Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez on bullpen woes: 'I don't know what else to do'

Sunday ended in disaster for the Washington Nationals as reliever Ryan Madson served up a walk-off grand slam to the Chicago Cubs. 

Monday was bad in its own way for what has been arguably baseball's most disappointing team as the relievers gave up five runs in 3⅔ innings of work as the St. Louis Cardinals sent the Nationals to another walk-off loss. 

Simply put: the Nationals have a bullpen problem. 

"I don't know what else to do," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said when asked about Sammy Solis and his bullpen strategy at large. 

The trouble for Washington started in the eighth inning on Monday. Jedd Gyorko began the eighth with a homer off Justin Miller. Miller was chased after Kolten Wong singled with one out. 

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In came Solis, and a Patrick Wisdom single then a Matt Carpenter three-run homer followed to give the Cardinals a 6-4 lead. 

The Nationals got a brief reprieve as Bud Norris blew the save to send the game to the bottom of the ninth at 6-6, but the Cardinals' Paul DeJong needed just five pitches from Koda Glover to give the home team the walk-off win.

Injuries have played a key role for this ongoing problem that has left Martinez perplexed. 

Sean Doolittle, the team's saves leader, has been on the shelf since July 22. Kelvin Herrera, the team's pre-trade deadline pickup and a former All-Star with the Kansas City Royals, has been out since Aug. 9.

Madson has also been dealing with a back injury, which he said impacted him in Sunday's blown save. However, Martinez said the pitcher, who has appeared in the second-most games among the staff, will keep pitching through it. 

Also hurting the Nats bullpen, though, is a pair of roster moves the team made. 

Brandon Kintzler was traded at the deadline having appeared in 45 games and having posted a 3.59 ERA. Shawn Kelley was designated for assignment for his outburst in the ninth inning of a destruction against the New York Mets. Kelley had appeared in 35 games for the Nats and posted a 3.34 ERA. 

That's a lot of appearances gone for essentially nothing for a manager who now seems unable to find a solid reliever.

Contributing: Associated Press