“I just tried to keep the guys in the game as long as I could,” Nola said.
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Mattingly praised Nola's resilience.
“He’s the kind of guy I’ve learned to appreciate more and more, just the way he continues to fight, continues to make pitches.
He may bend a little bit, but he just doesn’t give in and stop pitching.”
Mattingly emphasized the importance of the consecutive comeback wins for team confidence. “It’s them understanding that this game’s never over.
I think that’s important for our club to know that we can score a lot, we can score a little, we can score in different ways.
These wins are very important.”
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The loss marked another late-game collapse for Washington, which has allowed 69 runs in the ninth inning or later through 81 games this season.
Manager Blake Butera offered a terse response when asked about the defeat: “Another one.” He added, “Mental, physical, somebody’s got to get the last out.
We’ve given every guy in the bullpen an opportunity to finish the game for us. We’re gonna keep trying to find that guy.”
Reliever Richard Lovelady expressed frustration. “It sucks.
Losing last night’s game and … the Giants game, especially after just three heck-of-a-jobs by the guys before us, getting us all the way to the ninth inning and not being able to finish this — it’s the worst feeling.”
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Lovelady stressed the need to move on. “You’ve got to close the page, and then write another one tomorrow.”
