Sources: Struggling Nats fire Martinez, GM Rizzo

The Washington Nationals fired manager Davey Martinez and wide manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez connected Sunday night, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan, hours aft a 6-4 nonaccomplishment astatine location completed a expanse of his struggling nine by the Boston Red Sox.

The Nationals, who statesman a bid against the Cardinals successful St. Louis connected Tuesday, are 37-53 and stuck successful 5th spot successful the National League East. And portion Sunday's nonaccomplishment to Boston was competitive, the archetypal 2 defeats successful the series, successful beforehand of a combined 71,674 fans astatine Nationals Park, were not. The Red Sox cruised to victories by 11-2 and 10-3 margins during the vacation weekend.

Washington has a young, talented halfway that was expected to struggle, astatine times, successful the clogged NL East, but possibly not this much. And arsenic the losing dragged connected this season, it appeared to instrumentality its toll. Last month, successful fact, aft a nonaccomplishment to the Miami Marlins extended a losing streak to 7 games, Martinez bristled erstwhile asked the team's violative struggles.

"It's ne'er connected coaching," Martinez said. "Never connected coaching. Coaches enactment their asses disconnected each azygous day. We're not going to finger-point present and accidental it's coaches. It's ne'er connected the coaches. They enactment hard. The connection is clear. All the enactment is done prior. So sometimes, they person to spell retired determination and play the game. It's ever been astir the players. Always."

During a 2-10 agelong successful June, Washington averaged conscionable 2.5 runs. And since June 1, the Nationals person scored 1 tally oregon little 7 times. And successful Sunday's nonaccomplishment to Boston, they near 15 runners connected base.

"We had immoderate opportunities, and couldn't capitalize connected them," Martinez said aft Sunday's loss. "Some of our at-bats were crisp. We conscionable person to support going."

Martinez, 60, led Washington to its archetypal World Series rubric successful 2019, but the Nationals struggled to a 26-34 grounds successful the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The nine began a rebuild astatine the commercialized deadline successful 2021 and has not finished higher than 4th successful the part successful the past 5 years.

"I played this crippled a agelong time," Martinez said successful June. "Never erstwhile person I blamed a manager for anything. We worked our asses disconnected to get better. They gave america information, and we utilized it. These guys recognize what the crippled is, man. I ne'er had a specified a radical of coaches that enactment arsenic hard arsenic they do."