Nationals' fatal flaw on display in 4-2 loss to Dodgers (updated)

The pennant race tonight returned to South Capitol Street, where a crowd of 37,491 turned the ballpark as electric as it had been in at least a month, the last time the Nationals faced a fellow National League contender.

The Nationals and Dodgers put on a show worthy of these kind of high stakes and gave a taste of what a potential five-game series might look and feel like should they meet again come October.

Then again, during a 4-2 loss the Nats also offered up a painful look at the fatal flaw in their roster that might prevent them from ever reaching the postseason, unless general manager Mike Rizzo can pull off a desperately needed miracle before Wednesday's trade deadline.

A taut, well pitched, well played ballgame entered the eighth inning knotted at 1. Then Davey Martinez handed the ball to his bullpen and watched it all go up in smoke in a manner that all but felt inevitable given the relievers who were asked to get the job done in a high-pressure situation.

"When they don't come through, of course it's not good," Martinez said. "But we're in really good position right now. We're playing well. The reason why we're doing that is our bullpen has been good. We need those guys. We need them all."

After watching Aníbal Sánchez escape a harrowing top of the first and then retire the last 20 batters he faced, Martinez entrusted the top of the eighth to a trio of relievers. The first, Javy Guerra, retired a pair of right-handed batters. The second, Tony Sipp, failed to retire either of the two lefties he faced.

The third, Kyle Barraclough, was asked to retire No. 3 hitter Justin Turner with the game on the line in his first big league appearance since June 15. Barraclough, who was injured and then optioned to Double-A Harrisburg, grooved a 3-1 fastball and watched as Turner belted it to left-center for a soul-crushing, three-run homer that proved the difference in the game.

"Miss up and in to a guy that likes the ball up there, and obviously after the first couple pitches that I threw up there he's just looking for it," Barraclough said. "So I just got to execute better."

Barraclough, who has now allowed 11 of 13 inherited runners to score this season, certainly wasn't Martinez's No. 1 option for that situation. But after burning up his 'pen during a four-games-in-three-days series against the Rockies, the manager was again left with a depleted relief corps for the opener of this important series. Fernando Rodney, Wander Suero and Tanner Rainey all were unavailable, according to the manager.

"I liked Barraclough on Turner," Martinez said. "But when you fall behind on a good hitter, 3-1, and you've got to throw a fastball, you see where it goes."

The Nats gave it one last shot in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with two outs against Kenley Jansen. Juan Soto managed to draw a walk to force in one run, but Howie Kendrick struck out on Jansen's 34th pitch of the inning to end it.

And so the Nationals lost for only the 10th time in their last 33 games. All but one of those losses have been charged to their bullpen.

"Hey, I truly believe that we match up really well with them," Martinez said. "And we saw that today. It was one heck of a game. It was a lot of fun. The boys were into it. It was exciting. The fans were into it. Let's come back tomorrow and do it again. And let's be on top by the end of the game."

That this game came down to the relievers was remarkable enough. Sánchez offered up little reason for confidence in his chances tonight early on. He retired only one of the first five batters he faced, surrendering three singles and a walk. Unable to get the Dodgers to fish at his offerings at the bottom of the strike zone (or lower), he found himself down 1-0 and facing a bases-loaded jam, with a rapidly rising pitch count.

And then, a bailout. A.J. Pollock swung at a 3-0 pitch and tapped a 10-footer in front of the plate for the second out of the inning. Then Corey Seager swung at a 3-1 pitch and grounded out to first, and nobody was happier than Sánchez to get out of a 31-pitch top of the first with only one run across the plate.

"Amazing," the right-hander said. "After that, I say: 'OK, that's the only thing that they are going to do against me.'"

Turns out he was right. Able to get the ball up just a bit, and able to hit the outside corner with more regularity, Sánchez had the Dodgers baffled after that. He retired the side in the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth and the seventh innings, setting down 20 batters in a row and doing it all with impressive efficiency. After needing 31 pitches to get through the first inning, he needed only 68 pitches to get through the next six.

"Awesome," Martinez said. "He was really, really good."

The Nationals, though, could not support their veteran starter with any offense. They gave themselves a few chances against Cy Young Award contender Hyun-Jin Ryu, but they couldn't convert when they needed to, and some of their trouble was self-inflicted.

With two on, nobody out and the middle of the lineup batting, the Nationals had a golden opportunity to get on the board. But Kendrick, the No. 5 hitter and owner of a .310 batting average in spite of an 0-for-17 slump entering the day, shockingly tried to bunt - he did it on his own - and popped the ball up for an easy out. The Nats would fail to score.

Along the way, though, they began to make better and better contact against Ryu. And finally in the bottom of the seventh they were rewarded for it. Singles by Brian Dozier and Victor Robles (via a well-placed bunt) set the stage. Gerardo Parra - after the crowd clapped along to a full-length version of "Baby Shark" thanks to the Dodgers' mound conference - also bunted and wound up safe at first when Turner couldn't make the play.

Trea Turner ripped a ball 105 mph off the bat, but hit it right at Justin Turner, who fired home for the force out. Only Trea Turner's God-given speed prevented the Dodgers from turning a killer double play.

That set the stage for the at-bat of the night, provided by Adam Eaton. The veteran outfielder has struggled with runners in scoring position, and he's struggled against lefties. But he managed to foul off five straight offerings from Ryu, work the count full and then line a single to left on the 11th pitch.

As the crowd roared with delight, Parra came storming around third trying to score the go-ahead run. Alex Verdugo's throw, however, was on the money, and Russell Martin applied the tag on Parra, who didn't slide.

The Nationals challenged the call, suggesting Martin was blocking the plate and didn't give Parra a path to slide. Officials in New York disagreed and upheld the call.

"Martin blocked the plate," Martinez said. "(Parra) didn't know what to do. He was right in front of home plate, and the rule apparently states that if he would have slid, they might have called him safe. But he didn't know where to slide. He was in front of home plate. It's something that I don't understand."

When Anthony Rendon popped out to end the inning, the game was merely tied. And the Nats were forced to turn things over to their depleted bullpen.

If you've been following along all season, you know how it turned out.