Abbott's longer start overshadowed by late mistakes

WASHINGTON -- Right-hander Cory Abbott was candid when he exited his Sept. 7 start in St. Louis after 4 1/3 innings.

“[I] didn’t finish five,” he said inside the visitors' clubhouse at Busch Stadium. “I was really trying to go seven, so it was very ‘meh.’”

Abbott’s next start would be his shortest of the season -- three-plus frames against the Orioles -- followed by a four-inning outing vs. the Braves on Sept. 19. He faced the same NL East opponent one week later in the series opener at Nationals Park on Monday night.

This time, Abbott tossed five-plus innings in Washington’s 8-0 loss to Atlanta.

“I was happy until the sixth inning, and a couple bad things didn’t go my way,” he said. “But [it was] just better, focusing on the positives again and being consistent with the pitches. I’ve just got to keep handling that moving forward.”

Abbott held the playoff-bound Braves hitless through three innings, efficiently facing only 10 batters and striking out four. But after hitting Austin Riley to put a runner on base in the fourth, Abbott allowed his first hit two batters later in the form of a two-run homer to Matt Olson.

"I hung it and he executed it, and it was a beautiful swing,” Abbott said. “There's nothing really else to say about it."

Olson’s dinger to right field laid the foundation for Atlanta’s shutout, which was Washington’s 100th loss of the season.

“He made a couple mistakes,” said Olson. “He’s got good stuff. He was attacking, aggressive, curveballs were pretty sharp there for a while. But he left a couple pitches middle, and we got some mistakes.”

Abbott gave up his second homer of the night to Marcell Ozuna out to left field in the fifth inning. From there, he retired the next three batters while bringing his strikeout total to a career-high seven.

He opened the following frame by walking Riley and surrendering a single into center field to Michael Harris II, prompting a call for Andres Machado out of the bullpen with runners on first and third. The Braves added on another five runs before the sixth inning ended in the deciding score.

Abbott’s final stat line for the night read five-plus innings, five runs (four earned) on three hits (two home runs) and three walks with seven strikeouts across 83 pitches (52 strikes).

“It’s confusing tonight because he started off really well,” said manager Dave Martinez. “But just when he got the ball up, it was a problem. When he kept the ball down effectively, he was good. His changeup was good, curveball was good. When he missed up, he got hit hard. But overall, I thought he threw the ball well.”

Abbott, who was claimed off waivers from the Giants on May 4, has made eight starts and seven relief appearances for the Nationals in his second Major League season. Monday marked his third start of five innings or more, coming at a good time for a team facing nine games in as many days (including a doubleheader on Saturday) to finish the season.

“One is limit damage in those high-leverage situations,” said Martinez. “Figure out a way just to kind of get out of them. But for him, it happens quick. Why? Because one, it’s either a walk and then it’s a ball above the zone where he can’t get it down. But if he could just limit those big innings, he can go deep into games.”

Abbott considers his strike-zone location to be the biggest stride he has made in 2022. He already has a goal for the next time he takes the mound, too.

“Put zeros on the board,” he said. “It’s hard to do right now, and so that’s my biggest focus.”