Washington Nationals blitz Collmenter, Arizona Diamondbacks: By the Numbers

Arizona Diamondbacks fans have to enthused by the team’s competitive play to this point in the 2015 season.

However, such excitement was probably taken down a couple notches Monday as the D-backs hosted the red-hot Washington Nationals.

Washington batters came out gunning against the usually reliable Josh Collmenter. Center fielder Denard Span took the second pitch of the game out of the yard, and the visitors tacked on even more runs as first baseman Ryan Zimmerman hit a three-run blast to center.

The Nationals continued to pour it on Collmenter in the second frame, as the first four batters reached base safely and then Jayson Werth added a sacrifice fly.

Collmenter was yanked after just 1.1 innings, and the freshly recalled Vidal Nuno was summoned to the mound. The lefty walked the first batter he faced and then allowed a Wilson Ramos double before striking out two to end the inning. The Nationals had sent six baserunners home by the time the damage was done.

The game pretty much quieted down from there, and Arizona had little to offer in retaliation against starting pitcher Max Scherzer, who began his career with the D-backs.

The Nationals won the series opener 11-1, claiming their 11th victory in their last 13 games (18-15 overall). Arizona fell to 14-17 and has lost three of four.

Here’s a look at Monday’s blowout, by the numbers:

2/4 (part I)

Right fielder Ender Inciarte and infielder Chris Owings both went 2-for-4 in the loss, accounting for four of their team’s six hits. One of Inciarte’s hits was a double, his ninth of the season and just one of two extra-base hits on the evening for Arizona.

2/4 (part II)

Scherzer even got in on the offensive action for Washington, going 2-for-4 at the plate and scoring a run. Not bad for somebody who barely had to bat for the last five years, as he was in the American League. The 30-year-old Scherzer boosted his batting average from .133 to .176 with the performance at Chase Field.

4

Only four D-backs batters recorded a hit Monday, and third baseman Yasmany Tomas was not one of them, as he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. The rookie is on a four-game hitless streak, and he’s gone 0-for-11 in that span, watching his batting average drop from .340 to .276.

5/5

Nationals third baseman Yunel Escobar had a perfect night, going 5-for-5 at the plate with one RBI and two runs scored, boosting his batting average to .342. However, not a single one of Escobar’s hits went for extra bases. In fact, for all of the Nationals’ 15 hits and 11 runs, only three hits went for extra bases on the night.

5.27

Collmenter’s ERA ballooned from 3.40 to 5.27 as he was charged with eight hits — including two homers — and nine runs in the 1.1-inning start, the shortest for any Diamondbacks starter this season. For a pitcher that has an eight-inning shutout and a complete-game shutout under his belt within the last month, his last two starts haven’t been pretty, as he’s given up a combined 18 hits and 14 runs in 8.1 innings — although he earned a win in the previous game. Collmenter’s record fell to 3-4 after he took the loss Monday.

6.2

Nuno wasn’t perfect in relief for Collmenter, but he was able to eventually quiet Washington’s hitters down. The 27-year-old left-hander, acquired last year from the New York Yankees, went 6.2 innings before bowing out, allowing seven hits, two walks and two earned runs in that span; he didn’t allow a run in the last three innings he pitched. Nuno’s 6.2 innings marked the Diamondbacks’ longest relief appearance since Randy Johnson went seven and struck out 16 on July 18, 2001, as the team was completing a game in San Diego that began the previous day but was suspended.

8

Not only did Nuno get to make his first appearance of the year and get to stay in the game for an extended amount of time, but the third-year pro also reached a career high by striking out eight batters. He threw a game-high 105 pitches on the evening, even beating out Scherzer, who started for Washington and went seven innings, tossing a total of 94 pitches.

10 (part I)

The 10-run loss was the worst Arizona has suffered this season, beating out a pair of 8-0 defeats at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates (April 26) and Los Angeles Dodgers (May 1). The Diamondbacks, however, have actually put a worse hurting on an opponent: They walloped San Diego 11-0 in a series opener last Thursday.

10 (part II)

The D-backs’ lone run came from a rare source: backup catcher Jordan Pacheco, who actually took over early at first base for Paul Goldschmidt as manager Chip Hale wanted to give the slugger the rest of the night off, considering the team’s deficit. Pacheco smashed a home run to left in the sixth inning, his second of the year and the 10th of his career. The fifth-year pro finished the night 1-for-3, but bumped his batting average up eight points to .250 with the lone hit.

15

Rookie releiver Enrique Burgos threw 15 pitches and had a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the Diamondbacks — an encouraging sign considering he had allowed at least one run in three of his last four appearances, including the two previous outings. The 24-year-old right-hander struck out two of the batters he faced, and he dropped his ERA from 6.00 to 5.14.

100

Collmenter had a streak going of facing 98 batters without issuing a walk before Monday, and that feat continued for the first two Washington batters before Werth took a base on balls. Werth was the only batter Collmenter walked in his truncated start, although the 29-year-old pitcher had plenty of other stats that are going to keep him up at night.

16,406

There was a paltry audience on hand to see the Diamondbacks’ shame: Only 16,406 people — a season low — converged on Chase Field for the series opener, meaning the stadium was 33.7 percent full.