Bullpen wastes Olsen’s outing

One of Olsen’s best friends from his days with the Marlins was Nolasco, and the two shared a ride to the ballpark Monday. Then the two went out and dueled pitch for pitch.

The Nationals appeared to be on Nolasco early, getting a towering homer from Ryan Zimmerman to lead off the second and then a 420-foot double from Josh Willingham that would have been a homer had he hit the ball anywhere other than deep center field in this large stadium. Willingham eventually came around to score on Wil Nieves’ infield single.

But in a scene all too reminiscent for Nationals fans this season, one big early inning did not lead to more big innings. Washington’s bats went silent, producing all of one single over the next six innings, preventing Olsen from a much-deserved victory and leaving this game in the hands of a bullpen that now owns a 7-25 record.

“Our bullpen, it is what it is,” Acta said. “We have struggled for the most part this year. So we’ve got to take the positives out of it. And it was that [Olsen] hasn’t pitched well for us. He came back from a rehab assignment and threw the ball very well against a good team.”