He has conducted similar post-game meetings this season. Nationals manager Jim Riggleman isn’t one to let a poor performance fester when he thinks something needs to be said.
But after Sunday afternoon’s frustrating 6-5 loss to the Florida Marlins at Nationals Park, Riggleman let his entire coaching staff have the floor during a team meeting that lasted 25 minutes. The message was simple. Washington’s energy level early in the game was sub-par and won’t be tolerated. Their tone was best left to the imagination after the Nats were swept by the Marlins, ending an ugly 1-5 homestand.
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“It shouldn’t happen. We’ve got to make them aware that this is what I see, this is what the coaches see, this is what [general manager] Mike [Rizzo] sees, this is what the fans see,” Riggleman said. “And if anybody in the room thought that was acceptable then they need to be made aware that we certainly don’t.”
Starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann gave up five runs, four of them earned, in just three innings and Washington’s offense fell one run shy during a comeback attempt. Florida (73-69) has won 10 of its last 11 games against the Nats (60-83).
Mike Stanton hit a pair of home runs off Zimmermann to fuel the early outburst. Washington did cut the lead to 6-5 by the end of the fifth inning, but the Marlins’ bullpen retired the final 13 batters of the game, six of those at-bats ending on strikeouts.
“I wouldn’t say anger,” Nats shortstop Ian Desmond said of the meeting’s atmosphere. “We just got swept by the Marlins, coming off a bad series before that. I think you can kind of imagine the way the tone was. It was just trying to make a point. We’ve got to play better. That’s it.”
Washington slowly chipped away. Ivan Rodriguez had a two-run single in the second inning. Ryan Zimmerman’s base hit in the third cut Florida’s advantage to 5-3. Rodriguez added another run on an infield grounder in the fourth. Roger Bernadina singled home yet another run in the fifth. But the Nats left the bases loaded in that inning when Nyjer Morgan grounded out to second.
“I think the losing wears on you. But it’s a 162-game schedule. It’s a nine-inning ballgame. That’s what you sign up for, that’s what you give,” Riggleman said. “And until we get…everybody on the same page that it takes a great effort every day to get out of where we’re at it’s not going to happen.”
