BOSTON — It started as a memorable day for the Washington Nationals: The return of left fielder Jayson Werth to the starting lineup, a rare trip to Fenway Park, a walk through the corridors and grandstands drenched in a century of baseball history.
Then, the Nationals played a baseball game. And from that point on, it became an afternoon they will do everything in their power to forget.
This 9-4 loss in Boston’s home opener Monday is best explained by numbers. There were the seven earned runs that Jordan Zimmermann allowed and the seven outs he recorded. The two balls that dropped between helpless Nationals outfielders, their flight lost in the sun and wind on a cloudless afternoon. The error by Ian Desmond, his fifth in seven games. The four walks, two hit batsmen, two wild pitches, one robbed home run, and nine strikeouts at the plate to only four hits.
And then, of course, there is Washington’s record: a lackluster 2-5 start for a team that was the odds-on favorite in Las Vegas to win the World Series.
“How bad was this game? About as bad as you can get,” manager Matt Williams said. “It’s tough to win ballgames when you can’t catch the baseball. It’s got to get better than that.”
The Nationals have 155 games remaining in their season, which started last week and is still more than five months away from its end. Williams and his players have no reason to panic and every reason to believe things will improve. But for roughly three hours Monday, it was hard to think about all of that.
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It started when Bryce Harper hit a deep fly ball to right-center field in the third at-bat of the game. “I didn’t think I got it very well,” Harper said, but it was destined to land over the fence until Mookie Betts intervened. Boston’s center fielder tracked the ball to the wall and leapt over it, turning a two-run home run into the second out of the inning.
“That really set the tone for the game right there,” Werth said. “If he don’t make that play and that ball goes out, I think things are a lot different.”
After saving two runs, Betts stole second base in the bottom of the inning. The Nationals had shifted to the right side of the infield with David Ortiz, a left-hander, at the plate, leaving third baseman Yunel Escobar out of position. So Betts slid into second, stood up and took off for third, beating Zimmermann there, too. The play was reviewed but upheld, and Ortiz brought Betts home a few pitches later.
Unfortunately for the Nationals, that was just the beginning. The game began to slip away when Zimmermann, a pitcher who relies on his fastball command, lost all of it. After walking Betts in the first inning, the right-hander hit Hanley Ramirez in the shoulder and Pablo Sandoval in the hip in consecutive at-bats to begin the third. He rubbed the ball repeatedly, trying to improve his grip, but it remained chalky.
“I was bad today,” Zimmermann said. “It’s not like me to walk a guy and hit two guys. I just didn’t have a feel for the ball. I really had no clue where it was going all day.”
Washington’s outfielders didn’t help. With two on and nobody out, Mike Napoli hit a fly ball to left-center field that dropped between Werth and Michael Taylor. Three at-bats later, former Nationals catcher Sandy Leon hit a towering drive that fell between Taylor and right fielder Bryce Harper.
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All three outfielders said there were challenging conditions in the outfield Monday, namely a fickle wind and what Werth called “a high sky.”
“The wind was probably the worst part, just because it’s unpredictable” Taylor said. “The flags don’t really tell you exactly what it’s doing. Reminded me a lot of Viera out there today.”
Williams had not talked with players individually before he addressed reporters but said both of the fly balls were “certainly catchable.” He did not believe additional preparation or emphasis on fundamentals would have prevented them from dropping.
“These are big league baseball players. They’re here because they can catch the baseball,” Williams said. “It’s not too much emphasis. Any time you go out there against a club like this and you don’t catch fly balls they are going to kick your fanny. So we’ve got to do a better job than we did today if we want to win games.”
After the second fly ball dropped for a hit, Betts reached base for the third time in three innings, adding an RBI single up the middle to his walk in the first and three-run homer in the second. At that point, Zimmermann gave way to Tanner Roark, who allowed one additional run to score on a sacrifice fly but otherwise limited the damage in the inning.
The Nationals went on to score two runs in the fifth, including a solo home run by Ryan Zimmerman, and a run each in the seventh and eighth, including a left-handed home run by Danny Espinosa against a right-handed pitcher. But those runs didn’t alter the magnitude of the loss, nor stop the questions about long-term concerns that players fielded from reporters in the clubhouse.
“Obviously we’re not playing the type of ball we want to play at the moment,” Werth said. “A week ago we were set to win the World Series, as far as you guys were concerned. Now we’re — I don’t know where we are now, but the old cliches of ’get ’em tomorrow’ and whatever you want to say, put it there. Obviously put this one behind us and get ready for tomorrow’s game.”
Desmond said the Nationals will flush this game, as they do every one, good or bad. Williams was asked if it could serve as a wake-up call of sorts.
“Wake-up call? We’re fully awake, man,” he replied. “We’re fully awake. Believe me. With all that’s been said about our club, we’re fully aware of it. Fully awake.”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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