D.C. may be breathing a sigh of relief
Nationals add two A’s relievers to troubled bullpen, but is it enough vs. Dodgers?
To a Washington Nationals fan base shell-shocked by a seemingly endless string of late-game meltdowns, it was simply another fine mess a reliever had gotten them into.
That it was created by one of the two relievers just acquired from Oakland who were supposed to prevent these sticky situations made it all the more painful to watch.
Veteran right-hander Ryan Madson, making his Nationals debut after Sunday’s trade from the Athletics, breezed through the eighth inning against the Angels on Tuesday night, protecting a one-run lead by inducing a pair of fly-ball outs and striking out Martin Maldonado, who had homered in the sixth.
Washington tacked on an insurance run on an Adam Lind homer for a 4-2 lead in the ninth. On for the bottom of the ninth came Sean Doolittle, the left-hander who was traded with Madson for reliever Blake Treinen and two minor leaguers.
His adrenaline pumping too hard and his 95-mph fastballs sailing above the zone, Doolittle walked C.J. Cron on four pitches. Ben Revere grounded into a fielder’s choice. Kole Calhoun doubled to right field, ending Doolittle’s string of retiring all 24 left-handed batters he had faced this season.
Up stepped Mike Trout, whom many consider to be the best player in baseball. There were runners on second and third and one out. On deck was slugger Albert Pujols, with Yunel Escobar to follow.
“It wasn’t an ideal situation,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said afterward, “but that’s how baseball goes.”
Baker shunned conventional strategy and had Doolittle pitch to Trout, who was jammed on a first-pitch fastball and grounded out to shortstop, driving in a run. Pujols flied to shallow left on a 96-mph inside fastball, and Washington held on for a 4-3 win that extended its National League East lead to 111⁄2 games.
“I promise they won’t all be like that,” Doolittle said with a grin. “I would have loved to have struck out the side, but hopefully they saw what I was able to do — gather myself and make a couple of really good pitches in a pressure situation.”
The Nationals could do without the drama, but this was the kind of clutch ninthinning performance they have not gotten enough of, and what they’ll need if they are to have any chance of winning a playoff series against the Dodgers, who eliminated them in a thrilling five-game division series last October.
“You get some guys who have been there, who have been in the fire, been battletested,” said outfielder Jayson Werth, who is on the disabled list because of a bruise in his left foot. “You can lean on those guys, and it takes the pressure off everyone else.”
Madson, 36, missed all of 2012 to 2014 because of elbow injuries before resurfacing as a shut-down reliever for the World Series-champion Kansas City Royals in 2015. For Oakland, he converted 31 of 41 save opportunities and posted a 3.03 ERA in 11⁄2 seasons.
“It feels good to have a chance to win again,” said Madson, who has 42 career postseason appearances and pitched on Philadelphia’s 2008 championship team. “I’m getting up there. I don’t know how many bullets are left, how many more chances I’m gonna have, so to get this opportunity … what a gift.”
Doolittle, 30, closed for an A’s wild-card team in 2014. He has been slowed by shoulder injuries for the past two seasons but had a 3.38 ERA and 0.66 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) in 23 games this season for Oakland.
“We felt these guys checked off a lot of boxes for us,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. “They’re two veterans with playoff savvy, and they’re great in the clubhouse. But let’s not gloss over their performance. It’s been great, and we’re a better team than we were without them.”
While a stout rotation led by Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez entered Tuesday with the league’s third-best ERA (3.54), second-best opponents average (.230) and most strikeouts (598), the bullpen might have qualified for FEMA assistance.
Washington relievers entered Tuesday with a major league-worst 5.27 ERA and an NL-worst .278 opponents average. They had 14 blown saves in 36 opportunities.
The Nationals began the season with Treinen as closer. He lost his ninth-inning job, then a late-inning role, and had a 5.73 ERA in 37 games by the time he was traded.
Washington tried Shawn Kelley (7.00 ERA in 22 games) and Koda Glover (5.12 ERA in 23 games) as closers before turning to veteran Matt Albers, who had 460 major league appearances before recording his first save this season.
Baker will use matchups to determine who pitches the eighth and ninth inning, and age and injury histories will prevent Madson and Doolittle from pitching too often on back-to-back days. But the new relievers are clearly upgrades over what Washington had in its bullpen.
“Madson threw the ball excellent, and Doolittle closed the door,” Baker said, adding that Doolittle “seems like a pretty cool customer. “He’s not easily rattled. He’s been in that situation before, and he did his job.”