Hellickson's start cut short in 6th by blister

WASHINGTON -- In the middle of another strong outing and given the trust to pitch deeper into the game, right-hander Jeremy Hellickson exited in the sixth inning of the Nationals' 2-1 win over the Padres on Tuesday night with a blister on his pitching hand.
The blister developed initially during his last outing, but it was not an issue in this game until the final two batters he faced. Hellickson surrendered a one-out double to Jose Pirela before he started showing trouble with his right hand during an at-bat against Franchy Cordero. That prompted manager Dave Martinez and the team's athletic trainer to come out to the mound, and after a brief chat, Hellickson was out of the game.
"Felt it on that changeup that I threw about 55 feet," Hellickson said. "I threw a couple of curveballs after that that I couldn't pull down on. Just couldn't feel the ball on my finger."
Wander Suero replaced Hellickson and finished off the sixth inning to keep the game tied at 1.
• Hellickson snares liner with effortless grab
Hellickson, pitching for the first time in 10 days, still turned in a solid outing for the Nats at 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball and five strikeouts, and the concern for his blister issue seems minimal. He has not dealt with blisters at all in recent years and said it would be difficult to tell the extent of this issue until his bullpen session on Friday.

The Nationals had been limiting his opportunities to face a lineup a third time through the order, but they were trusting him to work deeper in this game -- before the injury popped up and ended his night.
"5 1/3 and one run, can't really complain about that," Hellickson said. "Made a lot of good plays. There was a lot of balls hit right at guys that made some good plays on."