Littell yields 4 HRs as another high-scoring game goes against Nats

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals again went to work early Wednesday, as the Majors’ highest-scoring first-inning team put up a four spot in the opening frame. The lead was short-lived, though, as Nationals righty Zack Littell was again victimized by the home run.

The Braves homered off Littell in each of the first four innings -- two solo shots, a two-run blast and a three-run homer -- as the Nats ultimately fell, 8-6, at Nationals Park.

“It just seems like every mistake he makes is getting punished,” manager Blake Butera said.

Littell’s struggles to keep the ball in the park have been a season-long theme. His 11 home runs allowed are the most across MLB this season.

“Obviously it’s hard to go through things like this, but sometimes the game just humbles you a little bit,” Littell said. “I’ve got to believe that I’m doing the right things and continue to go.”

Littell, 30, signed a one-year $7 million deal with the Nationals on March 10 and was on the Opening Day roster despite an abbreviated Spring Training. While Butera concedes that the late signing might be a contributing factor to Littell’s shaky start, he and Littell are quick to say that the righty is healthy.

“Makes it more frustrating,” said Littell, who has now allowed 16 runs (14 earned) in 10 innings across his last two starts. “This is easily the best I’ve felt physically in a long time.”

So what’s the issue for the veteran workhorse who started 32 games last season with a 3.81 ERA across a career-high 186 2/3 innings?

“Almost every home run that’s been hit the last two starts is right down the middle,” Littell said. “That’s just not going to play. Filling up the zone is one thing, filling up the middle of the zone is another thing. Just can’t do that.

“It’s frustrating. To go out there and give up 16 runs in two starts is not going to cut it.”

It didn’t take long for the Braves to go deep Wednesday, with Drake Baldwin launching Littell’s fifth pitch of the game over the right-field fence. Michael Harris II hit a two-run shot in the second and a solo blast in the third. Matt Olson delivered a three-run homer with two outs in the fourth.

“He’s as frustrated as anybody,” Butera said. “He’s not happy with the way he’s pitching. We need to sit down as a group with Zack. … We’ll try to help him get right.”

Littell did eventually settle down, retiring the final seven batters he faced and becoming just the third Nationals pitcher this season to complete six innings. By then the damage was done, though, spoiling another strong night from Washington's offense.

With 20-year-old Braves pitching prospect Didier Fuentes making his first start of the season, the Nats welcomed him back to the big leagues with a four-run first. Daylen Lile capped off an eight-pitch at-bat with a two-out three-run homer for his third long ball in his past five games.

As Lile navigates through his first full big league season, he says teams are trying to get him to chase on breaking balls outside the zone.

“They know I can hit the fastball,” Lile said, “but as long as I shrink the strike zone and just commit to my plan and hit my pitch, good things will happen.”

The National League Player of the Month last September, Lile is starting to heat up this season, having now hit safely in 10 of his past 12 games with an extra-base hit in five of his past six.

“He looks great right now,” Butera said. “He went through the first handful of games without any home runs, but there wasn’t any doubt in our minds that they would come. Now they’re starting to come in bunches. He’s got such a good swing and such a good feel for the zone. Every at-bat it seems, he’s sitting on really tough pitches and then capitalizing when he gets a pitch in his sweet spot.”

Joey Wiemer delivered his first career pinch-hit homer in the sixth, while James Wood went deep again for his NL-leading ninth home run of the season and his MLB-best sixth opposite-field blast.

The offense remains among baseball’s best, but inconsistent pitching remains an issue.

Only the Braves have scored more runs this season than the Nationals, who also have allowed the most runs. The Nats have scored five or more runs an MLB-best 18 times this season, but they have a modest 9-9 record to show for it.

“Our pitchers are just as frustrated as anybody,” said Butera, whose Nationals have a 5.65 ERA. “They know what our offense is doing. They’re very aware of the runs we’re scoring. They want to win some of these games that we should be. … They don’t want to be in this position. They want our offense to continue rolling and give them the run support they like having, but they have to minimize whatever we can.”