Detroit Tigers Fall to Washington Nationals, 8-1

Mar 20, 2014; Melbourne, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman

(41) at bat against the Washington Nationals at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

After taking their first two  games against the Washington Nationals, the Detroit Tigers lost today by a score of 8-1. Max Scherzer started for the Tigers and pitched strongly for the first two innings, but ended up struggling through his start. Max lasted five and two thirds innings, giving up five runs on seven hits(one of which was a two-run homer). A bright side of Scherzer’s poor performance is that while he was struggling to locate some of his pitches, he didn’t lose control and was able to punch out eight by way of the K. For a bad outing, it’s impressive that Scherzer still had more strike outs than hits allowed. He should have no trouble getting back on track in his next start.

The Detroit offense struggled mightily against Nat’s ace, Stephen Strasburg and the pitchers who followed him. Eight Tigers struck out, Alex Avila and Trevor Crowe both struck out twice, and the Tigers only tallied five hits for the whole squad.

Notable Performances:

• Austin Jackson and Danny Worth both doubled.
• Victor Martinez continued to be awesome with runners in scoring position, giving the Tigers their only RBI of the afternoon.
• Nick Castellanos got a hit but was caught stealing second.
• Blaine Hardy‘s Spring Training struggles did not ease today. He faced five batters, retiring only one(on a strike out) and gave up three runs on three hits and a walk.