The Washington Nationals will try to put perhaps the worst loss in franchise history behind them when they open a three-game series against the visiting Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
Washington led 9-1 at San Francisco in the eighth inning on Wednesday and were poised to complete a 5-1 road trip before the Giants rallied for a stunning 11-10 win capped by a walk-off grand slam.
The Nationals — and the Montreal Expos before the franchise moved to Washington — had never lost a game in which they entered the eighth inning with an eight-run lead.
“These guys are hurting right now, and I told them, ‘This one should sting,'” manager Blake Butera said after the collapse. “This will probably be our worst loss of the year. It’s one of the worst losses I’ve ever been a part of.”
The Mariners can’t claim to match that kind of defeat, but they travel south from Baltimore having dropped the final two contests of a four-game series. Seattle gave up seven runs in each of the last two contests against the Orioles, leaving the Mariners with just a one-game lead in the American League West.
Seattle right-hander Bryce Miller (2-0, 1.33 ERA) will start on Friday, opposed by Washington right-hander Zack Littell (6-4, 4.76).
Miller will be making his sixth appearance and fifth start of the year. He has gone at least five innings and allowed two earned runs or fewer each time out. On Saturday, he dominated the Detroit Tigers, tossing six shutout innings and allowing just one hit. He struck out nine and walked two in his longest outing of the campaign.
“As he got close to 90 pitches, (he) really didn’t show signs of slowing down at all,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said. “I thought he was in pretty good control there, even in the sixth inning late. That’s what we’ve seen from him all along, and the further runway he had today, he just kept taking it.”
Miller has never faced the Nationals.
Littell continues to turn his season around. At the end of April, the 30-year-old was 0-4 with a 7.85 ERA. Since then, he is 6-0 with a 2.27 ERA. Last time out, he went five innings in a win against the Diamondbacks, giving up a run on two hits. He held Arizona hitless through four innings.
“I thought he threw the ball outstanding,” Butera said following that contest. “He was obviously making it tough on the opposing hitters. It seemed like they were chasing a lot out of the zone, especially on his off-speed (pitches). I think he really had the splitter and the slider going today.”
Littell is 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA in three appearances (two starts) against the Mariners.
Seattle is 3-4 on its 10-game road trip following a 7-5 loss to the Orioles on Thursday. The Mariners rallied from down 6-1 to within 6-5 but could not complete the comeback.
Cole Young, Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone hit home runs for Seattle. It was the team-leading 14th of the season for Raley.
Despite the ending, Washington produced a successful road trip. The Nationals have won five straight road series for the first time since Aug. 29-Sept. 21, 2014. Now they will try to improve on their 12-20 home record.
–Field Level Media
