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GAME IN A NUTSHELL: Ian Desmond’s defensive struggles have been painful enough to watch on their own, but the fact several have directly impacted the results of Nationals games has only made this saga all the more painful to experience.
That saga hit a low point Saturday afternoon, when a pair of Desmond miscues at shortstop led to two unearned runs in the top of the third, ultimately proving the difference in the Nationals’ 5-3 loss to the Phillies. The loss wasn’t entirely on Desmond, who now has eight errors (plus other hiccups in the field) in 12 games, but his mistakes did stand out from the rest.