Fans and even the Washington Nationals themselves must be getting frustrated at the lack of offense coming from their line-up. It has been a glaring weakness for Washington that teams are taking advantage of and such was the case on Wednesday night when the New York Mets blanked the Nats 3-0.
Southpaw starter Tom Gorzelanny took the loss giving up three runs on seven hits in five-innings of work. Gorzelanny walked five, but also struck out seven. While the Nationals starting pitcher might have been tagged with the loss, the ultimate loser has been the Nationals offense who once again offered no support for their pitcher and no answers to their inconsistency. Only one National recorded more than one hit during the game and that was left fielder Michael Morse. Infielder Brian Bixler went 1-for-1 in a pinch hitting role. If it sounds like this is just grasping for something, anything, to be positive about it is when talking about this offense.
In the Nationals starting line-up not one player is hitting .300 or above. Center fielder Roger Bernadina is hitting .293 while first baseman Adam LaRoche is hitting a .177 average which continues to drop like a stone into the abyss. Most teams would have done something by now to try and turn the negative tide, but with so little options open to the Nats the team and GM Mike Rizzo are sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The Nationals record is now 20-22 and tied with the Mets for last place in the NL East.