Washington Nationals news & notes: Davey Martinez talks back-to-back shutout losses; Keibert Ruiz + more…

No pressure:

Nats captain Davey Martinez, coming off back-to-back shutout losses at Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field, is under increasing pressure to deliver results as the club’s offense slumps and scoreless innings pile up. clearly admitted that.

“At the end of the day, I think we just got that one hit and got a couple of points. Everybody relaxed and things started happening. We just can’t get it done.” Martinez said after Wednesday’s 2-0 loss. white socks.

Martinez’s club played in each of the three games against the Sox and won one of those three games because the pitching held the lead while everyone waited for the batters to come alive at the right time. .

“Our pitching was really, really good,” Martinez said after Patrick Corbin’s fifth at-bat. ²⁄₃-Inning out, Corbin allowed only 2 runs (Don’t look now, but the veteran left-hander has started the last three games and posted a 3.24 ERA and 3.17 FIP in 16 games. ²⁄₃ IP).

“Thanks to our pitching, we’re able to stay in games. I keep saying, ‘We’re almost there.’ It’s almost there. We just have to put together a few games and produce a lot of points, and then… So we’ve got to keep our heads up and we’ve got to start working better at the plate and getting the ball into the zone, especially against the guys on base. Just get the ball into the zone and be aggressive.

“Hey, let’s take the hack out there and see what happens.”

In Tuesday’s 4-0 loss, the Nationals were 8-0 with runners in scoring position and 7 bases left, but in their second shutout loss they were 9-0 RISP with 9 bases left. .

Martinez said the short break they took Thursday should help everyone relax, focus and get the bat flying at Citizens Bank Park.

“We have a day off tomorrow,” Martinez explained, “…we’ve got to come back and get ready to play Philadelphia. I mean, we’ve got to get some runs up there, so we’ll come back on Friday and we’ll be banging it up.” phillies”

Photo credit: Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images

As for how things might change on a night when you’re not swinging the club well or when you come up with a big hit?

“We are who we are,” he said. “We’ve got the players, so we’ll just keep working with them. We’ve been seeing signs of them getting out of there, so we’re going to start attacking. And now, in the last two games, that hasn’t happened. We scored in the first game yesterday, so we have no choice but to keep working hard and keep talking.

“I think there’s a lot more pressure across the board now. If one player can’t do it, the next guy comes along and it puts even more pressure on them.

“So we have no choice but to keep fighting.”

Keibert Lewis at bat:

“He’s starting to swing the bat a little bit,” Davey Martinez told reporters after Keibert Lewis made a big pinch-hitter in the Nats’ one-game series win against the White Sox this week. .

Lewis has reportedly lost 18 to 20 pounds since returning from Illinois after a severe bout of the flu. While he has battled illness, he has struggled at the plate.

In the final game of the series against the Sox, Lewis went 0-for-8 with 3 Ks in four at-bats, and in 16 games and 63 PA since being on the IL and two rehab starts in the minors, Lewis is 7-for-61 (.115/ ) .143/.164), home run, walk, and 12 Ks.

“He’s another guy who needs to be in the zone instead of chasing the ball,” Martinez said during the series in Chicago.

Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images, Getty Images

“When he does that, he’s going to put the ball in play. We all know that. So I thought it was a good matchup for him there. And he did a great job and helped us score.” brought about.”

After the finale at Guaranteed Rate Field, the manager was asked if what’s currently going on with the catcher is due to the illness and the strain it has placed on Lewis. Or is he just struggling through everything?

“I think he’s past that point,” Martinez said.

“He needs to be a little more aggressive in the zone. He’s an aggressive hitter, as we all know, but he’s got to start swinging at the right pitches and let it go. Mind you. Don’t. He’s going to have to get up there and let it go.”