The Washington Nationals put closer Sean Doolittle on the 10-day injured list on Sunday because of tendinitis in his right knee.
In a corresponding move, the club recalled right-hander Kyle McGowin from Double-A Harrisburg.
Doolittle has struggled in the past two weeks, seeing his ERA rise from 2.81 on Aug. 6 to 4.33. On Saturday, he blew his sixth save of the season when he gave up four runs on four hits — including three home runs — to the Milwaukee Brewers in just one-third of an inning. He surrendered four runs to the New York Mets on Aug. 9 in two-thirds of an inning, and for the month, he has an ERA of 12.86.
“We keep trying to go back to the drawing board,” Doolittle, 32, told MLB.com after Saturday’s game. “We’re watching film. We’re looking at the metrics. I’m doing extra dry work before games. We’ve changed up a lot of my routine in the weight room and my maintenance programs and stuff. I don’t know, it just wasn’t coming out tonight.”
In 54 games on the season, Doolittle is 6-4 with 28 saves in 34 attempts.
McGowin, 27, has appeared in five games (one start) for Washington and has given up 15 runs (14 earned) in 13 innings. Between Harrisburg and Triple-A Fresno, he is 7-3 with a 3.65 ERA in 15 games, all starts.
