Drew Storen on bad outings: "I have to make that adjustment"

Nationals closer Drew Storen was rolling along at the beginning of this season.

In the first four months of the season, Storen had allowed seven total earned runs in 40 appearances for a 1-0 record and a 1.64 ERA in 38 1/3 innings.

Since August 1, one day after the trading deadline that brought in new closer Jonathan Papelbon, Storen has struggled mightily.

In 18 games since August 1, Storen has allowed 16 runs with 14 earned. He has gone 1-2 with a 7.56 ERA in 16 2/3 innings.

His WHIP (walks plus hits divided by innings pitched) in six games for September is 2.000.

Tuesday and Wednesday nights' games against the Mets were examples of his difficult September so far.

Storen allowed three walks and three-run double to Yoenis Cespedes Tuesday. Wednesday, he surrendered a game-changing two-run shot to Cespedes.

"I try to throw a quality breaking ball and left it up in the zone," Storen said of the pitch to Cespedes that was driven into the Mets bullpen. "Can't do that when you're facing a good hitter like that."

Did he have any issue with pitching the very next night after Tuesday's rough go?

"Absolutely, tough outing yesterday, you want to get back out there and get the job done," Storen said.

Another interesting statistic provided by Baseball-Reference.com is Storen in non-save situations, which mostly have come recently since he was moved to the eighth-inning role following the acquisition of Papelbon.

In 19 games deemed non-save situations, Storen's ERA is 12.50. He has surrendered 18 hits in those games, four doubles and three homers.

"It's tough," Storen said. "It tests you a little bit, but that's what this game is about. It's not easy to get here. It's not easy to stay here. It's really not easy to be an elite guy, especially out of the bullpen. You're the hero or the zero. I've been on the wrong end of things recently, but I've got a couple weeks to turn it around."

Storen has had a difficult week, but he also has had a couple of outings in huge games that have not gone his way, especially the 2012 postseason against the Cardinals and the 2014 campaign versus the Giants.

"Deal with a fair share of adversity in my career," Storen said. "Just got to dig down and get through it. Keep pushing, you got to look forward and like I said last night, you can't change the past, but you can control what's coming up. I've got to make that adjustment."

If the Nationals do not make a miraculous run to erase a seven-game deficit here in the final 20-plus games, one wonders if this will be the final couple of weeks for Storen as a Nationals pitcher.