SEATTLE — Manager Dave Martinez has said this year that his team has to play the perfect ballgame to win because their margin for error is thin.
Seattle, WA
Nationals are undone by their own mistakes and fall short in Seattle
“Those little things become big things, as we saw,” Martinez said. “We’ll talk about these things again tomorrow and hopefully tomorrow we play a cleaner game. This game was close for a while there and was a good game. The boys battled back but I would like to see us get through that inning, that one inning that kind of beat us.”
Cory Abbott entered to pitch the fifth inning with the game tied after Trevor Williams pitched four innings. Abbott faced off against Teoscar Hernández, who lined a ball off of Abbott’s foot. The ball ricocheted to first baseman Dominic Smith, who caught the ball on the run and flipped it backhand to first base without looking. The only problem was that no one was covering first. The ball rolled down the first base line, and Hernández reached second. Two batters later, Hernández scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Eugenio Suárez that nearly left the yard.
Smith said he assumed Luis García was there because he typically is. With the Mariners’ first base coach yelling, Smith saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye, thinking it was García when it was actually the umpire.
“I should have known [García] was playing a little bit more up the middle, I was playing him a little bit more [opposite field],” Smith said. “That’s probably where the mix-up went. But the play happened so fast. . . . Baseball is one of those sports where you see something new every day. If that play does come up again, then I won’t toss it to nobody over there.”
Abbott made the costly mistake of walking Jared Kelenic on four pitches — and that it came with two outs made it that much more maddening. Kelenic attempted to steal second base and was initially ruled out on a strong throw from Keibert Ruiz. But as the Nationals dashed off the field, the Mariners challenged the play — and after review, Kelenic slid around the tag from CJ Abrams. Martinez said after the game that Abrams should’ve held the tag on after the slide because Kelenic came off the bag.
The ensuing pitch, Mike Ford hit an RBI single that extended Seattle’s lead before Kolten Wong drove him in with an RBI double to make it 6-3.
The Nationals and Mariners traded blows back and forth over the first four innings, with Seattle seeming to have a response for every score by the visitors.
Lane Thomas led off the game with a solo home run off Luis Castillo, but J.P. Crawford responded with a solo home run to open the bottom of the inning off Williams.
Smith hit a solo home run in the second inning to put Washington back on top. García added a RBI single in the third inning to increase the Nationals’ lead to 3-1. But the Mariners tied the game in the fourth when Suárez hit the fourth solo home run of the game before Julio Rodríguez hit a two-out RBI single.
Williams wasn’t efficient over his four innings, tossing 83 pitches and forcing Martinez’s hand to bring in Abbott. And though the Nationals got to Castillo early, he only threw 57 pitches over four innings.
Abbott — seldom used this season since being called up earlier this month — did provide the Nationals length, though he wasn’t necessarily efficient either. He walked four batters and struck out five, but it took him 77 pitches to get there. Castillo, meanwhile, finished throwing 103 pitches over seven innings.
Abbott’s inability to get ahead made a difference in the end; he served up walks to the final two batters he faced, ending his night and bringing Thad Ward into the game. Ward served up a bloop single to Ty France, and Cal Raleigh added a sacrifice fly.
Thomas added a RBI double in the ninth inning, and Jeimer Candelario came to the plate in the ninth as the tying runner. But he struck out looking and the game was over.
Cade Cavalli and Tanner Rainey, both recovering from Tommy John surgery, will meet the team in Washington when the Nationals return from their nine-game road trip. Cavalli is three months removed from surgery and will get checked out by the team’s doctors. Rainey has been throwing off a mound in Florida, and Martinez said he wants to see Rainey throw in person.
Carl Edwards Jr. still hasn’t resumed throwing after being placed on the injured list last week with right shoulder inflammation. Victor Robles is still doing back strengthening drills in Florida after being placed on the injured list last week.
James Wood and Brady House were selected to represent the Nationals at the 2023 All-Star Futures Game in Seattle next month.
Wood, one of the top prospects in baseball, was acquired in the Juan Soto-Josh Bell trade a year ago and has continued to impress this season. Wood, 20, jumped from High-A Wilmington to Class AA Harrisburg and is hitting .272 with 12 home runs and 52 RBI across both levels.
House, 20, has bounced back in 2023 after missing most of his first professional season because of a back injury. House was promoted from Low-A Fredericksburg to High-A Wilmington in early June and the Nationals’ 2021 first-round pick has continued to impress, hitting .297 with eight home runs and 30 RBI this season.