Williams on Gonzalez's rough start, bullpen's stellar work in 5-2 loss

Over his last two outings, spanning just 7 1/3 innings, Gio Gonzalez has allowed 12 runs on 16 hits. Not what we're used to seeing from the Nationals left-hander. Gonzalez gave up five runs over three innings today against the Mets, taking his second straight loss and watching his ERA balloon to 4.62 in the Nats' 5-2 defeat. He allowed three runs in the first in a 37-pitch frame, then gave up a two-run homer to Juan Lagares in the third that provided the crucial cushion for the Mets. The Nats dropped the ballgame, but most of the questions for manager Matt Williams after the game were about Gonzalez on a broader level after his second straight rough start. On Gonzalez today: "Inconsistent. Way too many pitches, missing the zone, not throwing it where he wanted to. Just inconsistent. And getting behind. If you get behind at this level, you're going to pay for it." On if he can put his finger on what's been wrong with Gonzalez lately: "No, I can't. Velocity is good, everything's good. His control issues early have really put him behind the eight-ball. We've spoken about it before. It's not a lack of doing anything differently than he's done in the past. Not been able to control the fastball, especially early on. Everything's up and like I said, he was missing. And if you get behind, you're going to pay." On if he saw the same issues with Gonzalez the last time out, in his loss to the A's: "Well, yeah, I think it's the same thing. His last start, he gave up a pair of three-run homers on 3-0 counts, which means he's behind in the count. Never really found his curveball, never really found his changeup today. So getting behind and having one pitch to go to, it's tough." On Gonzalez's health: "I can't put a finger on that, because I don't know ... there's no difference in velocity. He's running it in there at 94 mph. It doesn't feel like that. He's had a little tight shoulder earlier this year, but has continued to pitch and tells us that he feels good. So I don't know. I don't see that, though." On if Gonzalez has continued to get treatment on the shoulder: "Oh yeah, and it feels good. We ask him and he says he feels fine. It's just a question of being inconsistent with his ... his release point is a little bit all over the place, but that's somewhat typical of him sometimes. And he tends to zone it in as he gets into the game. But the last two, that hasn't been the case. It's been falling behind and coming to the hitters and they've been whacking it. So, do a little better job of zoning in early, if that's the case." On the work of Craig Stammen (four scoreless innings) today: "The bullpen's been fantastic. Was great again today. That's yeoman's work right there, man. That's hard to do. He's been phenomenal. The rest of the guys down there pitched really well today, and they have been. We just couldn't recover from that deficit today. It's hard to do on a consistent basis. Commend them for their work, though." On Juan Lagares robbing Jayson Werth of a homer: "That's a great catch. He's a fantastic athlete. His two-run homer's a big homer for them today, too. He's a good player."