Gonzalez's short outing leaves Nats frustrated in 6-1 loss

Any thought that Max Scherzer's awesome performance would carry over into Gio Gonzalez's start was eliminated rather quickly tonight. A day after Scherzer pitched a complete-game one-hitter, Gonzalez managed to hang around for just 3 1/3 innings as the Rays went on to thump the Nationals 6-1.

The Rays filled the bases in the first on a single and two walks before Gonzalez narrowly escaped the jam.

In the second, though, Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier almost single-handedly put his team on the scoreboard after center fielder Denard Span inattentively helped Kiermaier to a double on a rather routine base knock up the middle. Kiermaier swiped third and then scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly.

The Rays opened the third with three consecutive singles against Gonzalez to score again. Former Nationals outfielder Stephen Souza Jr. then drew his second of five walks on the night to load the bases, setting up another run-scoring sacrifice fly.

Nationals manager Matt Williams saw enough after Gonzalez allowed two more runs in the fourth on three singles and a hit batter.

"He just couldn't throw it where he wanted to throw it," Williams told reporters after the loss. "He got behind hitters and lost command of the strike zone. He just didn't have any command at all today. We're gonna have to work on that."

Overall, the Rays tagged Gonzalez for five runs on eight hits with three walks, one hit batter and one strikeout. Gonzalez threw 79 pitches while falling to 4-4, with his season ERA jumping to 4.82.

"Everything was up," Williams said to reporters. "Everything was middle when he did throw it over the plate. He didn't hit any corners. The ball wasn't down. So we'll get him in the bullpen and work on that and get on top of the baseball a little bit better."

While Gonzalez was laboring, the Nationals lineup couldn't find any success against his counterpart. Rays starter Erasmo Ramirez scattered five hits over six scoreless innings against the Nats.

"We got behind early and after that (Ramirez) just kinda got a little confidence going and got into a rhythm," Span told reporters after the game. "It was just tough to battle back once we got behind very early."

The Nationals offense finally showed some life in the top of the ninth. After breaking up the shutout, the Nats were actually threatening with the bases loaded and Bryce Harper at the plate with just one out. Harper ripped a liner that appeared headed down the right field line until Rays first baseman Nick Franklin snagged it and then fired to second to double up Anthony Rendon to end the game.

The good sign for the Nationals was that Harper was able to play after missing yesterday's game with soreness in his left knee stemming from Saturday's plunking. He was 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts while appearing as the designated hitter for the first time in his career.

"It's difficult when you play every day to DH, but it was the only way we could get him in the lineup today to give his leg one more day to rest," Williams told reporters. "Fully anticipate he'll be in there tomorrow."

The loss ends the Nats' brief two-game winning streak and drops them 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Mets in the National League East.

"It's been frustrating," Span told reporters. "We finished off the series good in Milwaukee and then to have a game like this is just very frustrating."