Game 79 lineups: Nats at Mariners

SEATTLE – Monday night’s series opener was a disappointing one for the Nationals, who squandered an early 3-1 lead against Mariners ace Luis Castillo and wound up losing 8-4, with Jeimer Candelario standing at the plate watching a pitch well out of the zone called strike three with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth. They can only hope for better results tonight.

The pitching staff should be in better shape tonight, with everyone outside of Cory Abbott available out of the bullpen. That could take some pressure off starter Jake Irvin, though the rookie right-hander will be motivated to follow up his back-to-back strong outings with another one. He allowed just one run a piece to the Marlins and Diamondbacks, completing six innings against Arizona.

Seattle has a rookie right-hander of its own on the mound tonight in Bryan Woo. The 23-year-old, a sixth-round pick in the 2021 Draft, makes his fifth career start. His debut was ragged (six runs in two innings against the Rangers) but he’s been good since (2.30 ERA, 21-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio against the Angels, White Sox and Yankees).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SEATTLE MARINERS
Where: T-Mobile Park
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 73 degrees, wind 5 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
2B Luis García
3B Jeimer Candelario
DH Joey Meneses
LF Corey Dickerson
C Keibert Ruiz
1B Dominic Smith
SS CJ Abrams
CF Derek Hill

RHP Jake Irvin

MARINERS
SS J.P. Crawford
CF Julio Rodríguez
1B Ty France
RF Teoscar Hernández
C Cal Raleigh
3B Eugenio Suárez
LF Jarred Kelenic
DH Mike Ford
2B Kolten Wong

RHP Bryan Woo