It’s been a long, often frustrating weekend at Nationals Park. And yet, there’s still a chance for the home team to emerge with an encouraging end result.
If the Nationals can win today’s finale of their four-game, wraparound series with the Mets, they’ll have continued their trend of playing .500 baseball over an extended stretch. They would split the series and improve to 17-17 since their 1-6 start to the season. Nothing to complain about there, right?
They’re going to need to do more in the clutch today than they did yesterday, when CJ Abrams drove in all four of their runs across 16 innings of play while the rest of the team went 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position. They won’t be facing Max Scherzer today; it’s left-hander David Peterson, who enters with a 1-5 record and 7.68 ERA.
Speaking of 1-5 records, Patrick Corbin starts for the Nats. That record isn’t entirely indicative of how he’s pitched. Over his last five starts, the lefty has a 3.56 ERA, 1.088 WHIP and 21 strikeouts to only three walks. And yet he’s gone 0-3 in those games, with the Nationals winning his two no-decisions.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 75 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center field