Nationals drop series to A’s amid dreadful summer stretch

The Washington Nationals are limping to the finish line of another disappointing season after stripping the roster amid last week’s trade deadline. Thursday’s sparsely attended 6-0 loss to the visiting Athletics was the latest struggle for a Washington club that’s revamping on the fly. 

Washington’s clubhouse hasn’t undergone any renovations, but it’s seen an influx of new faces over the past two weeks. Several lockers remain empty while recent call-ups like pitchers Cade Cavalli, Orlando Ribalta, Clayton Beeter and Shinnosuke Ogasawara try to get comfortable. 

The roster spots have been filled, but the clubhouse atmosphere appears to have shifted since interim general manager Mike DeBartolo shipped out veterans Amed Rosario, Andrew Chafin, Kyle Finnegan, Alex Call, Luis Garcia and Mike Soroka.

Chafin’s two lockers are still vacant. The first, which was reserved for his on-field gear, is unoccupied next to reliever Jose Ferrer. The second, which hosted his beer fridge, is empty to the right of Ribalta. 

The fridge is still there. 

But according to rookie outfielder Daylen Lile, the daily routine is the same for players still on the roster.

“Nothing has changed,” he said after the latest loss. “Obviously, it’s tough right now. But as long as we just keep competing, keep doing what we can do, just work every day, I know things are going to change.”

In a season to forget for both teams, the Nationals gave the A’s some happy memories on Thursday. The visiting team’s center fielder, Colby Thomas, entered his first at-bat of the day with a career .129 average and no homers. 

He hit his first major league homer against Nationals starter Mitchell Parker in the second inning, taking a 3-1 fastball into the center field bleachers. Thomas added a sacrifice fly in the fourth, taking his career RBI total from one to four with a pair of swings.

Lile provided a similar souvenir for Athletics shortstop Darell Hernaiz in the fifth. A misplayed line drive in the left-field corner gave Hernaiz the first triple of his career.

“That was definitely on me,” Lile said. “I should have just been more aggressive and attacked the ball.”

Bright spots were hard to come by for Washington. Any inkling of a rally was quickly extinguished by Athletics pitcher Jacob Lopez, who tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts.

After the Nats fell behind 3-0, Lile reached on an infield single to lead off the third. 

As Jacob Young faced a 1-2 count, Lile took off for second and slid in safely. It would’ve been the fifth stolen base of the rookie’s career and the latest in a strong month for Lile. 

But Young struck out swinging and interfered with Athletics catcher Willie MacIver in the process. Lile was subsequently called out and Young was sent to the dugout in a strange double play where the catcher recorded both putouts.

While Washington is struggling through the dog days of summer, the similarly struggling Athletics have produced routine highlights. Four A’s — including designated hitter Shea Langeliers, who blasted three home runs during Tuesday’s series opener — have slugged at least 20 homers this season. 

Left fielder Tyler Soderstrom hit his 21st home run of the season on Thursday to give the Athletics a 5-0 lead. 

While both rebuilding franchises made major moves at the trade deadline, the A’s fetched the bigger returns. Washington dished out rotational players and landed lottery ticket prospects in return. Instead of trading pitcher MacKenzie Gore, who would’ve been one of the top arms on the market, the Nationals decided to wait. 

The Athletics struck while the iron was hot, trading closer Mason Miller to San Diego for a package that included shortstop Leo De Vries, the top-ranked prospect moved at the deadline, and pitcher Braden Nett, who most analysts expect to develop into a solid starter at the major league level. 

The city-less Athletics have now won three series since the All-Star break, claiming victory in nine of their last 13 games with 27 home runs over that stretch.

The Nationals, meanwhile, are stuck in no man’s land. 

It’s up to interim manager Miguel Cairo to keep spirits high in Washington’s clubhouse, which has featured a revolving door. 

“It’s an adjustment that we’ve been doing since they let [former manager Dave Martinez] go,” he said. “After the deadline, we stopped playing good.”

Some of that was out of his control. Cairo didn’t decide to trade away innings-eating relievers like Chafin or the late-game expertise of Finnegan. 

“We had to make an adjustment, but it’s no excuse,” he said. “We got to go out there and play the game the right way, go out there and do our job.”

That’s been the message to his players. But, as the 45-69 Nationals sit 20 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East, the final 48 games could be a slog. 

It’s Cairo’s job to help the remaining players break out of their funk down the stretch.

“You got 26 players in there, 10 coaches. We got to do our job and we got to get better, simple as that,” he said. “We got seven weeks to do it.”

The Nationals hit the road for a six-game road trip that begins Friday against the San Francisco Giants.