Ian Desmond's errors continue hurting Nats in loss

By no means was shortstop Ian Desmond the reason the Nationals lost 5-3 to the Phillies today, but his horrendous third inning played a major part.

Desmond couldn't make a play on simple grounder from Phillies starter Aaron Harang that should've been the inning's second out. Who knows if it mentally bothered Nats starter Jordan Zimmermann, but he promptly gave up a double and a single. And just like that, the game was tied.

Unfortunately for the Nats, Desmond's blunders weren't finished. Zimmermann did his part to get Chase Utley to hit a perfect inning-ending double play ball right at second baseman Dan Uggla. Not so fast. Desmond couldn't handle Uggla's flip, allowing the Phillies to score a second run.

"A bobble and I dropped the ball on a double play on a transfer. Brutal," Desmond said. "But I've been here before. I'm gonna work way my way out of it. I don't think I can work any harder than I'm working. I guess if this is the biggest problem in my life I got, then I guess I'm doing all right. At the end of the year, it's gonna be good looking back at this and knowing I made my way through it."

It's certainly the biggest problem in the Nats' life, as Desmond has now committed a whopping eight errors in the team's first 12 games. And they've come in all varieties. Wild throws, dropped popups, booted ground balls and today, fumbles.

Both runs Zimmermann allowed in the third inning were unearned.

"Obviously, I feel for the guy, you know," Zimmermann said. "Everybody thinks it's so easy to go out there and play that position. He's getting some balls hit at him and just not making the plays right now, but he's gonna come around just like everybody else and he'll be fine."

Zimmermann has seen this before from Desmond, who has a poor fielding track record in his career in the month of April. But these miscues have led the way for the Nats to end up in the loss column too many times this season.

Nationals manager Matt Williams didn't have a magical answer on what to do about Desmond's struggles when asked about them after today's loss.

"Nothing. Just keep working," Williams said. "That's all we can do. He feels horrible about it, so we support him. We work. There's no substitute for that. He's out there every day and we rely on him a lot.

"The key is to keep going. We have no choice in that matter. We're all part of the team, we all either help us win or help us lose. So that's looking at it from a team perspective, and we're here to pick him up. If somebody makes a mistake, we need to pick him up. And we'll do that. We'll continue to do that."

Desmond must feel like he's standing in front of a firing squad with a dozen or so microphones pointed at him after each game. To his credit, he has stood there and responded to each question. Sometimes he's been quiet with a deer in the headlights look while today he seemed to have a much more positive outlook.

"Something happened today that I'll never forget," Desmond said. "After that inning, I came up and I would've totally understood if the fans booed me, but I think it was one of the loudest cheers I've had. That was really cool. I really appreciated that. To know that they're behind me and my teammates are behind me, that means a lot."

Surprisingly, Desmond hasn't allowed his defensive problems interfere at the plate where he looks extremely focused. After three more hits today, Desmond is now 11-for-21 over the last five games with a homer and two RBIs.

"I've been really working with Matt," Desmond said. "Matt has helped me a lot. Just picking his brain and staying on him. I really want to know what he sees. I'm really just relying on him and kind of what he went through as a hitter and been able to draw some stuff from him.

"I'm just trying to help the team. I'm trying to do everything I can to kinda scratch and claw to make an impact on the game in a positive way."

Right fielder Bryce Harper, whose massive fifth-inning homer evened the score temporarily, has been a teammate of Desmond's for the past four seasons. He is able to look past the costly mistakes and recognize Desmond's overall value to the ballclub.

"The guy's been a 20-20 bat for how many seasons in a row? Silver Slugger. The guy's a stud," Harper said earlier this week. "I don't think it's been a very big deal within the clubhouse or with anybody else. Maybe with you guys. But he's a stud. He's going to do what he does. We know he's going to play the game like he does."