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Nationals drop 7-1 decision to Giants, fail to sweep series in AT&T

The Washington Nationals have won four straight games three times this season, but they haven't been able to win a fifth yet. The failed in their fourth opportunity to do it today, dropping a 7-1 decision in the series finale with the San Francisco Giants.

By Patrick Reddington
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

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5. Quick Recap: Michael Morse was first-pitch swinging against Blake Treinen in the first at bat of San Francisco's second and he singled to center before scoring on an RBI triple by Tyler Colvin in the next at bat. Colvin came in on a groundout by Brandon Crawford and the Giants took their first lead in four games with the Washington Nationals in AT&T Park. 2-0 Giants after two.

Adam LaRoche singled with two down in the Nationals' fourth, took second on a passed ball with Ryan Zimmerman up and then scored when Zimmerman lined a two-out, opposite field, line drive single to right that cut the Giants' lead in half, 2-1.

Craig Stammen replaced Treinen on the mound in the sixth and gave up back-to-back singles by Pablo Sandoval and Michael Morse in the first two at bats, then balked in a run with Tyler Colvin at the plate, 3-1. A two-out RBI single by Gregor Blanco drove Morse in and the Giants took a three-run lead. 4-1 after six.

Hunter Pence singled, took second on a wild pitch, third on a groundout and scored on a sac fly to make it 5-1 Giants, and they added two more in the eighth on a two-run single by Hector Sanchez in the eighth.

7-1 San Francisco final.

4. Treinen Again: Blake Treinen started in the Washington Nationals' last loss on Saturday night in San Diego. It was his first start since May 22nd. A rainout during the last homestand led to the Nationals skipping the 25-year-old right-hander's turn in the rotation and though he made a relief appearance in the interim between starts, there was some concern about how he would perform after the long layoff.

"HIS STUFF PLAYS. HIS STUFF PLAYS AT ANY POINT LATER IN THE GAME. IT'S A BOWLING BALL AT 97." -Matt Williams on Treinen in Spring Training, 2014

"Any time you have any one of your starters that isn't on [a] regular rotation," Nats' skipper Matt Williams explained, "you have apprehension when they go out there. I think we'll be able to tell early on tonight with his command of his fastball. Really had a great slider in the bullpen, and he's been continuing to work on that. You'd like to get him regular work, but in anticipation of a start you don't want too much either, so we were able to get him in there, get him some bullpens and get him ready for this one."

Treinen finished three scoreless on 31 pitches but gave up the only two runs he allowed in a six-inning outing when Chase Headley, on a 1-0 sinker, and Cameron Maybin, on an 0-1 slider, drove in runs.

The Nationals' hitters were shut down by Padres' starter Andrew Cashner, but rallied to take the lead against San Diego's bullpen before Rafael Soriano blew a save in the ninth and the Nats lost the game in extra innings.

"Felt good physically," Treinen told reporters after the loss in which he received no decision. "It's just nice to get out and contribute again. Felt like I put myself in some trouble by getting behind in counts, but made pitches when I needed to. Just that one inning left a few up over the plate and they made it hurt."

"HE'S STILL BUILDING. HE'S STILL LEARNING HOW TO DO THIS. BUT FROM EVERYTHING WE'VE SEEN, IT'S BEEN REALLY GOOD..." -Matt Williams on Blake Treinen's early MLB career

Through seven games and three starts, the former Oakland A's prospect acquired in the three-team Michael Morse deal with the Athletics and Seattle Mariners was (0-2) with a 1.78 ERA, 2.85 FIP, seven walks (2.49 BB/9) and 15 Ks (5.33 K/9) in 25 1/3 IP before this afternoon's outing.

Start no.4 of 2014 began with a groundout to short...

1st: Angel Pagan hit an 0-1 sinker out to short to start the series finale in San Francisco. Hunter Pence connected for the Giants' first hit, lining a 3-2 sinker to right for a one-out single. Pence moved up to second on a weak grounder to short by Buster Posey, bringing Pablo Sandoval up with a runner in scoring position at second, but the big third baseman hit the third ground ball out of the inning to second to end a 17-pitch bottom of the first. 0-0 after one.

2nd: First baseman Michael Morse was first-pitch swinging and he singled to center on a 94 mph fastballl to start the home-half of the second. Tyler Colvin tripled to center on a 95 mph sinker that was up in the zone and drove in the Giants' first run to make it 1-0 early. Brandon Crawford's RBI groundout to second brought Colvin in and it was 2-0 San Francisco with one down in the inning. Ehire Adrianza grounded weakly to first for out no.2 and Tim Hudson hit a one-hopper to short for out no.3. 13-pitch frame, 30 pitches after two.

3rd: Angel Pagan grounded out to second to start the third. Hunter Pence took a four-pitch walk from Treinen, but Buster Posey flew out to left center for the second out of the frame. Pablo Sandoval's groundout to Kevin Frandsen ended a 14-pitch inning by Treinen, who was up to 44 pitches after three.

4th: Michael Morse took a 2-2 sinker to center for his second hit of the game in the first at bat of the Giants' fourth and Tyler Colvin walked to put two on with no one out. Shortstop Brandon Crawford took the second straight walk to load the bases for Ehire Adrianza, who K'd swinging over a diving 2-2 change. Tim Hudson tried to help his own cause, but grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3. 24-pitch frame for Treinen. 68 pitches after four innings.

5th: Angel Pagan took a 2-2 heater for a called strike three. Hunter Pence singled to center on an 0-2 slider up in the zone, but he was doubled up on a grounder to second off Buster Posey's bat that started an inning-ending 4-6-3. 11-pitch inning, 79 total for Treinen after five.

• Blake Treinen's Line: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 Ks, 79 P, 49 S, 10/1 GO/FO.

3. Different Team, Same Hudson: Veteran right-handed starter Tim Hudson, 38, signed a 2-year/$23M with the San Francisco Giants this winter after leaving the Atlanta Braves he pitched for over nine seasons from 2005-2013.

The Nationals saw plenty of Hudson over the course of his 16-year career. Before today, he's made 29 starts against the franchise, going (16-5) with a 2.89 ERA, 45 walks (2.05 BB/9) and 137 Ks (6.23 K/9) in 198 IP over which he held hitters to a combined .233/.281/.337 line.

In his final season with the Braves, Hudson was (2-0) against the Nationals with a 0.84 ERA, three walks (1.27 BB/9) and 13 Ks (5.48 K/9) in 21 1/3 IP over which he held Nats' hitters to a .137/.171/.219 line.

So far this season, the Giants' starter was (6-2) in 12 starts with a 1.97 ERA, a 2.93 FIP, 11 walks (1.20 BB/9) and 55 Ks (6.01 K/9) in 82 1/3 IP before this afternoon's outing.

Hudson's 13th start of the 2014 campaign began with a quick, 12-pitch, 1-2-3 frame in AT&T Park.

Ian Desmond lined a full-count sinker to short and off Brandon Crawford's glove and into center for a two-out single and the Nationals' first hit off Hudson, but a grounder to third and a force at second ended an 18-pitch inning, after which the Giants' starter was up to 30 pitches overall.

A nine-pitch, 1-2-3 third left Hudson at 39 pitches total after three scoreless.

Jayson Werth flew to left-center with one down in the fourth, but Angel Pagan made a diving catch for the second out of the inning. Adam LaRoche singled with two down and took second on a passed ball with Ryan Zimmerman at the plate before scoring when Zimmerman lined a 3-2 cutter from Hudson to right for an RBI single that cut the Giants' lead in half. 2-1 after three and a half. 19-pitch frame by Hudson, 58 pitches after four.

Kevin Frandsen singled and went first-to-third™ on a single by Jose Lobaton in the next at bat, putting runners on the corners with no one out. Blake Treinen K'd trying to bunt with two strikes, and Denard Span grounded into an inning-ending DP in the next AB. Eight-pitch inning by Hudson, 66 total after five.

Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche took back-to-back, one-out walks from Tim Hudson in the top of the sixth, but Brandon Crawford made a nice play to field Ryan Zimmerman's grounder to short and get a force at third. Ian Desmond stepped in with two on and two out and grounded into a force at second. 23-pitch frame, 89 overall after six.

Given a 4-1 lead to work with, Hudson came back out for the seventh and threw a scoreless 15-pitch frame which left him at 104 pitches total.

• Tim Hudson's Line: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 Ks, 104 P, 68 S, 10/3 GO/FO.

2. 5 Straight?: The Nationals have won four straight games three times this season, but heading into the series finale in San Francisco today, they had yet to win a fifth.

They took the series finale against Atlanta in D.C. on April 6th, then swept a three-game set with the Marlins in Miami before dropping an extra-inning affair to the Braves in Turner Field on April 11th. After sweeping a three-game set from the Philadelphia Phillies last week in the nation's capital, the Nats took the series opener in San Diego last Friday before dropping the second game of three with the Padres on Saturday. After winning the finale of three-game set in Petco Park, the Nationals took the next three of four with the Giants in AT&T and entered today's game with a chance for a sweep and a new season-high win streak.

It didn't happen. Season high win streak remains at four...

1. The Wrap-Up: Craig Stammen took over for the Nationals in the bottom of the sixth and gave up back-to-back singles by Pablo Sandoval and Michael Morse that put runners on the corners with no outs. A balk by Craig Stammen with Tyler Colvin up brought run no.3 in, 3-1 Giants. Kevin Frandsen misplayed a grounder to second by Brandon Crawford and made an awkward late throw to first. With runners on the corners and one out, Gregor Blanco singled to left to bring in the Giants' fourth run, 4-1.

Aaron Barrett took the mound in the seventh and gave up a run when Hunter Pence singled, took second on a wild pitch, third on a groundout and scored on a sac fly to center by Pablo Sandoval. 5-1.

Jean Machi took over on the mound for the Giants in the eighth, and gave up a leadoff single by Anthony Rendon before getting Jayson Werth to ground into a 6-4-3 DP. Adam LaRoche lined out to center to end the Nats' eighth.

Tyler Colvin singled and took third on a double by Brandon Crawford in Aaron Barrett's second inning of work in the eighth. A two-run single to center by Hector Sanchez gave the Giants a 7-1 lead.

That's how it ends. After scoreless ninth by Sergio Romo. 7-1 final in AT&T.

Nationals now 35-30

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