Washington Nationals lose to Juan Soto, Josh Bell, and the San Diego Padres, 10-5 in D.C.

Welcome back, Juan and Josh? Nationals drop opener with the Padres in D.C.

Abbott vs the Padres:

Cory Abbott gave up one earned run in four innings of work out of the bullpen for the Nats, in three, one-off appearances back in June and July, and he tossed five scoreless in his first outing with Washington as a starter on August 2nd, but in his second turn in the Nationals’ rotation, the 26-year-old right-hander gave up seven hits, five walks, and seven runs in 3 ²⁄₃ IP on the road in Citizens Bank Park, in what ended up a 13-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, with four of the seven hits home runs.

“They’re just really good at bat-to-ball skills,” Abbott said of the Phils, as quoted by MASN’s Bobby Blanco after the lopsided loss in Philly. “Being able to lift the ball out of the park and just sticking to their game plan. Not getting out of it. I think that’s what makes them so tough. They weren’t swinging at the ones that I thought were competitive down. I really had to stay in the zone.”

Start No. 3 for the second-year starter began with three scoreless, which he completed on a total of 55 pitches, working around a hit and a walk, while striking out three of the 12 batters he faced going up against San Diego in D.C. tonight.

Brandon Drury doubled with one down in the Padres’ 4th, however, taking second base as Yadiel Hernández struggled to collect it in the left field corner. Ha-Seong Kim then sent an RBI single to left with two down for a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning.

Abbott returned to the mound in the fifth inning, at 80 pitches, and gave up a leadoff walk to Jurickson Profar and a double to right by Juan Soto before he was lifted…

Cory Abbott’s Line: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 Ks, 90 P, 53 S, 1/7 GO/FO.

Clevinger in D.C.:

Acquired from Cleveland in 2020, Mike Clevinger, 31, made just four starts in 2020’s 60-game COVID campaign, before he was suspended for violating safety protocols, and he underwent Tommy John surgery which cost him the entire 2021 season, but back on the mound this summer, the right-hander has produced. He took the mound in tonight in D.C. with a 3.60 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 17 walks, 62 Ks, and a .226/.285/.375 line against in 65 innings.

Coming off a 4 ²⁄₃-inning outing against the LA Dodgers in which he gave up seven hits and five earned runs, Clevinger worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first, with Joey Meneses grounding into an inning-ending 6-4-3 DP to help the Padres’ starter.

Clevinger stranded a one-out walk in the second, and leadoff and two-out walks in the third, and he came back out for the fourth with a 1-0 lead, and retired the Nationals in order on 15 pitches to get through four on 70 total.

It was 8-0 when Clevinger returned to the mound in the fifth, and gave up back-to-back hits by Ildemaro Vargas and Luis García. Vargas took third on García’s hit, then scored on a one-out RBI groundout by Nelson Cruz, 8-1 Padres.

Mike Clevinger’s Line: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 Ks, 94 P, 56 S, 3/6 GO/FO.

Bullpen Action:

Victor Arano took over for starter Cory Abbott with runners on second (Juan Soto) and third (Jurickson Profar) and no one out in the Padres’ fifth, and Manny Machado drove both of the runners in with a double off the left-center fence Lane Thomas tracked and leapt for but did not catch, 3-0. One out and a walk later, Jake Cronenworth sent a grounder to short which Luis García fielded (in the shift), but threw to first before stepping on second, only to have his throw get to the bag late, so no outs, and 4-0 when Machado scored. And 7-0 after Trent Grisham’s shot into the second deck in right. 3-run blast. 442 feet. Jeez.

Juan Soto came through too, with a two-out RBI single off Arano, 8-0.

It was 8-1 in the sixth, when Nabil Crismatt took over for the Padres and gave up a leadoff single by Joey Meneses, had Keibert Ruiz reach on an error in the next at-bat, and then a couple outs later, surrendered an RBI single by Ildemaro Vargas, 8-2.

Jake McGee, in his debut for the Nationals, retired the Padres in order on 13 pitches in the top of the seventh.

Tyler Clippard gave up a one out double by Manny Machado and a two-out, two-run home run to left by Brandon Drury, 10-2.

Maikel Franco homered off Padres’ reliever Tayler Scott in the bottom of the ninth to make it a 10-3 game. Luke Voit singled and Josh Palacios doubled in the at-bats which followed, then a walk to Joey Meneses loaded them up and Keibert Ruiz singled, 10-4. Nick Martinez took over for the visiting team, and the Nats’ fifth run scored on a César Hernández ground ball, 10-5.

Nationals now 37-77