Jefry Rodriguez struggled to throw strikes early in Sunday afternoon’s outing against the Milwaukee Brewers, giving up two walks, two singles, and two runs in a long-ish, 25-pitch top of the first.
Then he gave up back-to-back-to-back, two-out walks in the top of the third inning, loading the bases before getting a groundout for out No. 3 with his 31st pitch of the frame and 67th pitch of the game.
After the Nationals jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the third, Rodriguez worked around his sixth walk of the game in a 15-pitch fourth that left him at 82 pitches, but Eric Thames doubled with one down in the fifth inning, and Manny Pina singled one out later, on a weak shot back to the mound the pitcher couldn’t handle.