WEST SACRAMENTO -- Zack Littell walked into the visitors’ dugout at Sutter Health Park and slammed his glove down hard on the bench.
After a big first inning that set the tone for an ugly 15-1 loss to the Athletics on Saturday night, the Nationals right-hander’s exasperation was evident.
Littell was tagged for five runs in the first inning, and the Nats never recovered in a lopsided defeat that came just one day after a 23-4 win. Washington's 23 runs scored Friday are tied with the Cubs (earlier this month) as the most by a team to allow at least 15 in its next game since 1900.
"It was frustrating to not give the guys a chance to stay in it,” Littell said.
After four straight solid outings dating back to June 23 against the Phillies, Littell was roughed up by the A’s from the very first pitch -- a leadoff home run by shortstop Jacob Wilson. Littell managed to complete six innings but was charged with eight runs on eight hits, and three Nationals relievers gave up seven more runs as the A’s poured it on late.
"I think we saw it with every guy that we brought in tonight,” Littell said. “It wasn’t really our night.”
It certainly wasn’t Littell’s night, not even in familiar surroundings. The righty had spent plenty of time at Sutter Health Park, pitching for the Giants’ Triple-A Sacramento affiliate in 2021 and '22 and visiting the ballpark with Triple-A Round Rock in 2023.
In nine Minor League relief appearances in West Sacramento, Littell gave up nine earned runs in 9 2/3 innings, good for an 8.38 ERA. Saturday night brought more of the same, but Littell didn’t blame the hitter-friendly ballpark.
“I’d say there’s a handful of more challenges, but the goal’s the same,” he said. “Stay off the barrel, and you’ll be fine. Make bad pitches, and you’ll get hit. That happens everywhere. I think going out there and attacking the same way you would anywhere else is the only way to approach it. As far as the results tonight, I don’t think that had anything to do with it.”
Littell found it difficult to avoid hard contact against an aggressive A’s lineup, following the homer to Wilson by allowing a single to Tyler Soderstrom and giving up consecutive one-out doubles to Carlos Cortes and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. After a walk to Donovan Walton, Jonah Heim ripped a single to center field before Littell finally finished a gut punch of an inning.
"You look up and you’ve given up four runs,” he said. “It’s about limiting damage from there and trying to settle in.”
That, Littell was able to do. Despite some early action in the Nationals' bullpen beyond the right-field wall, Littell got through the sixth inning on 96 pitches, although Soderstrom delivered one final blow with a two-out, two-run dinger in the sixth. It was the 25th home run allowed by Littell this season, one behind A’s lefty Jeffrey Springs for the most in the Major Leagues.
After using just one reliever -- Riley Cornelio -- in Friday’s win, the Nats were able to keep their bullpen fresh, using only righty Max Kranick (recently activated from the injured list) and lefty Carson Palmquist. With the outcome all but decided after the Nats were held hitless into the seventh inning by A's right-hander J.T. Ginn, infielder Jorbit Vivas helped out by finishing the contest on the mound for the second straight night.
Littell’s ability to get through six innings wasn’t lost on first-year manager Blake Butera, who is already juggling a relief corps with the third-highest ERA in the Major Leagues.
"Especially when you start off a game that way, you’re just hoping to get through a certain amount of innings,” Butera said. “That way we’re not running through everybody in the bullpen. Not the start that he wanted nor we wanted, but getting us six was big for tomorrow.”
With Littell sporting a 5.34 ERA in 96 innings for Washington, there’s a chance his next outing could again follow an opener. That was the Nats’ plan for three of Littell’s previous four appearances, and it worked well: He gave up just four earned runs in 14 innings (2.57 ERA) as the club’s bulk man.
Littell’s success earned him what Butera termed “some runway" pregame, but his struggles from the jump on Saturday could prompt a move back to an opener.
“We talk through all these different strategies depending on who we’re facing, what the lineup looks like, who’s available in the bullpen -- all these different things,” Butera said. “Obviously, the first inning did not go his way, so it’s something we’ll consider next time, for sure.”