PITTSBURGH -- Before his Nationals played the Pirates on Thursday afternoon, manager Dusty Baker emphasized the need for quality innings, and plenty of them, from starter Tanner Roark. It was a task the right-hander had not been up to lately because of high pitch counts.
"We'd like him to go deep today," Baker said. "We got four [relievers] that are throwing two days in a row apiece. We're spinning a little bit in our bullpen. We need him to go deep today."
In other words, the Washington bullpen, which has struggled, was overworked, too. Baker used five relievers Tuesday and four Wednesday.