Rough night for Gray-Ruiz battery in loss to Phillies (updated)

The Nationals wanted so much for this to be a memorable night, the first of many featuring Josiah Gray on the mound and Keibert Ruiz behind the plate. And there will be many more nights featuring the young battery and centerpieces of last month's blockbuster trade that sent Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Dodgers.

No matter how their story turns out, whether in glory or failure, Gray and Ruiz won't have reason to look back on tonight's proceedings with much fondness. Gray slogged his way through the worst of his six starts so far and Ruiz went 1-for-4 at the plate in his debut during the Nationals' 7-4 loss to the Phillies.

Neither the 23-year-old right-hander nor the 23-year-old catcher showed off the skills that made the Nats covet the duo so much at the trade deadline, at least not on this night. Gray, of course, had looked quite impressive in his first five starts since joining the club at the start of the month. Ruiz, meanwhile, put up monster numbers at Triple-A Rochester before earning his call-up Sunday.

The Nationals will have to wait to see them flash their potential again, whether Ruiz can do it Tuesday night against the Phillies and Gray can do it this weekend against the Mets.

"We're still going to have to get on the same page, because although we were in the same organization before, we haven't thrown that much together, just because of this year being a weird year for me with (a shoulder) injury and whatnot," Gray said in his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "So we're just going to continue to get on the same page. ... It's going to be a work in progress, just like every other pitcher here. But that's part of the process."

The Nationals hope they won't need to have someone new playing shortstop in the coming days after watching Alcides Escobar foul a ball off his left knee, crumple to the ground in pain and be helped off the field by manager Davey Martinez and director of athletic training Paul Lessard in the bottom of the first. Luis García, the 21-year-old, shifted to shortstop for the remainder of the game, with veteran Adrián Sanchez taking over at second base.

The encouraging news: X-rays on Escobar came back negative, and he is day-to-day with a contusion to the inside of his left knee, according to Martinez.

Escobar's injury only added to the dour mood during a long ballgame that did at least see the home team bring the tying to the plate in both the eighth and ninth innings but fail to convert.

As much as the Nationals tried to generate some extra hype for this one, a Monday night against the Phillies with local schools back in session didn't help matters. The announced crowd of 17,353 was sparse, but it was enthusiastic, whether cheering for Gray when he took the mound, standing and applauding for Ruiz when he came up to bat for the first time or booing every mention of Bryce Harper.

Harper, though, would silence the haters with a moonshot to right field in the top of the first, blasting Gray's down-and-in curveball into the home bullpen for the first non-solo homer surrendered by the rookie right-hander this season. Gray would strike Harper out on a better version of the same pitch in the fourth, but that was small consolation at that point.

"The pitch in the fourth is the pitch I wanted in the first," he said.

Gray wound up throwing 27 pitches during the three-run first inning, and that very much set the tone for the evening. The young starter was both ineffective and unusually deliberate, unable to establish any kind of pace or rhythm, turning this outing into a complete slog.

"He just didn't seem like he had that quick tempo the first couple innings," Martinez said. "The last inning, he threw the ball a lot better. But he already had 83 pitches ... so for me, that was good enough for him."

There were a number of firsts for Gray, and not positive ones. He issued three unintentional walks for the first time. He allowed more than three runs for the first time. He failed to complete five innings for the first time.

And he didn't get help at one critical moment from Yadiel Hernandez, who drifted back to the wall in pursuit of Ronald Torreyes' bases-loaded drive, couldn't catch the ball and then watched it carom back toward the line for a three-run triple that nearly became an inside-the-park grand slam.

"He was playing way over in left-center field," Martinez said. "He ran actually a pretty long ways. I don't think he realized he still had another step or two to get to the wall. He had to get to the wall. I don't think the ball hit the wall ... not even halfway up the wall. He just needs to get back there. But he ran a long way."

Ultimately, this wound up the worst of Gray's six starts since the trade, a disappointing way to welcome his once and future batterymate to D.C.

It proved to be an uneventful debut for Ruiz, who aside from his work behind the plate had four fairly nondescript at-bats at the plate. The rookie catcher twice popped up to short (once with the bases loaded) and also lined out to left, all three off 97 mph fastballs from Zack Wheeler. He did finally reach with a bloop single to center off reliever Connor Brogdon in the eighth.

"It took out the pressure a little bit," he said of his first hit. "I've just got to keep looking for my pitch and keep getting better."

Not that anyone should draw any conclusions after one game. There will be plenty more opportunities for Ruiz and Gray alike over the next month, and based on what they saw from both during their time in the Dodgers system and since the trade, the Nationals have every reason to believe they're both going to be a big part of their long-term plan.

"Right when we were walking out of the bullpen, we were walking side by side, and I thought that was a nice shot," Gray said. "Former Dodger teammates and now National teammates. That was awesome, just to see where we were a month ago."