To put things lightly, this past weekend was a disappointing one for the Washington Nationals. They entered a four-game series with Atlanta sitting a half game above the Braves for first place in the NL East and sporting the best record in baseball over the previous month. However, a disappointing offensive showing resulted in the Nats dropping three of four to their division rivals.
One of the few bright spots for Washington was its bullpen, which combined to allow just one earned run in 18 innings (0.50 ERA) entering the ninth inning of Sunday’s series finale. Yet the pitcher who stepped onto the mound in a do-or-die inning of a 2-2 game wasn’t a member of that impressive relief corps.