WASHINGTON -- Kyle Finnegan has spent most of the last three seasons as the go-to finisher for the Nationals. But in the last two games, the Nationals’ closer has hit a bump in the road.
On July 12, staked with a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth in Milwaukee, Finnegan allowed three runs on three hits as the Brewers walked off the Nationals 6-5 en route to a series sweep.
Then, in Friday’s return from the All-Star break at Nationals Park, with the game tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth, Finnegan surrendered five runs, including a grand slam to Padres third baseman Manny Machado, leading to a 7-2 Padres win. Washington has lost nine of its last 10 games.
"I think my execution hasn't been quite as good [over] my last couple outings,” Finnegan said. “I think I'm throwing strikes kind of as a whole, but not quality strikes within the strike zone. Just got to really focus in on whatever is going on -- mechanically or mentally -- or if it's the way I am preparing to face these hitters.”
Finnegan (1-4) has given up eight runs on seven hits in his last two appearances (both losses), walking three with no strikeouts. In Friday's series opener, he was looking to force Machado into a double-play ground ball, but left the four-seam fastball up in the zone.
“Just heater up, up and away,” Machado said. “Obviously, [in] that situation he has to throw strikes, right? So, just trying to be aggressive. He made some really good pitches early on, and [it was] probably a miss that he did that. [I] think he didn't want to throw that pitch there.”
Finnegan is not going to use the layoff or a lack of work in the past few weeks as an excuse, but going into Friday’s contest, the right-hander had made three appearances since July 4.
“I am going to take a look at everything and continue to work,” Finnegan said. “[I'm] excited for an opportunity to put this behind me. I've had streaks like this in my career, unfortunately. You just can't let it snowball. You just don't want to let it define your season."
Interim manager Miguel Cairo has preached aggressiveness since taking over for Dave Martinez on July 7. But a baserunning mistake late from Josh Bell hurt the Nationals’ chances to build off a game-tying two-run shot from CJ Abrams.
With two outs in the bottom of the eighth and James Wood at third, Bell was at first base following a single. On a full-count pitch to Nathaniel Lowe, Bell broke for second to try to lure Padres reliever Wandy Peralta to get him in a rundown and allow Wood to score the go-ahead run.
Instead, Bell was caught stealing at second base on a throw from Peralta to Xander Bogaerts that ended the threat.
"I definitely should've stayed halfway for a longer time, give Wood time to break there,” Bell recounted. “I took a glance at second. Bogaerts wasn't covering yet. Peralta looked Wood back to third and I took too many steps towards second base. I thought he was just going to concede to let me have second base there.”
But Bell remained adamant that not having that play work was not going to sway him away from Cairo’s direction to always be aggressive.
"Obviously, you've got to be smart,” Bell said. “But if you are going err, ‘err on the side of aggression’ is the only way to play, only way to win. I definitely like that message."