Nationals need more from poor-hitting catching duo, Keibert Ruiz, Drew Millas originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Washington Nationals‘ catching position is not producing.

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It was Keibert Ruiz‘s turn against the Minnesota Twins at Nationals Park on Tuesday night.

He didn’t do much.

Trailing 2-1 in the second inning Tuesday night, Nasim Nuez walked and Jose Tena singled to center field, setting up the Washington Nationals with an early scoring chance. Ruiz stepped into the batter’s box and struck out on four pitches, failing to swing at one offering.

The Nationals failed to score.

Trailing 6-1 in the fifth, Ruiz led off by grounding out to second base.

The Nationals scored in the frame on Curtis Mead‘s two-out single.

Trailing 7-2 in the seventh, Tena led off with a double. Next batter, Ruiz struck out on three pitches, the first two looking and the third whiffing on an 84-mph slitter that appeared out of the strike zone. He would likely have won under an ABS Challenge System call.

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Tena scored on James Wood‘s double.

Trailing by eight runs in the ninth,

In the bottom of the ninth, with the Nationals trailing 11-3, Tena induced a one-out walk before Ruiz grounded into a game-ending double play, sealing the 11-3 defeat.

Ruiz finished 0-for-4 and left a team-high four runners left on base. He also called for a questionable challenge.

Nationals need offensive help from catching duo

Following Tuesday’s game, Ruiz was slashing .182/.203/.303.

His catching partner, Drew Millas, was hitting .148.

Both rank as the worst two team batting averages.

Ruiz and Millas won the top two jobs out of spring training over Harry Ford and Riley Adams. Ford was expected to challenge Ruiz for the starting role, but also struggled with Triple-A Rochester, hitting .174 in his opening 86 at-bats.

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Adams, in a backup International League role, was hitting .216 in 37 at-bats.

Following Tuesday’s loss, the Nationals (16-20) trailed the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves by nine games.

To help lift the Nationals, the team’s catching duo needs to contribute offensively.

So far, they haven’t accomplished much.