The Washington Nationals home woes continued as a big first inning carried the Tigers to victory
After a couple days off, the Nats were unable to recapture the magic from the Angels series in the first game of their double header. They lost 11-2 in an ugly display against the Tigers. This one was over quick as Trevor Williams did not give his team a chance to win.
The tone was set quickly by the Tigers, who put Trevor Williams under siege. Our veteran right hander threw a shocking 54 pitches in the first frame. With a lot of traffic and two three run blasts, it was 6-0 before the Nats got a chance to hit.
Trevor Williams just threw 54 pitches in the 1st inning (the most 1st-inning pitches by an MLB pitcher in almost 10 years). pic.twitter.com/Y7eFwwpo45
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) July 2, 2025
After a great but injury filled 2024, Williams has been unable to recapture that 2024 magic. In 17 starts, Williams has a 6.21 ERA. Despite not missing a start, he has not thrown enough innings to qualify for the ERA title. If he was qualified, that mark would comfortably be the worst in baseball.
Trevor Williams ends up going 3 innings, allowing 7 runs on 86 pitches. He’s 2.1 innings shy of qualifying, but if he did his 6.21 ERA would rank worst in MLB by .76.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) July 2, 2025
After the first inning blowup, Williams was able to go two more innings, where he allowed one more run. In a year with a lot of ugly starts for him, this might have been Williams worst start of the season.
Things did not get much better when Jackson Rutledge came into the game. He struggled to throw strikes and gave up a three run home run to Riley Greene, the second of the day for the Tigers slugger. Rutledge showed some promise early in the season, but it has been really ugly lately, and the 26 year old looks like he could use some time in the Minors.
While all of this was going on, the offense was not doing much either. There was some traffic later in the game, but they only managed to score two runs in the blowout defeat. As is usually the case when he plays, Alex Call had quality at bats. He went 3/5 on the day.
While it was an ugly afternoon, there was one positive later in the game. Andry Lara came up as the 27th man for the double header. With the game out of reach, Davey Martinez decided to give the 22 year old his MLB debut. Lara shined in his three innings of work.
Save that baseball!@Nationals No. 16 prospect Andry Lara strikes out the first Major League batter he faces. pic.twitter.com/o1omL8G3s9
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 2, 2025
With the Nats needing innings to get through the ball game, Lara gave them just that. He retired 9 of 10 hitters in his debut. Given the state of our bullpen, one good outing could give you a permanent spot. Lara looked a lot sharper than the likes of Ryan Loutos and Eduardo Salazar.
Lara has actually struggled badly in the minors this year. After a strong 2024, Lara has a 7.71 ERA across three levels this year. However, that was as a starter. Could the move to the bullpen help Lara like it has for a guy like Cole Henry? It could be worth finding out.
The Nats will look to salvage a split tonight. MacKenzie Gore will get the ball at 6:45, as he looks to continue his stand out season. Hopefully the bats give him more run support than what he has been getting lately.