One day after falling down early thanks to a miserable outing by Dan Haren, the Nats once again found themselves playing catchup because of their starting pitcher. This time it was Ross Detwiler who turned in a disastrous start, allowing seven earned runs in 3 2/3 innings of work, including two home runs and nine total hits.
The Nats rallied to cut the deficit to one, but it was not enough in their 7-6 loss to the Rockies on Sunday. Detwiler dug a large hole and continued what has been a rough month for Nationals starters. In June they hold a 4.43 ERA as a rotation through 20 games.
Manager Davey Johnson attributed Detwiler’s bad day to pitch selection.
“He’s been relying since he’s been here on his fastball, and it’s a good fastball hitting club,” Johnson said.
“If you don’t hit your spots on sinkers down and away, they’re going to hurt you. First ball he gave up to Cuddy was a four-seamer out over the plate. It’s a good fastball hitting club, and you have to use set-up pitches. He’s still early in doing that.”
Detwiler’s afternoon started to turn in the second inning when he allowed a solo home run to Michael Cuddyer. He then allowed three more runs in the third and another three in the fourth.
