The Washington Nationals continue their sluggish day time performances

The Nationals fall to 13-31 in day games after getting shut out by a dominant Nick Lodolo

The Washington Nationals continued their season long trend of turning in sluggish performances in day games. They fell to an astonishing 13-31 in day games. In night games, the Nats have held their own with a 28-30 record. However, when the sun is shining, the Nationals bats are dormant.

This game was a continuation of a lot of disturbing trends for the Nationals. As mentioned, the day game struggles continued. This was something we wrote about earlier this month. They were 13-25 after dropping an early contest to the Red Sox. That has only gotten worse, with six straight losses under the sun.

However, there is more to discuss as well. This was the third time a pitcher has thrown a complete game shutout against the Nats. There have only been 10 complete game shutouts all season, so the Nats offense makes up 30% of those games.

This series has been a decent summation of the Nationals offense. It is not a terrible offense but it is so wildly inconsistent. When they put up a big number, you know a shutout is coming in the next day or two. That is what happened today.

However, it was not only down to the offense. You have to tip your cap to Nick Lodolo. He was executing at an extraordinary level. The Reds southpaw was dotting corners all day long and keeping guys off balance with his refined pitch mix.

Michael Soroka gave the Nats quality innings as well. Despite continuing his recent trend of decreased velocity, Soroka was effective today. He went 5.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits and three walks. Soroka did a nice job working his way out of trouble and using his breaking ball to keep guys off balance.

Konnor Pilkington also came in for a second straight day and dominated. After being the breakout star last night, Pilkington had a good follow up performance. His stuff looked very crisp. This guy has earned a spot in this bullpen moving forward.

However, the bats were just totally silent. Lodolo scattered four hits across his nine innings of masterful work. It is frustrating seeing how inconsistent this offense can be. One day they are on top of the world, the next they are lost at the plate.

With a lot of young guys and an often criticized hitting coach, this is not too surprising. A lot of the players themselves are very up and down, so the offense itself reflects that. Guys like CJ Abrams, Josh Bell, and Luis Garcia Jr. are hitters with extreme peaks and valleys.

The highlight of the game was an insane grab by Jacob Young who made an insane home run robbery. He made an insane catch a few weeks ago, but I think this one was better. Young climbed the wall like Spiderman and made a catch that needs to be on Sports Center’s top 10 plays, if they still do that.

That was an insane moment, but it was an otherwise dreary game for the Nats. It feels like there have been a lot more of those kinds of games this year compared to the last couple years. Some days you can just tell very early on that they don’t have it.

However, now it is time for the Nats to move on. They have an off day tomorrow and then head to Minnesota to take on the Twins. This could be the last home game for a lot of Nats players, as they won’t be in DC until after the deadline.