The Milwaukee Brewers defeat the Washington Nationals 14-3

WASHINGTON, DC. - The Milwaukee Brewers once again defeated the Washington Nationals 14-3. Today’s 14-3 defeat was just the latest in a string of lopsided losses. Being swept by the National League’s top team, the Nationals were outscored 38-14 over the series. Moreover, the Nationals didn’t just lose the weekend series to the Brewers—they were also swept in the season series, being outscored 60-23 across six games.

Right-handed pitcher Brad Lord started the game for the Nationals and struggled in this start, lasting only 4.2 innings while giving up three earned runs on six hits, striking out six, walking two, and allowing one home run. He faced 21 batters, threw 92 pitches, with 58 of them being strikes. Lord now has a record of 2-6 with an ERA of 3.42.

Before today's outing, he led all National League rookies (minimum 65 innings pitched) with a 3.27 ERA, a .237 opponent batting average, a .339 slugging percentage against, 7.87 hits allowed per nine innings, a 1.20 WHIP, and 0.61 home runs allowed per nine innings.

"I wasn't executing my fastball as much as I was in my last two outings," Lord said in his post-game remarks. "Threw a lot more balls, worked deep into counts. But they also battled and fouled pitches off. Kind of a combination of both."

In the top of the seventh inning, the Milwaukee Brewers, the best team in Major League Baseball this season, erupted for seven runs off Nationals pitchers Zach Brzykcy and Ryan Loutos. Brzykcy struggled significantly, loading the bases with two walks and a single, then hitting a batter with the bases loaded. Brzykcy allowed six runs on three hits in just one-third of an inning, as the Brewers secured a commanding victory.

He then surrendered two additional two-run singles, which raised his ERA to 9.00. Following Brzykcy, Loutos gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, pushing his ERA to 12.75.

The Nationals plated a run in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an RBI single by Jacob Young, scoring Drew Millas. It wasn’t until later in the game that the Nationals added two more runs, courtesy of an RBI double by catcher Drew Millas, which drove in Riley Adams and Daylen Lile. Millas went 2-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs, and a run scored, marking the first time in his career he hit two doubles in a single game. He is now batting .417 (5-for-12) with two RBIs and four runs scored.

Daylen Lile also went 2-for-4, and has now reached base safely in 27 of his last 32 games, and holds a .298 average (34-for-114) with three triples, six doubles, one home run, 13 RBIs, and 17 runs scored. Jacob Young contributed with a 1-for-3 performance, including a walk and an RBI, which was his third RBI in the last 10 games. Overall, the Nationals only managed seven hits.

In his post-game press conference, Interim Manager Miguel Cairo noted, "We've got to play still, what, seven more weeks. And we've got to finish strong. I know we've got fighters in there, and I know they're going to keep playing. We've just got to play the game a little more clean."

Roster Moves:

After the game, the Nationals announced that they optioned Ryan Loutos to the Rochester Red Wings. Additionally, the Nationals announced that they signed left-handed pitcher PJ Poulin. Poulin, 29, has been impressive this season in Triple-A Toledo, posting a 7–1 record with a 3.38 ERA, two saves, and 62 strikeouts in 35 games (3 starts).

The Nationals will have tomorrow off and then welcome the Athletics on Tuesday when RHP Luis Severino will matchup against Nationals LHP MacKenzie Gore. Gore dominated in his prior matchup on April 13, 2024, at the Oakland Coliseum, striking out a career-high 11 batters over 5.0 scoreless innings while allowing just four hits and one walk. Here is our pitching match-up preview for the first game of the series.