DJ Herz was up to 33 pitches in the fourth and 76 pitches overall in 3 2⁄3 innings in Coors Field when Davey Martinez decided to bring an end to the 23-year-old lefty’s fourth start pitching in the majors.
“DJ got a little tired there at the end,” the Nats’ manager explained.
“He threw 30-something pitches that inning, and he started losing his mechanics a little bit so we had to get him out.”
Herz gave up seven hits, three of them home runs, and four runs, three of them earned, in the abbreviated outing, with five Ks, 12 swinging strikes (nine of them on his four-seamer), and 12 called strikes (nine on his fastball).