Espino gives Nats a chance, but they settle for series split
WASHINGTON — Despite getting a chance to win from Paolo Espino and Sam Clay — an odd instance in April — the Washington Nationals were quieted by Madison Bumgarner, Kevin Ginkel, Yoan López, Taylor Clarke and Stefan Chricton, who all pitch for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Quieted, at least, aside from two solo homers for Trea Turner at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon. And quieted aside from the handful of hard-hit balls that went for hollow outs in the box score. That’s how the Nationals fell on the wrong side of a 5-2 final against the Diamondbacks. Their bats did little, while the bullpen, held together by spit and glue, let the Diamondbacks (6-10) inch away in the late innings. Arizona plated runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth to earn a split in the four-game series.
The Nationals (5-8) spent the morning placing right-handed starter Stephen Strasburg and right-handed reliever Wander Suero on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation and a strained left oblique, respectively. Then the team kept pushing on without them.
“When two guys go down like that, in the midst of a day, it’s kind of tough because you have to play that game,” Manager Dave Martinez said. “You know help is
on the way . ... We just got to put this day behind us, come back tomorrow — we got St. Louis coming into town.”
A frustrating spot for a team can be a big moment for a player. Those were the competing truths of Espino, a 34-year-old righty, getting the call in place of Strasburg on Sunday. For him, it was another chance, another trip to the majors, in a career full of hoping. He had made one start since the end of 2017. He had logged 30 total major league innings before taking the mound at 1:05 p.m. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 2006 and is still trying to stick.
For the Nationals, though, he was a last-ditch option to fill an immediate and distressing need. It was fair to ask why they tapped Espino, who was not on the 40-man roster before Sunday, instead of Ben Braymer, Rogelio Armenteros, Seth Romero or Steven Fuentes, who all were. The Nationals considered them, too. But Martinez explained that Braymer and Armenteros made recent appearances at the team’s alternate site in Fredericksburg, Va. Romero, a first-round pick in 2017, has only ever pitched out of the bullpen in the majors. Fuentes, 23, has yet to debut. Espino was both on schedule and had some requisite experience.
“This is something I always dream of,” Espino said. “Every year, this is what I’m doing. I’m fighting. I’m doing everything that I can to get an opportunity. When they told me, I got very excited.”
He was tagged by a leadoff homer for Josh Rojas and Carson Kelly’s solo shot in the fourth. Each came on a high-80s fastball that found the hitter’s sweet spot. But Espino otherwise worked around traffic for 4⅓ innings. He stranded a base runner by striking out Kelly to end the first. And in the third, after Asdrúbal Cabrera punched a liner to the wall in center, Victor Robles swooped in.
From roughly 170 feet behind second base, on the edge of the warning track, Robles threw a 87.3-mph strike to Starlin Castro’s glove. It was just a tick lower than Espino’s average fastball velocity (88.7) and beat Cabrera, trying to turn a single into a double, by a full step. Espino pointed to Robles with gratitude. Robles pointed right back. The highlight helped extend Espino’s outing to 75 pitches, all used to limit damage across 13 outs.
From there, the game belonged to the Nationals’ bullpen. Espino did his part, allowing two runs on five hits, despite shaky command of his curveball, slider and change-up.
“I felt like I was struggling a little bit with the off-speed,” said Espino, who learned Saturday evening that he was required in Washington. “I felt like some of them were okay. But when I get my [next] bullpen, I’m going to work on those to get a better feeling for it.”
“You can’t ask much more,” Turner added of Espino. “You get a phone call five o’clock last night and come out and throw 4⅓ and keep us in the ballgame.”
But the offense had a mix of trouble and bad luck against Bumgarner. Besides Turner’s first homer in the third, the Nationals managed one hit and one walk before Bumgarner exited after five, loud contact ringing behind him. Castro did tap an infield single between third and short. The rest either faulted or lined hard outs.
And once Espino and Bumgarner were done, the Diamondbacks held a 2-1 lead that grew against Austin Voth, Ryne Harper and Kyle McGowin. Voth, another option to start Sunday, had been moved to the bullpen, and the Nationals kept him there. He stranded two runners in the sixth and was nearly through the seventh. Then he just missed with a high-and-outside fastball.
It was a 3-2 pitch that, by not finishing Rojas, resulted in a walk. The next batter, Pavin Smith, smacked an opposite-field double that scored Rojas. Harper entered for the eighth and allowed a run on a double, walk and sacrifice fly. In the ninth, with McGowin pitching for the second straight day, the Diamondbacks tacked on another insurance run once catcher Yan Gomes chucked a snap throw past Ryan Zimmerman at first base and into right field. Rojas motored around from first.
The error only dulled the odds of a comeback that never came.