WEST SACRAMENTO -- The Nationals got a needed six innings from Zack Littell on a night when almost nothing else went right, and that may end up mattering more than the final score suggests.
Washington was buried early in a 15-1 loss to the Athletics on Saturday night at Sutter Health Park, with Littell taking the brunt of it after a five-run first inning that never let the game settle. But after that opening punch, the right-hander did at least keep the bullpen from getting emptied out after Friday’s 23-4 rout.
"It was frustrating to not give the guys a chance to stay in it,” Littell said.
The first inning was a mess from the start. Jacob Wilson led off with a home run, and the A’s kept stacking contact from there. Tyler Soderstrom followed with a single, Carlos Cortes and Joshua Kuroda-Grauer hit back-to-back one-out doubles, Donovan Walton drew a walk and Jonah Heim added a single to center before Littell finally escaped the inning.
"You look up and you’ve given up four runs,” he said. “It’s about limiting damage from there and trying to settle in."
He did settle in enough to finish six innings, though Soderstrom struck again in the sixth with a two-out, two-run homer. Littell was charged with eight runs on eight hits over 96 pitches, and the A’s tacked on seven more against three Nationals relievers.
"I think we saw it with every guy that we brought in tonight,” Littell said. “It wasn’t really our night.”
The outing came in a place Littell knows well. He had spent time at Sutter Health Park with the Giants’ Triple-A Sacramento affiliate in 2021 and ’22, then returned with Triple-A Round Rock in 2023. His minor league track record there wasn’t pretty - nine earned runs in 9 2/3 relief innings, an 8.38 ERA - and Saturday looked similar, though Littell pushed back on the idea that the ballpark was to blame.
“I’d say there’s a handful of more challenges, but the goal’s the same,” he said. “Stay off the barrel, and you’ll be fine.
Make bad pitches, and you’ll get hit. That happens everywhere.
I think going out there and attacking the same way you would anywhere else is the only way to approach it. As far as the results tonight, I don’t think that had anything to do with it.”
The Nationals’ offense never gave him any cover. Washington was held hitless into the seventh inning by A’s right-hander J.T.
Ginn, and by then the game was long gone. Infielder Jorbit Vivas handled the final inning on the mound, marking the second straight night he finished the game for Washington.
After using only Riley Cornelio in Friday’s blowout win, the Nationals managed to keep their bullpen relatively fresh by leaning on Max Kranick and Carson Palmquist before Vivas took over late.
"Especially when you start off a game that way, you’re just hoping to get through a certain amount of innings,” Butera said. “That way we’re not running through everybody in the bullpen. Not the start that he wanted nor we wanted, but getting us six was big for tomorrow."
Littell’s season line for Washington now sits at a 5.34 ERA across 96 innings, and his role next time out may again depend on whether the Nationals choose to use an opener. They had gone that route in three of his previous four appearances, and Littell had thrived as the bulk arm, allowing four earned runs in 14 innings for a 2.57 ERA in that stretch.
That success had earned him what Butera called “some runway” before the game, but Saturday’s first inning may send Washington back to the opener plan.
“We talk through all these different strategies depending on who we’re facing, what the lineup looks like, who’s available in the bullpen -- all these different things,” Butera said. “Obviously, the first inning did not go his way, so it’s something we’ll consider next time, for sure.”
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