Time: 3:18
Attendance: 27,498
Well, at least we could cheer for ex-Nats Juan Soto and Josh
Bell on their first trips to the plate. (Soto had a single and two walks in his
5 plate appearances, while Bell managed just a walk, going hitless for the
series.)
Washington starter Pablo Espino almost got through 6 innings
for his longest outing of the season, but after he retired the first two
batters, Victor Robles lost a Trent Grisham fly ball for a double, and Espino’s
afternoon ended when Wil Myers followed with a run-scoring single. The Nats defense
also had trouble all afternoon completing double plays. Both of the walks
Espino issued wound up scoring, as all of the Padres runs off him except one
came with two outs. Victor Arano and Jake McGee kept the visitors off the
scoreboard in the next two innings, but Tyler Clippard continued his post-IL
struggles in the 9th, hitting a batter and issuing two walks as San
Diego notched two additional runs.
Southpaw Blake Snell totally dominated what remains of the
Washington offense for the first six innings, walking none and allowing only 3
singles (two of which were by 30-year-old rookie phenom Joey Meneses). He fanned
10 of the first 19 batters he faced, and at one point retired 13 consecutive Nats.
Washington actually managed multiple baserunners in the 7th and 8th
against Nick Martinez, but grounded into a double play each time – extending their
MLB lead in that category – to douse any hopes of a rally.
These 12:05 starts (so that “Peacock” can stream the games)
do mess with our normal routine. Rather than eat a leisurely lunch prior to
going into the park, we stopped at the Subway on M Street for footlongs and ate
them (in a leisurely fashion) at one of the picnic tables on the upper-level
concourse. And, even on a day that was cooler than usual for August, we were
reminded that our seats get quite hot when the sun is shining directly on them.
Fortunately, we were back in the shade a couple innings into the game.
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