Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas won’t blame the bullpen cart for his up-and-down performance during Sunday’s 7-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, as the 23-24 Nationals fell back below .500 after winning the first two games of the “Rivalry Weekend” series.
Mikolas became the first Washington player to use the cart this season. He spent the last two months trying to bribe his teammates to take a kitschy ride to the mound on a motorized baseball with its own cap.
None of the Nationals took Mikolas’ $100 offer to use it.
“I guess they don’t want money,” he joked after the game.
He took matters into his own hands, squatting his six-foot-four-inch frame into the clown car-esque cart.
“You don’t have a lot of time running out of the bullpen,” he said of his decision to take the cart. “Trying to get down there quick.”
But Mikolas, who is usually a starter but pitched in bulk relief behind opener Richard Lovelady on Sunday, said he struggled to find a rhythm early in the game.
Washington was already trailing 1-0 when Mikolas took the cart out of the bullpen; Lovelady allowed a solo home run to Baltimore shortstop Gunnar Henderson in the first and let another runner reach base in the second.
Advertisement
The lead grew when Mikolas allowed a two-run homer to Orioles third baseman Coby Mayo.
“My body just wasn’t working,” Mikolas said. “It took me a little bit too long to get into that rhythm. Unfortunately, it cost me a few runs.”
The 37-year-old allowed another home run in the fourth inning — a two-run shot courtesy of left fielder Colton Cowser. With the combined struggles of Mikolas and Lovelady, the Nationals allowed six runs in the first four innings.
Mikolas settled down after that, allowing just two hits in his final three innings, but it was too late to salvage Washington’s shot at a sweep.
Lovelady earned the loss after allowing a pair of runs in his 1 ⅔-inning start.
Advertisement
Washington’s typically high-powered offense failed to mount a substantive comeback attempt.
Down 6-1, the Nationals’ best chance at a rally arrived in the bottom of the fourth inning. Daylen Lile led off the inning with a single before Young and designated hitter Jose Tena walked to load the bases with no outs.
Lile scored on a sacrifice fly by catcher Keibert Ruiz before an infield single by James Wood loaded the bases once again.
The Nationals couldn’t capitalize. Luis Garcia Jr., who represented the tying run, struck out swinging, stranding three runners in the process.
Advertisement
Washington left 10 runners on base throughout the game.
“We did a really good job of getting some guys on base, getting some traffic moving. I felt like we had some opportunities there to get back into it,” said Nationals manager Blake Butera. “We just couldn’t have that big inning today.”
Baltimore’s Brandon Young, who started the game on the mound but was pulled after the Wood single, allowed two runs and five hits in 3 2/3 innings. He added three strikeouts and three walks.
Nationals shortstop C.J. Abrams tightened the game in the seventh with an RBI on an infield single that narrowed the score to 6-3.
Advertisement
But Henderson, who tallied a four hits and finished a triple shy of the cycle, added another RBI with a single in the ninth to cement Baltimore’s win.
Washington now trails the rival Atlanta Braves by nine games in the NL East. The Nationals continue their homestand with a four-game series against the New York Mets that begins on Monday night.
“We don’t think much about our record,” Garcia said. “We just wont to go out, play, have fun and take it day by day.”
Mikolas will do his part to bring the fun. He said the bullpen cart ride wasn’t responsible for his early woes. It could return by popular demand.
Advertisement
“The crowds seem to like it,” he said. “I’m a man of the people. So, if the people want to see me in the bullpen cart, who am I to deny them that?”
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.