Lester's dud sends Nationals to rare loss (updated)

When he stepped off the mound at the end of the sixth inning Saturday night at Nationals Park, Jon Lester felt as good as he has about himself in a long time. Ten starts into his first season in D.C., the veteran left-hander owned a 3.60 ERA. Anyone who reasonably expected anything more than that from the 37-year-old was being unreasonable.

By the time he walked off the mound in the third inning tonight at loanDepot Park in Miami, Lester could not have felt anything like he did six days prior. Eleven starts into his first season in D.C., he now owns a 4.99 ERA.

And the Nationals are left wondering what they can now reasonably expect from him moving forward after a slog of a start in a slog of an 11-2 loss to the Marlins.

"He loves to compete, and he's a winner. He gets really frustrated, especially with himself," manager Davey Martinez said in his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "I told him: You'll be back out there in five days. Just forget about this one and get ready for your next one."

Whatever good vibes the Nationals had going entering this one, having won 10 of their last 11 thanks to brilliant pitching and Kyle Schwarber's historic home run barrage, quickly disappeared into the moist South Florida air. This was their worst game in some time, even with another Schwarber homer sprinkled into the mix, his 13th in 14 games.

In fact, this was the first time the Nats lost a nine-inning game since June 11, when they were shut out by Anthony DeSclafani in a 1-0 loss to the Giants, two full weeks ago.

Every team is entitled to the occasional dud, especially one that has played as well as this one has since that loss. But the fact this dud came about as a result of a ragged start by Lester does make it a bit more troubling.

Lester seemed to have been slowly rising in recent weeks, peaking with Saturday night's start against the Mets, in which he carried a shutout into the seventh inning. But given a chance by Martinez to complete that shortened doubleheader game, the lefty immediately gave up a walk and a two-run homer and was pulled.

And his troubles continued tonight in Miami. Lester gave up four runs in the bottom of the first, plagued first by back-to-back walks, then by Adam Duvall's RBI single, then by Miguel Rojas' three-run homer just beyond a leaping Schwarber's reach in left field.

"I felt comfortable on the first batter," Lester said. "And then after that, it was like I just lost all feel for really anything and everything I was trying to do."

Just like that, the Nationals trailed 4-0. And Lester found himself staring up at a steep hill just to try to salvage this outing. He barely made it back up a few steps before plummeting back to the bottom again.

Despite retiring the side in the second, Lester crumbled in the third. The Marlins' first four batters in the inning reached, another one via walk, with Rojas singling home one run and Jesús Sánchez doubling home another.

Lester would be pulled after recording one more out, but he would be charged with one more run when Jon Berti singled off Paolo Espino to bring home an inherited runner and extend Miami's lead to 7-2. And so concluded the lefty's descent from the high of last Saturday to the low of this evening. Including the top of the seventh vs. the Mets and his entire start tonight, Lester allowed 11 of 18 batters to reach, giving up nine runs on six hits and four walks, watching his ERA balloon nearly a point and a half in the process.

"I feel like when I do have a good (start), the next one isn't great," he said. "And I don't know what the reason for that is. If I did, I would obviously try to make the next one better. It's just kind of the trend I've been in. I don't know what it is. Physically, I feel good. Maybe like any other night, you're not always going to feel perfect mechanically. But tonight, for whatever reason, was just off. Never felt comfortable. Never felt comfortable with the ball in my hand. Never felt comfortable with anything we were trying to do."

The Nationals didn't do much at the plate in this one, either, but they did get to enjoy another early Schwarbomb while the game was still competitive. With an upper-deck blast off a 2-2 fastball from Pablo López, Schwarber added to his staggering power surge.

He has now clubbed 13 homers in 14 games, one shy of Barry Bonds' record from 2001. His nine homers in six games were one shy of Frank Howard's record from 1968.

And Schwarber has now tied Bryce Harper's club record for homers in a month with 13. He's got five more days to hit just one more and break Harper's mark, set in May 2015.

"In '19, I saw something not quite like this, but similar. ... I saw a glimpse of it," said Lester, who has been Schwarber's teammate his entire seven-year career. "This is a whole other level of what he's doing. It's testament to him. He's worked hard. He's made a lot of adjustments through his career. I'm happy for him. He's swinging the bat well. Obviously, well is an understatement. It's crazy."

Most of Schwarber's big blasts have played a significant role in Nationals victories. This one did not. He, the club and Lester can only hope tonight was the anomaly.

"He's actually kept us in the game for the most part," Martinez said of Lester's season to date. "There's been one or two games where he's really given it up. But until today, he's kept us in ballgames. He gives up one or two runs, three runs. But today it was just uncharacteristic of him."