Bullpen Implosion Ruins Rubber Match Lead

The Nats took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the 6th, but a few frames later found themselves down ten runs. Mark (From Dodger Stadium) & Al recap the 13-7 defeat on Sunday afternoon that was fueled by a terrible bullpen performance. Then 'pen combined to allow ten runs in under three innings of work.

(10:30) Ryan Loutos was the choice to pitch the bottom of the 7th when trailing 4-3 instead of Cole Henry. Loutos then proceeded to not retire any of the six Dodger hitters he faced.

(12:10) Kyle Finnegan never appeared in this series despite many other relievers taking the mound multiple times.

(19:30) Michael Soroka had ten strikeouts through five shutout innings, but then was charged with three runs while briefly pitching in the 6th.  This continues a familiar pattern of Soroka's box score not being indicative of how effective he was for the most part.

(25:00) The Nationals scored four runs off of Kike Hernandez in the top of the 9th as LA surprisingly put a position player on the mound while ahead by ten runs. Hernandez was unable to finish the game and a reliever had to be summoned anyhow.

(30:15) Nathaniel Lowe's 3-run HR gave the Nats their 3-0 lead until it fell apart in the 6th.  Lowe has 13 HRs, but his OPS is at .699 and that causes the hosts to wonder if Lowe is having a good season or not.