"They whipped us three games, and we didn't play real good." Jim Riggleman's post-game comments on the sweep to the Tigers.
THE RESULT: The Detroit Tigers pounded out 19 hits against five pitchers en route to a second consecutive 8-3 victory over the Washington Nationals, before 33,630 at Comerica Park.
The loss drops the Nats to 31-36, five games below .500, a low point for the Nationals this season. They were swept in a three-game series for the first time this season, and fall to 13-24 on the road.
Luis Atilano bore the brunt of it for DC, allowing five earned runs on nine hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings, making the second game in a row the Nats starter could not make it through five innings. He threw 83 pitches, 53 for strikes.
In the second, Atilano gave up three straight hits which resulted in two runs. Four hits and an intentional walk turned into three more runs in the fifth. The big blow was a Miguel Cabrera double with two men on.
Drew Storen came on for Atilano, but gave up an RBI single to Carlos Guillen. It was the first inherited runner Storen has allowed all season.
Cabrera (2-for-5, 3 RBI) added an RBI single in a two-run sixth off Doug Slaten.
Washington had a chance to make it a game in the eighth. Dunn's RBI single cut the lead to 7-3, but Josh Willingham popped up to the catcher with runners at second and third to end the inning.
Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman (W, 3-4) kept the Nats down most of the day, giving up just two runs on five hits, striking out seven. He retired the first 11 Nats hitters, despite some well-hit balls, setting the tone for a long day for the Nats.
"Sounds strange to say it, but I think we hit the ball better than they did today," Riggleman told the MASN audience after the game. "We hit five or six balls that if we're in our ballpark those balls would have gone out of the stadium and it's a different ball game. But that's neither here nor there."
Adam Dunn did hit his team-leading 16th home run of the season and added an RBI single, and Cristian Guzman went 2-for-4 with an RBI. But the rest of the team scattered just four more hits and did not walk once.
The Nationals completed the six-game road trip 1-5, the lone victory coming from Stephen Strasburg last Sunday against Cleveland. The Nats will ask Strasburg to be the stopper once again Friday, as they come home to host the Chicago White Sox for a three-game series over the weekend.
THE GOOD: Dunn. He is on an impressive run right now with homers in six of his last nine games. Unfortunately, his last three homers have come with the bases empty. His average up to .288 with 16 homers. Even his outs were loud today.
THE BAD: Adam Kennedy went 0-for-4. Roger Bernadina went 0-for-4. The team stuck out eight times and did not walk once.
THE UGLY: Two more errors brings the Nationals' season total to 61, worst in the majors.
NEXT GAME: Friday at 7:05 at Nats Park against the Chicago White Sox. Stephen Strasburg (2-0), making his third start since his recall, will try to stop the bleeding. The White Sox rotation is in a bit of flux right now with Jake Peavy getting scratched today, but we'll probably see Gavin Floyd (2-7).
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