Nationals manager criticizes team for ‘flat’ performance

The Washington Nationals’ season may be hanging in the balance this week, and it’s safe to say their manager isn’t impressed with their performance in the face of adversity.

The Nationals fell to a game below .500 on Sunday after a 5-0 loss to the Miami Marlins that saw the team muster just two hits. It resulted in a series split, and it led manager Dave Martinez to call out his team’s “flat” performance.

Davey Martinez not pleased with this weekend’s performance. “Yesterday’s game was frustrating. Today’s game was just flat.”

— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) July 29, 2018

The Nationals needed a response on Sunday after a tough loss on Saturday, but they got nothing of the sort. They are now six games back in the NL East and 5.5 out of a wildcard spot, and will have some difficult decisions to make. Things have gotten so bad that the preseason World Series hopefuls might end up being deadline sellers. This performance will not do much to dissuade the front office from going that route, and that’s probably where a lot of Martinez’s frustration stems from.