning, via a walk of Jedd Gyorko on a 3-2 pitch, an RBI single by Greg Garcia on a 2-2 pitch and an RBI double by Matt Carpenter on a 2-2 pitch.

Throw in Wainwright's two-out, two-run double, and there you have it. A particularly frustrating inning that could have been over much earlier had Gonzalez been able to put away hitters with two strikes.

"You can't take them away from (the Cardinals hitters), because they got him," Baker said. "But you would like to make a better pitch."

"I think he tried hard today," catcher Jose Lobaton said. "And then that out pitch, we didn't have it today with two strikes. We needed that fastball in or that curveball in the dirt."

Funny thing is, Gonzalez did have the out pitch during the top of the first. He struck out the side to begin his night, getting Carpenter and Aledmys Diaz on curveballs and Matt Holliday on a fastball.

But everything went downhill from there. By the time Gonzalez needed 40 pitches to get through that fateful second inning, it was clear he wouldn't be long for this night.

And that leaves him trying to figure out how to get himself back on track.

"Just continue to be strong mentally," Gonzalez said. "Just keep finding a way. Eventually it will tilt over and things will start to go my way again. And I think that's all it is. I've got to be more aggressive, more positive on that mound. I can't let it spiral out of control."