Just two days removed from a disastrous two-inning start from Steven Matz and not long after a discouraging fifth inning from Jason Vargas against the Miami Marlins the day before, Héctor Santiago followed up with a tough showing of his own in this afternoon’s 10-5 loss to the Washington Nationals.

The lefty made it just two-thirds of the way through the first inning, allowing six runs on seven (consecutive) hits and one home run.

Santiago, who had impressed with 11 strikeouts and just one earned run allowed in his first six innings as a long-reliever, now owns a 9.45 ERA following his first start of the spring. He threw 43 pitches – just 24 for strikes – with his last one running inside and hitting Víctor Robles in his second plate appearance of the inning. In Santiago’s place, veteran right-hander Casey Coleman tossed a scoreless 2 1/3 innings, striking out two in just his third appearance this spring.

All told, Santiago actually retired Robles to start the day, inducing a 5-3 groundout in a benign two-pitch at-bat. The next seven batters all had other ideas, however. Catcher Kurt Suzuki singled to left to win a seven-pitch at-bat before sterling outfielder Juan Soto clubbed a two-run homer onto the berm in right-center field two pitches later.

The next batter, Matt Adams, singled on a liner to right field, and non-roster second baseman Jake Noll followed by chopping a base hit into center to keep the line moving. Outfielder Andrew Stevenson dropped a bunt along the grass by third to load the bases for Washington’s fifth straight hit, and third baseman Wilmer Difo pulled a 1-2 curveball down the left field line for a bases-clearing double to make it 5-0.

Difo scored without a play after a seventh-straight hit – this one from Adrian Sanchez. At this point, Santiago was seemingly granted a reprieve with pitcher Stephen Strasburg at the plate. Even so, it took seven pitches for Santiago to strike out his opposite number, with Sanchez stealing second on the payoff pitch. With two out, Robles came back up to the plate, wearing a 92 mph fastball to prolong the inning, but ultimately conclude matters for Santiago.

All in all, the Newark native faced ten batters, throwing first-pitch strikes to just four and retiring just two total. Considering he allowed ten earned runs in his first eight innings of work as a starter with the Chicago White Sox last year, there’s a genuine reason to view this start as a bump in the road rather than an extreme red flag. Mind you, this is the same pitcher who hit two batters in his first relief inning of the spring.

Control (or lack thereof) has been an issue for Santiago since 2016, as his 1.6 HR/9 and 4.3 BB/9 can confirm, and given his place on the depth chart alongside the likes of Corey Oswalt and Walker Lockett, there’s really no harm in giving him another chance while the games still don’t bear consequences. He will certainly need to pitch his way above today’s debacle in order to recover credibility, however.