Nats waste another pitching gem, get shut out in L.A. (updated)

Until they get their remaining middle-of-the-order bats back from the COVID-19 injured list, the Nationals are going to need stellar performances from their pitching staff and a few clutch hits from a depleted lineup in tandem to emerge victorious.

They got the pitching today at Dodger Stadium, most notably from Joe Ross in his 2021 debut. They did not get the one timely hit they needed and thus suffered their second consecutive shutout loss, this one by the agonizing score of 1-0.

Despite five scoreless innings from Ross in his first start since the 2019 World Series, a Nationals lineup that also wasted Stephen Strasburg's gem against the Braves on Wednesday could not offer him any run support. And when Justin Turner blasted a solo homer off reliever Luis Avilán in the bottom of the sixth, the Dodgers had the only run they needed to win a home opener that began with the presentation of their 2020 World Series rings.

"If we can keep it right here, I like what I'm getting," manager Davey Martinez said during his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "I really believe if we get the pitching we've been getting as of late, we're gonna score runs. We're gonna win a lot of games."

If this was a sign of what's in store for Ross this season, the Nationals will win more than their share of his starts.

Though he had enjoyed a positive spring and showed no ill effects of the year off he took during the pandemic, Ross nonetheless entered today's outing as a bit of an unknown. How would the right-hander respond to his first actual start in 18 months, against the defending World Series champs in their home opener?

The answer: exceptionally well, and that was immediately obvious. Ross struck out the first two batters he faced, getting Chris Taylor swinging at a slider and Corey Seager looking at a 94-mph sinker with major movement.

The only member of the Dodgers lineup that enjoyed any semblance of success against Ross today was Turner, who singled in each of his two at-bats vs. the Nationals starter. Otherwise, Ross was in complete control throughout, using all three of his pitches (sinker, slider, changeup) effectively and getting all three of them to move.

"It's kind of been a while since I pitched in a game, but the first inning I stayed in the zone, and getting ahead helps," said Ross, who was surprised to find a 2019 World Series sticker inside his locker when he arrived in the clubhouse this morning. "I felt good early on, just tried to carry that throughout the game."

As good as Ross was, decision time came early for Martinez. His starter had completed five scoreless innings on 67 pitches. But he had faced an imposing L.A. lineup (albeit one without Mookie Betts or Cody Bellinger) twice through the order. And he hadn't pitched in a real game since March 23 in Jupiter, Fla., when he went 4 2/3 innings.

"I hadn't really pitched in a while," Ross said. "I was getting built up in spring training, and then I think with the extended time off and the length of a full season, hopefully I'll get built up and feel more comfortable going deeper in the game as we move forward."

Tempting as it was to leave his starter in, Martinez opted not to push it. He thanked Ross for a job well done, then entrusted the rest of the afternoon to his bullpen.

"At this point right now, we've got to be smart," the manager said. "He didn't do anything, really, for 12 days. He threw the ball well."

The plan started out swimmingly, with Avilán striking out both Taylor and Seager looking to open the sixth. But then the veteran lefty left a changeup over the plate to Turner, who blasted it to left-center for the first run of the ballgame, making the decision to pull Ross sting more.

"Honestly, it wasn't a horrible pitch," Martinez said. "You're talking about a smart hitter. If I had my guess, I'd bet Turner was sitting on the changeup."

Then again, it might not have mattered much had the Nationals lineup been able to push across at least one run against Walker Buehler and the Los Angeles bullpen. It didn't happen during the six innings Buehler was on the mound, the only real good scoring opportunity coming after back-to-back, two-out singles in the sixth. Starlin Castro grounded out to end that rally.

Another golden opportunity came in the eighth, with Blake Treinen on the mound for the Dodgers. A leadoff double by pinch-hitter Yadiel Hernandez set the stage, and when Victor Robles beat out a perfectly placed bunt down the third base line, the Nats had runners on the corners, nobody out and their best hitters coming up to bat.

Then, a killer mistake: Robles tried to steal second and was thrown out, with Hernandez never budging off third for a possible double steal. And when Trea Turner struck out on a high 98 mph fastball, you knew what would happen next: The Dodgers intentionally walked Juan Soto, putting everything on Ryan Zimmerman's broad shoulders.

Zimmerman has delivered plenty of times in his career. He did not deliver today, grounding out to end the eighth and extend the Nationals' scoreless streak to 15 innings.

Frustrating as that outcome was, it wasn't as frustrating as the feeling inside the dugout when Robles was thrown out trying to run on his own, and in the process losing track of the game scenario.

"It's one of those things where I look at the situation, and I thought that as a team we'd be better off if we had runners on second and third with nobody out, as opposed to first and third," Robles said via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "But it was completely my mistake. I didn't think about looking at who's coming up in the lineup, which is our strong part of the lineup, and giving them the best opportunity to produce."

"We want him to be aggressive," Martinez said. "But we want him to be aggressive smart. At that particular moment, we're down 1-0 with pretty big hitters coming up with no outs. So regardless of what it is, you wait for a passed ball, a wild pitch. There's other ways to get on second. We wanted Trea to hit, we wanted Juan to hit and Zim to hit."