Errors, bad pitching doom Washington
It was a day like so many others for the Washington Nationals.
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In the first four innings alone during Sunday afternoon’s game against the Chicago Cubs, there were a pair of wild pitches by starter Garrett Mock, a grounder that squeezed through the legs of shortstop Alberto Gonzalez — even an RBI single by Chicago pitcher Kevin Hart, whose first career hit drove in second baseman Mike Fontenot.
The Cubs used a seven-run fourth inning to break the contest wide open and left the District — as so many teams have before them in 2009 — feeling pretty good about themselves after an 11-3 victory.
Chicago (47-43) completed a four-game sweep of the Nats, sending large portions of the big weekend crowds — many wearing Cubs jerseys and hats and chanting “Let’s go, Cubbies” — home happy. The Nats? Not so much. Washington (26-65) starts the second half of the season 0-4 under interim manager Jim Riggleman and has lost 10 of its last 11 games.
“We came out of the All-Star break trying to refocus and send a lot of messages and get some things organized,” said Riggleman, whose team was competitive in losses Friday and Saturday night, dropping those games by a combined three runs. “But today was a step backwards. Just breakdowns all the way around — all of us.”
The fourth-inning meltdown aside, Washington again had its chances at the plate. Nyjer Morgan was thrown out trying to steal in the first inning with the power hitters coming up to bat. The Nats had first-and-second with no outs in the second and managed just one run. They had first-and-third with no outs in the third and again produced a single run.
While Washington had only five hits against Hart (1-1, 2.30 ERA) through five innings, he did walk five batters to provide opportunities. Chicago relievers Jeff Samardzija and Jeff Stevens, however, combined for four innings of one-run, two-hit ball after the game already was out of hand.
“We played them tight three games and obviously didn’t play them so tight today,” said Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who batted 0-for-4 with an RBI and also made three stellar defensive plays in the field. “It’s pretty clear they’re a better team.”
