Erick Fedde has start to grow on in loss to D-backs in Nationals Park...

After giving up five hits and three earned runs in six innings on the mound in San Diego last time out, in a 5-4 loss to the Padres in which he received no decision, Washington Nationals’ starter Erick Fedde had a 2.70 ERA, a 4.50 FIP, seven walks, 13 Ks, and a .260/.341/.384 line against in 20 IP as a starter this season.

“If we can get that out of Fedde, we’re going to be in good shape,” Davey Martinez said after that outing in Petco Park.

“Every time he goes out there he’s getting more and more confident, he’s making pitches, and he pitched really well.”

The Nats’ skipper isn’t the only one who’s been impressed with Fedde’s contributions at the back of the rotation.

“Erick Fedde looks like he has turned the corner and become the starting pitcher that we’ve envisioned him to be and a guy that I think is going to be a mainstay in the rotation for years to come and a guy that we’re really going to lean on,” Nationals’ GM Mike Rizzo told 106.7 the FAN in D.C.’s Sports Junkies on Wednesday morning.

Facing the Arizona last night, in his fifth start as part of the Nats’ rotation, Fedde struggled early, giving up a leadoff double by Jarrod Dyson, two walks, and an RBI groundout in the first four at bats, and an RBI single with one out made it 2-0 Diamondbacks after one in the nation’s capital.

It was 3-0 after Alex Avila hit a hanging curve out to left-center in the second, and a double to left on an 0-2 curve by Nick Ahmed and two-run home run on a 1-0 curve to Jarrod Dyson made it 5-0 D-backs after three and a half in D.C.

Fedde finished his outing with a scoreless sixth, but Diamondbacks’ starter Zack Greinke did not give up much, taking a no-hit bid into the seventh, and throwing 7 ¹⁄₃ scoreless overall, and the visiting team took the series opener.

Erick Fedde’s Line: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 2 HRs, 81 P, 59 S, 11/4 GO/FO.

“He just fell behind early,” Martinez said after the loss, “... got in a pickle the first inning, and then after that he threw the ball okay. He had the chance to bury guys with two strikes, and just made a couple bad pitches with two strikes. He hung in there, he gave up five runs, but I thought he did okay other than the first inning and the home run to Dyson, he was okay.”

“Obviously not the best first inning,” Fedde told reporters.

“Felt fine, just made a bad pitch to Dyson that got things going, and just tried to be a little too fine there to get out of the inning and it backfired a little.”

“Sometimes you start the game and you start nitpicking and stuff,” his manager said when asked about Fedde’s rough first.

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“He thought some of those pitches were close, but I said, ‘Hey, regardless of what you think, they’re balls, so you’ve got to get to that next pitch and move on.’”

The at bat against Avila that ended with a home run in the second started with Fedde up 0-2, but he couldn’t put the D-backs’ catcher away and he ended up giving up a solo blast on a hanging curve that ended up right over the middle.

“That was just one of those ones where I know he’s a picky hitter, and one where I wanted to challenge him just left a breaking ball in the zone and he put a really good swing on it.”

Were there positives he took away from the outing?

“Definitely,” Fedde said. “It was good to get through six and put up zeroes the last two innings, but yeah, wanted a more complete game, but definitely happy with the ending.”