Nationals shut out Dodgers as Erick Fedde, bullpen come through

The closer made things interesting by allowing two runners to reach base, but he salvaged a 1-0 victory for the Washington Nationals against one of baseball’s best offenses, finishing a game in which the lone run came on César Hernández’s single in the sixth to score Victor Robles.

It was the Nats’ second shutout victory of the season — the other also a 1-0 result in that April 19 game against the Arizona Diamondbacks — and the first time the Dodgers, who lead the majors in runs, have been held scoreless in 2022.

“I’ve said it before: We get some starting pitching, we get deep — deep to me is somewhere in that sixth inning or so — and we got the lead, our bullpen can hold us down,” Manager Dave Martinez said. “Today was an example of that with a really good team and a really good lineup.”

The bullpen and Washington’s singular run helped Erick Fedde earn a win as he continued a productive May with six innings of four-hit ball.

Fedde endured a rough April, pitching to a 6.00 ERA and lasting five or fewer innings in all four of his starts. In five starts since then, he has allowed six runs over 27⅔ innings (1.99 ERA). His ERA for the season dropped to 3.55.

Fedde walked only one batter Wednesday — former National Trea Turner in the third — and was able to mix his pitches to strike out six: three on sinkers, one on a curveball and two on cutters.

He has relied on his cutter more in May than in April, increasing its usage from 26.3 percent to 32.8 percent. On Wednesday, he threw it 39 times out of his 90 pitches (43 percent). Fedde credits that pitch, as well as his ability to throw his sinker up in the zone, for his recent success.

“I think it’s just the command of the cutter, especially to the lefties,” he said. “That’s where I’ve had a lot of trouble throughout the career, where teams stack seven, eight [left-handed batters] against me and just really didn’t have a weapon that I felt could punch them out or really keep them off the barrel.”

After four innings Wednesday he had thrown 75 pitches, and it looked as if he might have another short outing, especially as he stared at a Dodgers lineup for a third time through the order. But Martinez kept him in the game, and the 29-year old right-hander came through.

In the fifth inning, Fedde worked around a first-pitch double by Hanser Alberto. A fielder’s choice retired Alberto at third, and then Fedde induced a double play from Turner, making for a quick, six-pitch inning.

Fedde threw just nine more pitches in the sixth, working to preserve a bullpen that used seven arms in the first two games.

Carl Edwards Jr., Kyle Finnegan and Rainey each pitched an inning to finish the deal Wednesday. The Nationals entered the day with the fewest save opportunities in the majors (eight). The team’s previous save came a week earlier when Victor Arano cleaned up after Rainey blew an opportunity against the Marlins, one of two straight blown saves for Rainey.

In this one, Rainey retired the leadoff batter before walking Max Muncy. He then allowed a single to Gavin Lux but got Cody Bellinger to pop out and Will Smith to line out sharply to right field on a ball that carried to the warning track.

“The ball was hit a little bit harder than I was hoping for,” Rainey said while cracking a smile. “But when I saw [Juan] Soto running back and I saw him turn around and kind of camp under a little bit, [there was] a lot of relief here.”

What happened in Joe Ross’s rehab start in Harrisburg on Tuesday night? Ross was pulled from his outing after three innings with tightness in his right elbow. Martinez said he was concerned but wouldn’t jump to conclusions until the team got the results of Ross’s MRI exam.

Martinez said before the outing that the plan was for Ross to pitch four innings and roughly 60 pitches. Ross was throwing up to 95 mph through the first two innings, but his velocity began to drop, and he felt sore after the third inning — a discouraging end to his first rehab start since he had a bone spur removed from his elbow in early March.

How was Stephen Strasburg feeling after his Tuesday outing? Strasburg said Wednesday he felt his typical post-start soreness following his rehab appearance, in which he threw 61 pitches over 2⅔ innings in Fredericksburg.

Martinez said he assumes Strasburg will pitch in Fredericksburg for his next rehab start, too. The plan is for Strasburg to stay on a normal five-day schedule as he works his way back.

“I’m not the one making the call when I’m pitching up here again, but I feel good today, and I’m going to continue working on what I need to work on,” Strasburg said Wednesday. “They talk about focusing on the process. That never changes as a pitcher, no matter if you’re healthy from day one or coming back like I am. You just have to keep looking big picture and getting better every day.”