WASHINGTON, D.C. - JUNE 17 - At the time of writing, it is now past midnight in the Nats Report Newsroom, and the Washington Nationals just lost their ninth straight game. Who was this one to? The last place team in all of baseball, the Colorado Rockies. A quality start from Jake Irvin made it look like the Nats may have finally broken through, but a late breakdown from Kyle Finnegan caused the game to slip away in Brady House’s major league debut.

Irvin took the bump, looking to do whatever he could to stop the Nats’ recent free-fall. He started off with a rough first inning, allowing a single and then a home run to Hunter Goodman, putting his team in a 2-0 hole early. He settled in after that, keeping Colorado quiet until the fifth. Mickey Moniak led off with a triple, and Michael Toglia immediately drove him in. That would be the extent of the damage Irvin surrendered, as he finished with the bare bones of a quality start. His 6.0 innings with five hits, three runs, one walk, and five strikeouts pushed his ERA to 4.23.

Brad Lord relieved Irvin, and was absolutely dominant. He tossed two scoreless and hitless innings, getting the ball to Finnegan with a 4-3 lead. The stage was set. The drought was about to end. Before fans knew it, Goodman homered again, tying the game. Thairo Estrada then singled, and things looked dire all of a sudden. Finnegan got two outs, but he left a pitch over the plate for Moniak, who sent it into the Nats’ bullpen, just out of the reach of Daylen Lile, who looked like he may have robbed it. The score was 6-4, and the life was sucked out of South Capitol Street headed into the bottom of the ninth.

Offensively, the Nats were looking to destroy all recent narratives, and they set the table to do so by benching struggling names like Nathaniel Lowe, Luis Garcia Jr. and Josh Bell in favor of Andrés Chaparro, Amed Rosario and the debuting House. While House went 0-3, he made good contact and had great at-bats (which included working a walk) and playing amazing defense at the hot corner. However, the team’s bats in general were quiet until the fourth, when a run was manufactured. CJ Abrams worked a walk, and stole second and third while Chaparro got on base with a free pass of his own. Rosario hit a sac-fly to score Abrams, making it a 2-1 ballgame.

The bats were quiet for the rest of that frame, but It did not stay like that for long. Lile, who was recalled yesterday, led off with a home run in the fifth inning, the first of his career, to cut the deficit to 3-2. Alex Call then singled before the designated hitter, James Wood, went opposite field for a shot of his own to take a 4-3 lead. That would be the end of the Nats’ offensive scoring for the night, but the team at least showed promise that was not there this past week. Tonight was just the third time that Washington scored four or more runs in the month of June, so the clubhouse and fans alike have been getting restless. However, the House call-up may be just what this team needs. Time will tell, but things need to improve quickly, or morale will continue to deteriorate.

The Nats will continue to host Colorado from Tuesday-Thursday, as tomorrow they will send Michael Soroka to the mound. All eyes are on the Nats as they look to avoid their 10th straight loss. If they can’t, things may get even more disastrous as they head out west for a 10-game road trip after this week, starting against the Dodgers on Friday.