You can make a whole list of the most humiliating 9th inning meltdowns of the Nats season. The bar is very high, so this one may not be number one, but it is easily in the top 5. It may not have been the worst, but it was the sloppiest and most self destructive.
The Nats are in the middle of a 16 day run of playing every day, so the bullpen is on fumes. However, Blake Butera's decision to use the two worst arms in the bullpen to close out the game is still head scratching. When a fan sent out a picture of Kranick and Cosgrove warming in the bullpen, you had a feeling something awful was coming.
After the Nats squeezed across an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th, they only needed three more outs to secure a series win and get a 4th straight win. However, we ran into problems instantly, as Esteury Ruiz dropped down a beautiful bunt. It was a nice play, but you have to shake it off.
Instead of shaking it off, it seems to throw off Max Kranick, who lost the strike zone. As soon as he walked Griffin Conine, Nats fans started getting deja vu. He got an out, but he allowed a double steal by not keeping track of the runners.
If you thought that would be the last mental mistake by the Nats, boy would you be mistaken. Kranick exited the game after another walk and the bases were loaded. Blake Butera turned to Tom Cosgrove, who had given up runs in 5 of his last six outings. The soft tossing lefty came in and plunked the first guy he faced.
Butera's logic for putting in Cosgrove was likely that he was saving Will Dion for tomorrow. That is not a line of thinking I agree with. Go and win the game instead of sitting back and waiting for tomorrow. The Nats waited for tomorrow while the Marlins won today.
Cosgrove's meltdown was only beginning though. His failure to back up third base allowed the go-ahead run to score on a two-run sac fly. Jorbit Vivas also needed to keep the ball in front of him instead of trying to deke the runner. However, as a pitcher your job is to be the last line of defense. Cosgrove did not do that and it cost the Nats a run.
The lefty cost his team yet another run when he fell for a very obvious double steal attempt. He stepped off and turned his back to the plate. That allowed the Marlins runner to steal home just putting even more salt on the wound. The cherry on top, or in this case, the nail in the coffin was a homer by Otto Lopez.
That is the type of outing that costs players their jobs. I do not expect Cosgrove to be on this team tomorrow, and if he would, I would have questions. The production has not been there lately and his mental mistakes cost the team multiple runs.
You also have to question Blake Butera for putting him in that spot though. I get he does not have much to work with, but he has made a number of head scratching bullpen moves this season. It seems like he always has a lefty he trusts far too much. Mitchell Parker, Matt Krook and Cosgrove all fall in that category.
In what could have been a really fun afternoon win, the Nats bullpen and lack of fundamentals struck again. The team just melted down both physically and mentally in the 9th inning. Some of the mistakes they were making were stuff you would not see in high school ball.
The fans were not happy. I have not heard the Nationals Park crowd boo the home team like that in a very long time. It was pent up energy that was just launched onto the field by a fanbase that has seen this movie too many times.
Heading into the offseason, building a competent bullpen needs to be a top priority. If the bullpen does not take massive strides next year, this regime will begin to lose the trust of the fanbase. Having 35 blown saves before September is just comical. The manager, POBO and owner all have to do some soul searching after building and managing this kind of bullpen.
There have been a lot of positives this year, but the bullpen hangs over this organization like a massive dark cloud. Outside of yesterday, the late innings have been doom and despair all year for the Nats. If this franchise wants to actually compete again, that has to change and change fast. For now, Nats fans are just getting punched in the gut over and over in the late innings.
