For the four innings Taylor Jordan lasted Sunday afternoon, alarm overtook effectiveness. Jordan induced groundballs, cruised through the San Diego Padres’ punchless lineup and produced three zeroes. Still, his wan sinker lacked velocity and action, his ability to locate wavered and the Washington Nationals grew concerned enough to remove him from the game, if not the rotation altogether.
In the Nationals’ 4-2 loss to the Padres at Nationals Park, Jordan allowed one run over four innings before Manager Matt Williams replaced him and relievers quickly turned a tie game into a defeat. The Nationals issued six walks, including two by Aaron Barrett with the bases loaded. Padres right-hander Ian Kennedy dominated the Nationals’ lineup, which managed three hits against him in seven innings — and five total — while drawing zero walks and striking out nine times.
In the first game after Bryce Harper landed on the disabled list, primary replacement Nate McLouth socked his first home run as a National in the eighth inning. Jayson Werth’s leadoff single in the ninth allowed the tying run to come to the plate three times, but Adam LaRoche’s laser found Will Venabale’s glove in deep right, and Padres closer Huston Street would not allow the Nationals another comeback victory. They settled for a four-game series split.
Even while their bullpen faltered and their inconsistent offense took a step back, the Nationals’ largest concern by the end of the afternoon remained Jordan. He suffered no apparent new injury Sunday afternoon, but his sagging velocity paired with Williams’s quick hook suggests something may be wrong.
Jordan, a 25-year-old who made the Nationals with his strong spring training performance, entered Sunday with a 6.23 ERA and an 0-3 record. After Jordan’s previous start, Williams said he may consider adding Ross Detwiler back to the rotation. Barring a setback or a change in Doug Fister’s rehab schedule, the Nationals will need their fifth starter only once more before Fister returns. And so, the Nationals may give that start to Detwiler, even though he earned the loss Sunday by allowing four hits and a walk in 1 1/3 relief innings.
Last year, Jordan’s sinking fastball averaged 92.3 mph. Before Sunday, he had thrown his fastball 90 mph on average this season. In his last start, it hummed at 90.6 mph. Jordan knew he had lost zip, but he had no explanation, and he believed it would be irrelevant so long as he controlled his pitches better.
The notion that Jordan may be fine evaporated Sunday. He threw only one pitch at least 90 mph and pitched his sinker mostly between 85 and 87 mph. Along with speed, Jordan’s arsenal lacked action and power — the Padres did not swing and miss at any of his 63 pitches.
Jordan managed strong results, anyway. He escaped the first inning with a 6-4-3 double play, and the Padres kept hitting the ball on the ground. He opened the fourth inning by walking Chris Denorfia, and Yasmani Grandal drilled his next pitch off the right wall. Grandal scored on a sacrifice fly. In the bullpen, Detwiler began warming up.
Jordan stranded two runners when Cameron Maybin popped out to foul ground next to first base to end the fourth. Williams determined either Jordan’s health or his stuff — or both — would not let him continue.
Detwiler couldn’t keep the score tied. He surrendered a seemingly innocent two-out walk to Everth Cabrera with the bases empty. Cabrera swiped second base when Anthony Rendon couldn’t hold on to Jose Lobaton’s throw. Cabrera scooted to third on Detwiler’s wild pitch, and he scored when Denorfia rolled a single back up the middle.
The Padres threatened again in the sixth, at which point the secondary benefit of Tanner Roark’s complete game Saturday surfaced. With a fully rested bullpen and Monday off, Williams could yank Detwiler and choose any reliever he wanted.
In from right field trotted Barrett. After Nick Hundley’s bloop single loaded the bases, Barrett struck out Kennedy. He needed one more out to escape the jam, and then he lost control.
Cabrera had walked twice in 107 plate appearances, and Barrett walked him on four pitches. Barrett nearly hit Denorfia twice before he walked him, too, to force in another run and make it 4-1, Padres.
Jerry Blevins provided a tourniquet with four consecutive outs, but the Nationals’ offense, resurgent over the weekend, never enlivened against Kennedy. Rendon and Werth swatted consecutive doubles in the first inning to give the Nationals an immediate lead. Kennedy did not allow another hit all day, thanks in part to the ridiculous diving catch Will Venable made in the right field corner to rob Werth of a double in the sixth.