Nick Lodolo pitched his first complete game with eight strikeouts, Nick Fraley and Santiago Espinal each had two hits and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Nationals 5-0.

Right-hander pitches around a decrease in velocity but the bats provide no support in a 5-0 loss to the Reds, who stave off a series sweep.

Cincinnati Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo (8-6) lowered his ERA to 3.08 with his first career shutout, second by Reds (also Andrew Abbott).

Josh Bell hit his 13th home run, Jacob Young and CJ Abrams contributed RBI doubles during the decisive fifth inning, and the Washington Nationals defeated the Cincinnati Reds 6-1.

The Washington Nationals haven’t given their fans much to get excited about recently with the losses continuing to pile up at a rapid rate.They did enter Wednesday’s game against the Cinncinati Reds riding a modest two-game winning streak and having won three out of their last four contests.

BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Nationals host the Cincinnati Reds, leading the series 1-0. Washington is 40-60 overall and 20-30 in home games. Nationals hitters are batting a collective .246, which ranks eighth in the NL.