The Diamondbacks lost their 3rd straight game and 8th in their last 9 games in an affair that was more than winnable if the Diamondbacks had any sort of “little things right” in them. Tonight’s loss can’t be blamed solely on the bullpen. It was a thorough team loss. The starting pitching wasn’t good. The late-game hitting wasn’t good. The defense wasn’t good (again). It took a team effort to lose this game tonight and that’s what they did.
Merrill’s start was cut short after 5 inning and 6 runs scored, but Ketel Marte’s costly error in the first inning set this game off on a wacky trajectory that sapped Merrill of at least one inning and was directly responsible for 2 Nats’ runs.