WASHINGTON, D.C. - JUNE 14 - The Washington Nationals lost their seventh straight matchup on Saturday by a score of 4-3, as a good Trevor Williams start was not supported by the offense. However, this was not the biggest story of the day, as manager Dave Martinez offered a passionate defense of his staff, throwing his players under the bus in the process in his post-game press conference.

Williams took the bump and delivered one of his stronger starts of the season in a must-win game for Washington, effectively pitching his way into the sixth inning. He was scoreless through two before allowing a leadoff double to Jesús Sánchez, a sac-fly to Agustín Ramírez, and then a single to Liam Hicks to knot the game at one in the third. He went 1-2-3 in the fourth and fifth innings before Hicks singled to open the fifth. Otto Lopez followed that with a single of his own, before Williams induced a Kyle Stowers pop-up. Martinez made the switch from there, bringing Brad Lord in to try and get out of the inning. Williams departed having allowed one runner to cross the plate (on his watch) over 5.1 innings with six hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. Lord ended up allowing the run to score, so Williams finished with two earned runs, putting his ERA at 5.71.

Lord got out of the sixth with just Williams’ runner scoring, so he came back out for the seventh. He induced a fly-out, but Sánchez immediately made him pay with a solo homer, making the score 3-1. Ramírez then singled, and Martinez made the move for Jose A. Ferrer, who got out of the inning quickly. Eduardo Salazar entered in eighth, and struggled. He would have gotten out of it unscathed, but Luis Garcia Jr. dropped a fly ball at second, allowing a run to cross. Zach Brzykcy then had to enter to put out the fire, which he did, getting the ball to new reliever Ryan Loutos for the ninth. Loutos went 1-2-3 with a pair of fly-outs and a strikeout, leaving it all up to the lineup.

Speaking of the lineup, they struggled mightily, with a few notable exceptions. After a 1-2-3 first, Nathaniel Lowe walked to open the fourth, Alex Call walked, as did Robert Hassell III and Riley Adams, which forced in a run to give the Nats an early 1-0 lead. They then went quiet until the bottom of the ninth, when Call doubled to open the frame, Josh Bell walked, and a wild pitch scored Call as the rally began. Garcia Jr. doubled, putting the tying run on second with nobody out. Hassell III reached on a fielding error, as the deficit was cut to one. Martinez then pinch-hit Keibert Ruiz for Adams, and he grounded out in a way that allowed just Hassell to advance. CJ Abrams was walked intentionally, and Amed Rosario flew out, but Ricky Gutierrez held pinch-runner Jacob Young at third. Two outs, tying run on third, James Wood at the plate with the bases loaded. Ultimately, he just got under one, and the game ended with a heartbreaking 4-3 loss.

All Nats fans looked forward to Martinez’s daily presser, expecting praise of the team for battling late. That was indeed the case until he was asked about how much of the failures are due to coaching rather than players. His response, fully defending the coaches, stunned Nats fans all around.

Bell responded, wording his response in a way that only a veteran could

Will today’s passionate defense mark the end of his tenure in Washington? Time will tell, but it can not bode well in the locker room. The Nationals will try to salvage the series tomorrow before hosting the Rockies for a four-game set, as they send MacKenzie Gore to the mound. Tomorrow may be the ultimate test of how the locker room responds to today’s comments from their skipper.