TORONTO, ONTARIO - MARCH 31 - The Washington Nationals lost the first game in Toronto by a score of 5-2 after a tough Nats debut for Michael Soroka and a lackluster night at the plate. The team struggled to string things together, and too little was done too late to swing the momentum.

Soroka, a Canadian native, took the mound to make his Nationals debut in his home country. Soroka did not perform poorly, but extra base hits got to him at the worst times. He allowed a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning, two doubles in the bottom of the third, and another RBI double in the fourth. He had some walks in there, but as far as hits go, there were only homers and doubles allowed in this outing. While that was not a good look, it was not entirely on him, as there is something to be said for being squeezed in the strike zone by home plate umpire Erich Bacchus that forced him to put more pitches in places where they could simply get hit. As if that wasn’t painful enough, Soroka left with a trainer in the bottom of the sixth, ending his Nats debut with what turned out to be a bicep injury.

While the bullpen, namely Lucas Sims and Colin Poche, gave fans a scare by struggling to record outs, the bullpen held things where they were at, except for Eduardo Salazar, who allowed a run on three hits. Given how the bullpen started the year, however, the result of one run in three innings of work is not the worst possible outcome.

Offensively, the Nationals did a decent job at the plate, but they had a hard time getting anything going. The team did not get their first hit off of Bowden Francis until the sixth inning, when CJ Abrams hit a solo home run, his first of the year. The Nats were still down 4-1, but it felt like a break that could swing the momentum. James Wood immediately followed that up with a shot of his own, going back-to-back as the team cut Toronto’s lead in half. Unfortunately, however, that would be all of the scoring for Washington. The team finished the night with five hits, three walks, and nine strikeouts on 32 at-bats.

Ultimately, last night’s game showcased that the bullpen still has the potential to limit damage, and the lineup will be fighting back, even when the situation looks dire late in the ballgame. There are some games where even though you do most things correctly, you just get outplayed. Last night was unfortunately one of those tough breaks as the Nationals record fell to 1-3.

Up next…

The Nationals will send Trevor Williams to the mound tonight against Jose Berrios for game two up north, which will begin at 7:07 PM. MacKenzie Gore will pitch the series finale tomorrow before Thursday’s day off, leading into a weekend series with the D-Backs.