Reynaldo Lopez's debut for Nationals historic and disappointing

Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with the interesting debut of one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.

The Washington Nationals called up Reynaldo Lopez to make a start Tuesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers and it didn’t go so well, even though Lopez made a bit of history.

The 22-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up 10 hits and six earned runs and suffered the loss in the Dodgers 8-4 win.

That’s a cringe-worthy performance in almost every instance, except that Lopez was able to salvage at least a small percentage of his confidence by also striking out nine batters.

It was the nine strikeouts that put him in a class by himself through the past century.

Reynaldo Lopez is the first pitcher in the last 100 years to strike out 9 batters in an MLB debut which lasted fewer than 5 innings

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 20, 2016

Lopez got off to a poor start allowing a home run to Chase Utley to leadoff the game. He then gave up two more runs before getting out of the first inning.

Some theorized that the Nationals might have been giving Lopez a stage in advance of trade talks to come in the next two weeks as the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline approaches. It’s not a given that Lopez would be included in any deals, but he is a coveted prospect with an attractive fastball-curveball arsenal that might entice a club to part with big name.

Lopez has pitched well this season in the minor leagues. He had 3.19 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 87 1/3 innings before getting the call to the big league club. He shouldn’t feel too bad about the outing. After all, he’s not the only young pitching prospect to make his debut this season and not do well.

The Dodgers called up Julio Urias early in the season and he struggled, going 1-2 in eight starts with a 4.95 ERA. Coincidentally, the Dodgers were expected to recall Urias to start Thursday’s game against the Nationals.

TOP PERFORMERS

Rene Rivera: He’s only hitting .217 but Rivera came through with a 3-for-4 outing in a game in which Jake Arrieta was the starting pitcher for the opponent. His final hit of the night drove in the winning run in the top of the ninth and a Cubs rally fell short in the bottom of the inning as New York escaped with a 2-1 win.

Albert Pujols: It was an unforgettable night for the Los Angeles Angels designated hitter in an 8-6 win over the Texas Rangers. He belted two home runs, went 3-for-3 with six runs driven in and took a pitch to the face in the seventh inning and didn’t come out of the game.

Starlin Castro: The former Cubs All-Star has become a leader in the Yankees clubhouse and went 2-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored in the Yankees 8-4 win over the Orioles. Castro homered in the second inning and drove in two with a double in the sixth.

Tommy Milone: The line in the box next to Milone’s name belies how effective he really was in this one. He entered the ninth inning having allowed only one hit to the Tigers. He eventually had to give way to the bullpen after giving up three more, but finished with a 6-2 victory after pitching 81/3 innings and surrendering two runs on four hits.

MUST-SEE HIGHLIGHT

Josh Harrison hit a triple in the bottom of the ninth inning and then advanced home on a throwing error, touching off a fun celebration for the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 3-2 win over Milwaukee. The relay throw from second baseman Scooter Gennett got passed third baseman Hernan Perez, allowing Harrison to score the winning run. It was one of three errors in the game from Milwaukee.

THE REST OF THE SCOREBOARD

Red Sox 4, Giants 0: David Ortiz hit a 442-foot home run, driving in three runs to lift Boston to 4-0 win. Rick Porcello earned his 12th victory on the mound.

Indians 7, Royals 3: Danny Salazar didn’t allow a runner past first base through five innings and earned his third victory of the season against the defending champs with seven strikeouts in 62/3 innings.

Marlins 2, Phillies 1: Four Miami relievers combined to allow just one hit over 4.1 innings and the Marlins earned the victory in extra innings.

Braves 5, Reds 4: Ender Inciarte drove in the winning run in the 11th inning with a sacrifice fly after Atlanta gave up a two-run lead in the ninth to force extra innings.

Blue Jays 5, Diamondbacks 1: Edwin Encarnacion hit his 25th home run and how has a major-league leading 84 RBIs. Aaron Sanchez won again pitching seven inning for Toronto.

Rays 10, Rockies 1: Blake Snell and Matt Andriese combined to allow Colorado only one run and four hits at Coors Field. Evan Longoria drove in three and hit his 22nd home run of the season.

White Sox 6, Mariners 1: Melky Cabrera, Todd Frazier and Brett Lawrie hit home runs to power Chicago.

A’s 4, Astros 3: Josh Reddick singled to left against a shift defense driving in Marcus Semien for a walk-off win in the bottom of the 10th.

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Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo