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Nationals face Reds as distinctly different defenses clash
The Washington Nationals carry an unwelcome distinction into their road series against the Cincinnati Reds beginning Tuesday night.
The Nationals continue to hit well but field poorly and they enter the series with an MLB-worst 39 errors and no one else is even close. Next is the Tampa Bay Rays with 28 errors. The Athletics have just eight to lead baseball.
Washington made five total errors while losing a series to the Miami Marlins over the weekend, dropping the deciding game 5-2 on Sunday.
The Nationals also made mental mistakes that were not technically errors as well as miscues on the base paths that proved costly. In doing so, they were unable to fully capitalize on three solid efforts by their starting pitching.
The Reds, who are one of the better fielding teams in baseball, halted an eight-game losing streak Saturday and have won consecutive games after a 5-0 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday.
Washington right-hander Miles Mikolas (1-3, 7.44 ERA) is slated to start on Tuesday while Cincinnati counters with right-hander Brady Singer (2-2, 5.63).
Mikolas turned in his longest outing of the season Wednesday and earned a win. He went 5 1/3 innings against the Minnesota Twins, allowing two runs on three hits. He gave up his ninth homer of the season but did not walk a batter and struck out three.
“‘Drew, this is what we’re going to do today,'” catcher Drew Millas recalled Mikolas saying before the game. “‘We’re going to dominate the bottom. We’re going to be away. We’re going to be in. But we’re going to dominate the bottom, make them chase, and then pop the top.'”
Mikolas, who spent his previous seven active seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, is no stranger to the Reds, going 6-9 with a 5.45 ERA lifetime against them in 23 appearances (21 starts).
Singer has struggled in May, giving up eight earned runs in 9 1/3 innings over his past two starts. He gave up four runs in six innings of a no-decision against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, although he struck out a season-high six batters.
Singer is 0-1 with an 11.05 ERA in two career starts against the Nationals.
The Reds’ Elly De La Cruz collected three hits in his third straight multi-hit game, and Andrew Abbott pitched six scoreless innings in Sunday’s victory. Spencer Steer hit a home run and JJ Bleday had a two-run triple.
Abbott was helped by several key defensive plays, including Steer’s catch of a foul pop at the dugout steps to end the first and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes’ backhanded stop on a sharp grounder to end the top of the fifth.
“Yeah, they’ve stepped up big for me,” Abbott said of the Cincinnati defense. “Key’s diving play to end one inning, and then Steer, and all the outfield plays. Guys step up in big ways. And I think we feed off the energy.”
The Nationals’ Luis Garcia, Jr. had a triple and a double, drove in a run and scored a run in Sunday’s loss to the Marlins. Daylen Lile had two hits, and Cade Cavalli allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings.
“We got a really good group of guys here, and it hurts when we lose, but we’re gonna bounce back and just keep competing,” Cavalli said. “I think over 162, we’ll look up and we’ll be happy with what we’ve done.”
–Field Level Media
