ATLANTA -- The offensive struggles continued for the Nationals.
Washington has dropped six in a row after falling to the Braves, 4-3, on Monday at Truist Park. And the Nationals have scored three runs or fewer five times in the six-game losing streak.
The Nationals trailed for most of the game after the Braves took a 2-0 lead in the third inning, but Washington tied the game at 3 with two outs in the top of the ninth off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias.
It was all for naught, though, as Braves left fielder Alex Verdugo hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the frame.
It was a night of missed opportunities at the plate for Washington. The Nationals left six runners on base and went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Washington’s leadoff hitter got on base in three different innings, but the Nationals had nothing to show for it.
“I talk about it every day, we had some opportunities in those situations [and] we chased some pitches out of the zone,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “When we don’t chase, we get some action and we hit the ball hard. We just have to continue to work on it and I’ll continue to talk about it. Everybody in the league knows we’re going to go up there and swing. We [have to] start swinging at strikes.”
Perhaps one of Washington’s best chances at a rally occurred in the eighth. José Tena hit a leadoff double, then pinch-hitter Alex Call was hit by a pitch to put two on with no out. But, CJ Abrams grounded into a double play, which led to Tena being stranded at third. Abrams was not thrown a single pitch in the zone leading up to the double play.
“[There was] a lot of chase,” Martinez said. “You just have to work good counts. For the most part we hit the ball hard today. We had some hard outs today. I love the fact that we fought. We came back and tied the game up there. We just couldn’t finish the job.”
James Wood got Washington’s struggling offense on the board in the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run. He went 1-for-4 on the night and echoed Martinez’s sentiment about patience at the plate. The Nationals are tied for 21st in MLB with 127 total walks.
“I just think you just have to look at the process and if you’re putting together good at-bats, eventually it’s [going to] turn around,” Wood said. “I feel like we’ve been up and down. Some innings we’ll put together some good at-bats, and other innings we’ll kind of get ourselves out [really] early. You just [have to] stick with it, really. [The results] are not what we want right now but if we stick with our plan and stay within the zone, the results will turn around.”
Luis García Jr. was responsible for one of Washington’s hard-hit outs as his potential RBI double was robbed by center fielder Michael Harris II with two outs in the top of the fourth. García’s flyout to straightaway center had an exit velocity of 100.4 miles per hour and would have traveled a Statcast-projected 404 feet -- but Harris made the catch before slamming into the wall.
“That was an unbelievable catch,” Martinez said. “To be right at the wall like that and the ball was hit the way it was, that was a heck of a catch.”
If not for the Harris catch, García would have been 3-for-4 with two doubles and a single, as he doubled and singled in his next two at-bats.
“[García] stayed in the middle of the field [and had a] base hit to left field,” Martinez said. “That’s who he is. [If] we get him started doing that, good things will happen.”
The Nationals were stymied by Braves starting pitcher Grant Holmes. Washington hadn’t had much history against Holmes as the right-hander had previously pitched just an inning of relief against the Nationals in 2024. Holmes allowed one run on four hits over 6 1/3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts.
“The slider was good,” Martinez said of Holmes. “He kept the ball down. We had to get the ball up. When we got the ball up, we hit the ball hard.”