Same old, same old for Nats in 6-0 loss to Phillies (updated)

It would be one thing if the Nationals were engaged in nip-and-tuck, well-played ballgames every night and just couldn't find a way to emerge on top. That's not what's happening right now.

The Nats aren't even giving themselves a reasonable chance, digging themselves into insurmountable holes and not possessing the kind of lineup capable of making that much ground back up.

Add tonight's 6-0 thumping at the hands of the Phillies to the growing list. For a while, this contest looked like it might actually be a compelling pitchers' duel. But then the Phillies got to a tiring Patrick Corbin in the fifth and busted the game wide open against reliever Kyle Finnegan (with some help from shaky defense) in the sixth.

And so once again the Nationals found themselves down and mostly out. Over the last four nights in Boston and Philadelphia, they have trailed by scores of 4-0, 5-0, 6-0 and 6-0.

And at 12-21, the chance of qualifying for an expanded playoff field and defending their 2019 title is slipping away.

"We've got to keep our heads up," manager Davey Martinez said during his postgame Zoom session with reporters from Philadelphia. "We've got to stick together and come back tomorrow and play good, clean baseball."

This one started out with some good, clean baseball before turning sour. With a rematch of last week's pitching matchup between Corbin and Aaron Nola on tap, both teams knew runs would probably be at a premium tonight and opportunities would need to be taken advantage of. And for four innings, neither lineup did.

Nola didn't give the Nationals many scoring chances, but the best chance came in the top of the third when Luis García sent a one-out double down the left field line. But Michael A. Taylor, starting in place of struggling Victor Robles for the second straight night, struck out looking at a fastball. And after Trea Turner drew a two-out walk, Juan Soto failed to capitalize on a rare at-bat with two men on base, tapping a weak grounder back to Nola to end the inning.

The Nats' only chance at the plate right now involves production from both Turner and Soto, who entered the day ranked 1-2 in batting average among all qualifying major leaguers. The dynamic duo was held in check by Nola tonight, though. Each drew a walk, but neither notched a hit, which brought an end to Turner's 16-game streak.

"Some days you run into a buzzsaw," Martinez said. "And Nola was good. He mixed his pitches up really well. Man, that was the best I've seen him throw."

Corbin also wriggled his way out of a couple jams early on, most notably in the bottom of the third when he struck out both Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto on sliders to strand two runners in scoring position. But the escape acts drove up the left-hander's pitch count and he hit a wall in the fifth.

Rookie Alec Bohm led off with a homer to left, driving a 1-1 slider into the left-field bleachers for the game's first run. Then with a chance to end the inning with the deficit at 1-0, he gave up a two-out single to Rhys Hoskins, couldn't put away Harper and walked him and then gave up an RBI single to the equally dangerous Realmuto.

"I'm trying to attack (Harper), obviously a lefty-lefty matchup there," Corbin said. "We threw some good sliders, but I just didn't start them over the plate. I gave him an easy 3-2 take there. I wanted to get that a little bit over the plate."

His pitch count at 92, Corbin was pulled after five innings, Martinez left to entrust multiple relievers to keep the game close. It didn't work. Finnegan, who had been excellent to date in his rookie season, successfully retired only one of the seven batters he faced in the bottom of the sixth. Andrew McCutchen's three-run homer was the dagger, but García's third error in 16 games (on what could've been a double-play ball) and a poor relay to Yan Gomes that allowed Didi Gregorius to score after slipping and falling around third base helped make the four-run inning possible.

"I felt like I attacked it probably a little too aggressively," García said of the booted grounder via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "And that's what I was told, too - that I attacked it too aggressively and tried to make everything too quick. It's stuff that we work on. It's part of the game. So come out tomorrow, work on it and make sure I improve as much as I can and hopefully next time make the play."

"I felt bad for Finnegan," Martinez said. "He gets the ground ball, we don't turn the double play right there. It could've been a different ballgame."

The Nationals also lost Javy Guerra in the bottom of the eighth when the durable reliever motioned for a trainer after his left hamstring "grabbed him pretty good," according to Martinez, following three straight walks and then a first-pitch ball to Gregorius.

But on a night when pitching and defense didn't clamp down to keep the game close, a complete lack of offense made it moot. The Nationals weren't going to score off Nola tonight. And once their pitching staff created another big hole for the lineup, another loss was all but assured.

"We're just trying to stay in it," Martinez said. "I've got confidence the way our guys swing the bats that we could put an inning or two together at any given moment. It didn't happen tonight. Kudos to Nola. He pitched well."