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A homestand that was supposed to provide the Nationals an opportunity to win some games against fellow non-contenders hasn’t exactly gone as hoped so far. With back-to-back losses to the Reds, the Nats already have dropped this weekend series and now need a victory today just to avoid getting swept.
Which means the pressure’s on Patrick Corbin, and we know how that has typically gone this season. Over his last eight starts, the lefty is 0-7 with a 9.82 ERA. Opponents are hitting .386 with a .441 on-base percentage during this stretch. He’s also trying to avoid becoming the majors’ first 18-game loser since Chris Archer and James Shields in 2016. So there you have it.
You’d like to believe the Nationals lineup could take the pressure off Corbin and score a bunch of runs, but as we all know, that’s just not what this current group does. They’ve totaled 12 runs in their last six games. Since the trade deadline, they’re scoring only 3.3 runs per game, down from 3.8 per game prior to Aug. 2.
CINCINNATI REDS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 87 degrees, wind 9 mph in from right field
NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
RF Joey Meneses
1B Luke Voit
DH Nelson Cruz
LF Lane Thomas
SS CJ Abrams
C Riley Adams
3B Ildemaro Varga
CF Victor Robles
Now that the dust has settled from Cade Cavalli’s major league debut, the Nationals turn their attention to trying to win this series against the Reds. They need to bounce back tonight after last night’s loss.
Paolo Espino makes his fifth career appearance against the Reds tonight, but just his first away from Cincinnati. He’s 1-0 with a 2.93 ERA over his one start and three relief appearances against Cincy.
Espino will not only be looking for his first win of the season, but he will also be looking to snap the Nats’ streak of 42 consecutive games without the starting pitcher earning a victory.
Luis Cessa brings a 3-2 record and 5.67 ERA to the mound for the Reds. He’s only made two starts in his 38 appearances this season and only combined to pitch three innings over those two starts, setting up a possible bullpen game. Cessa has a 5.79 ERA over four career relief appearances against the Nats.
CINCINNATI REDS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 6 mph in from left-center field
The day has come, and not a moment too soon for a Nationals organization (and fan base) that desperately needs something to get excited about. Cade Cavalli makes his major league debut tonight, which makes this the most prominent debut for a Nats starting pitcher since Lucas Giolito in 2016.
What can we expect from Cavalli against a Reds lineup that doesn’t feature a lot of prominent names? Probably a good number of strikeouts. Possibly more than a couple walks as well, unless he can get them to chase out of the zone. Watch his pitch count, as well, because he does tend to pile up those numbers, which could prevent him from going more than five innings (if that) tonight.
The two best things the Nationals can do to help out Cavalli: Play good defense behind him, and score some runs off Reds left-hander Mike Minor (who enters with a 2-10 record and 6.44 ERA). CJ Abrams at shortstop should help in that regard. And Luis García is officially back from a groin injury, a welcome return for the club.
CINCINNATI REDS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Chance of storms, 83 degrees, wind 7 mph out to center field
NATIONALS
LF Lane Thomas
2B Luis García
RF Joey Meneses
1B Luke Voit
DH Nelson Cruz
C Keibert Ruiz
SS CJ Abrams
3B Ildemaro Vargas
CF Victor Robles
The challenges keep coming at the Orioles, one after another, contenders leaving them and others waiting right around the corner.
A ninth walk-off win last night is followed by a three-game series in Houston, where the Orioles can visit with former teammate Trey Mancini and try to gain ground in the wild card race.
Last night’s improbable result, a 4-3 win in 11 innings over the White Sox, kept them 2 ½ games back for the last spot.
The Orioles earned their 29th comeback win, the most since 2017, after Kyle Stowers tied the game with his first major league home run after falling behind 0-2 with two outs in the ninth. Anthony Santander singled in the 11th for his second career walk-off hit.
The club has registered three consecutive winning months for the first time since April-June 2016.
The Orioles recalled reliever Rico Garcia from Triple-A Norfolk today to provide a fresh arm for a struggling bullpen. They optioned reliever Louis Head after last night’s game.
The club also optioned reliever Phoenix Sanders after claiming him off waivers yesterday from the Rays. He has three minor league options.
Garcia has appeared in four games with the Orioles and allowed four runs and eight hits in six innings. He has a 2.30 ERA in 14 appearances with Norfolk.
The Orioles will try tonight to win another series and move closer to the final wild card spot. They remained 2 ½ games back after last night’s 5-3 loss to the White Sox.
Kyle Stowers is in right field and Terrin Vavra is starting at second base.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde is breaking out his reverse-splits lineup again tonight with the White Sox starting right-hander Lucas Giolito.
Robinson Chirinos is catching and Adley Rutschman is serving as the designated hitter. Terrin Vavra and Kyle Stowers are on the bench.
Shortstop Jorge Mateo is batting eighth tonight for the 20th time. He’s batted second once, fifth in three games, sixth in four, seventh in 16 and ninth in 65.
Mateo is slashing .294/.342/.538 with nine doubles, four triples, six home runs, 25 RBIs and 27 runs scored in his last 44 games since July 1, and .317/.355/.574 with seven doubles, two triples, five home runs, 20 RBIs and 20 runs scored in 29 games since the All-Star break. His .929 OPS in the second half ranks 11th in the American League.
Hyde could elevate Mateo in certain matchups, but he doesn’t want to mess with a good thing.
SEATTLE – It feels like the Nationals just got here, but they’re already set for the finale of a two-game series with the Mariners. Tough scheduling, coming all the way out here for 36 hours. They’ll try to at least split the series with a victory today, hoping they can score some runs, especially early, which has been a recurring problem for them.
They’ll take their cracks at Seattle right-hander George Kirby, the 24-year-old who makes his first career start against the Nats. He’s been quite good this summer, allowing 11 total runs over his last seven starts for a 2.63 ERA (though they tend to hold him to fewer than 100 pitches).
Aníbal Sánchez gets the start for the Nationals, still seeking his first win and perhaps pitching for his spot in the rotation as the club prepares to make some more changes. Cade Cavalli, the 2020 first-round draft pick and organizational top prospect, is set to make his major league debut Friday night against the Reds, a source confirmed today. We’ll have more on that shortly, but obviously Cavalli’s arrival will bump somebody out of the rotation, and Sánchez and Paolo Espino would seem to be the most likely options.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SEATTLE MARINERS
Where: T-Mobile Park
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 77 degrees, wind 7 mph left field to right field
NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
RF Joey Meneses
1B Luke Voit
DH Nelson Cruz
C Keibert Ruiz
SS CJ Abrams
LF Lane Thomas
3B Ildemaro Vargas
CF Victor Robles
SEATTLE – The last time the Nationals played here at what’s now known as T-Mobile Park was Aug. 31, 2014. They suffered a 5-3 loss to the Mariners, with Tanner Roark taking the loss and Fernando Rodney recording the save. The only other time the Nats played here prior to that was in June 2008, a series in which Kory Casto hit his only major league home run and Tyler Clippard recorded his first win for the organization, back when he was a starter.
So, yeah, it’s been a while. And sadly, tonight’s return to Seattle also coincides with the end of Clippard’s current stint with the Nationals, and possibly the end of his career. Needing to remove a pitcher from their roster and clear a spot for Erick Fedde, the club decided to designate the 37-year-old Clippard for assignment.
Fedde, who had been on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation, starts tonight. And he’ll be working with a new batterymate in Riley Adams, who officially was recalled from Triple-A to take the spot that opened up when Tres Barrera was optioned to Rochester.
Adams will bat seventh against Seattle lefty (and one-time Nationals prospect) Robbie Ray. The rest of Davey Martinez’s lineup includes Alex Call leading off, Joey Meneses batting second, Luke Voit returning from back spasms to bat third and Lane Thomas batting fifth on his 27th birthday. (He’ll have to keep waiting for that first opportunity to bat third in the starting lineup.)
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SEATTLE MARINERS
Where: T-Mobile Park
Gametime: 10:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 76 degrees, wind 6 mph in from left field
SAN DIEGO – The Nationals are playing some competitive baseball these days. They’ve gone 3-3 over their last six games, but two of the losses were by one run and the other one went to extra innings. They’ve managed to do that despite a lackluster (and depleted) lineup, thanks to quality pitching. During this six-game stretch, their staff ERA is an impressive 2.95, and they’ve surrendered only 34 hits in 55 innings.
The challenge today, then, is for Patrick Corbin to keep that run going. The bar for Corbin, obviously, isn’t very high. But he did at least give his team a chance in his last start, allowing four runs over six innings to the Cubs. As much as the Nats bullpen has been used this week, Davey Martinez would love to get six decent innings from his starter today. He could then go to the trio of Hunter Harvey, Carl Edwards Jr. and Kyle Finnegan (in some order) to close things out, because none of them pitched during Saturday night’s 2-1 loss.
The Nationals lineup remains depleted. Luke Voit hasn’t played since Thursday due to back spasms. Yadiel Hernandez is on the 10-day injured list with a calf strain. Keibert Ruiz gets a well-deserved day off after catching the first three games of the series. We’ll see if anyone else can step up and produce against Padres left-hander Sean Manaea, who doesn’t tend to go very deep in games. He hasn’t topped the 100-pitch mark since June 28, and he hasn’t reached the sixth inning since July 31.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Petco Park
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 75 degrees, wind 9 mph out to right field
NATIONALS
CF Victor Robles
LF Alex Call
1B Joey Meneses
DH Nelson Cruz
RF Lane Thomas
2B César Hernández
SS CJ Abrams
C Tres Barrera
3B Ildemaro Vargas
SAN DIEGO – It’s been a crazy season for the Nationals, but here’s the craziest stat of all that defies explanation: Against the National League East, they’re a pathetic 9-42. But against everyone else, they’re a respectable 32-38. That includes a 3-2 record against the Padres, thanks to two straight wins to open this weekend’s series. Now we’ll see if they can keep it going tonight.
Quality pitching has defined the last two wins, but the bullpen has been pretty taxed. After pitching back-to-back nights, you’ve got to assume Kyle Finnegan, Carl Edwards Jr. and Victor Arano are all unavailable tonight. So Davey Martinez might feel compelled to push starter Josiah Gray a bit deeper, just as he did in last outing against the Cubs.
The Nationals will be facing Joe Musgrove, who they did not see in last week’s series in D.C. The San Diego native is 8-6 with a 2.98 ERA, but over his last nine starts he’s actually 0-6 with a 5.00 ERA. We’ll see if the Nats can string some runs together early for a change, and not just wait until the top of the ninth to rally.
Update: Luke Voit has been scratched from the lineup again tonight.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Petco Park
Gametime: 8:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 72 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center field
The Orioles will try to clinch their series against the Red Sox today after moving within 1 ½ games of the last wild card spot.
They improved last night to 6-4 against the Red Sox after going 6-13 in 2021.
Michael Wacha’s reverse splits have produced a right-handed heavy lineup for the Orioles.
Austin Hays is leading off and playing left field, and Ryan McKenna is in center. Cedric Mullins is on the bench.
Also missing from the lineup are Rougned Odor and rookie Kyle Stowers. Tyler Nevin is playing third base, with Ramón Urías moving to second.
SAN DIEGO – On the heels of an uplifting win in Thursday night’s series opener, the Nationals are back at it tonight against the Padres. And if they’re going to make it two in a row, they’re going to have to do something they couldn’t do earlier this week: Beat Blake Snell.
The San Diego lefty thoroughly dominated this lineup Sunday at Nationals Park, tossing six innings of shutout ball, surrendering three measly singles while striking out 10. The Nats had no chance against him. For what it’s worth, that day Davey Martinez was without Nelson Cruz, Keibert Ruiz and Luis García. García remains out with a groin strain, but Cruz and Ruiz are in there tonight.
Paolo Espino also started Sunday’s game, and he had a tougher time against the Padres lineup, allowing four runs over 5 2/3 innings. A couple of walks, in particular, hurt Espino, who saw his pitch count skyrocket and finished with 109 despite not completing six innings.
Of note: Josh Bell is not starting for San Diego tonight. The big guy is in a real funk right now. Over his last seven games (four of which came against the Nats) he’s 1-for-30 with zero RBIs. Maybe a night off will help him clear his head after what’s obviously been an emotionally draining few weeks.
Update: Luke Voit has been scratched from tonight's lineup with back tightness. Joey Meneses will move to first base, with Victor Robles now added to the batting order and starting in center field.
SAN DIEGO – This won’t be as notable or awkward as it was last week in D.C., but the fact that Juan Soto and Josh Bell are facing the Nationals again this soon after a trade that is still only 16 days old is pretty remarkable. Who’d have thought the only two series between these two teams would come right at this juncture of the season?
Can’t change anything about that now, though, so the Nats once again will be trying to figure out how to get Soto, Bell and the rest of the Padres lineup out over the next four days. They did a pretty good job against Soto and Bell last weekend, but they struggled to hold everyone else in check while losing two of three games.
We’ve got a rematch of the one game the Nationals won in that series tonight, with Aníbal Sánchez facing Yu Darvish. Sánchez gave up solo homers to Manny Machado and Trent Grisham in that game, but otherwise fared alright, allowing three runs over five innings to give his team a chance.
The Nats meanwhile, were shut out by Darvish for five innings before finally coming though with three runs in the sixth on back-to-back homers by Lane Thomas and Joey Meneses, then adding the go-ahead run in the seventh on Victor Robles’ RBI single to right, with César Hernández scoring only after it was determined Padres catcher Austin Nola was illegally blocking his path to the plate. Fun times.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Petco Park
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 74 degrees, wind 9 mph left field to right field
The Orioles will attempt to sweep the Blue Jays this afternoon, winning five straight games against their division rivals and perhaps take sole possession of the third wild card spot.
They would move past Toronto for third place in the American League East.
To review: the Orioles have won 10 of the last 14 games, 12 of 18 and 26 of 37. They’re 25-27 against division opponents after going 20-56 last season.
A victory today would move the Orioles seven games above .500 for the first time since May 22, 2017. They’ve been six over on three occasions this season.
Adley Rutschman and Terrin Vavra are on the bench today.
The Nationals are going for their first series win since they won two-of-three against the Dodgers in Los Angeles three weeks ago.
Cory Abbott will face his former team for the first time as he makes his fourth start for the Nats. He pitched in seven games (one start) for the Cubs last year before being designated for assignment in April. He was eventually traded to the Giants and then claimed off waivers by the Nats in May.
Drew Smyly brings a 5-6 record and 3.69 ERA to the mound for the Cubs. The veteran left-hander didn’t face the Nats last week at Wrigley Field, but he is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in seven appearances (five starts) against Washington in his career.
CHICAGO CUBS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB Network (outside of D.C. and Chicago markets only), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 80 degrees, wind 4 mph in from left-center field
NATIONALS
CF Lane Thomas
RF Joey Meneses
1B Luke Voit
DH Nelson Cruz
C Keibert Ruiz
2B César Hernández
SS CJ Abrams
LF Alex Call
3B Ildemaro Vargas
The Nationals had won the opener of only one of their last 12 series entering this one. And the single outlier, believe it or not, was against the Dodgers last month. That’s also the only series the Nats have gone on to win during this stretch. So perhaps Monday night’s victory over the Cubs portends even more to come before this series wraps up Wednesday afternoon.
Josiah Gray, CJ Abrams and Nelson Cruz were the story of Monday’s 5-4 win. The story going into tonight’s game is Patrick Corbin, who returns to make his first start since failing to get out of the first inning 10 days ago in Philadelphia, a disastrous outing that came only 10 days after he also failed to get out of the first inning in Los Angeles.
The Nationals are hoping this little break (which included two bullpen sessions to work on several things) will do Corbin some good. It better, because if he lays another egg tonight against the Cubs … well, who knows what the club’s next move would be?
Justin Steele makes his second straight start against the Nats tonight. The left-hander held them to two runs over six innings Wednesday at Wrigley Field, allowing an RBI double to César Hernndez and a solo homer to Joey Meneses.
CHICAGO CUBS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 8 mph in from right field
At this point, all you can ask as a Nationals fan is to see as many young potential building blocks as possible on the field at the same time. So that makes tonight’s series opener against the Cubs potentially a good night for everyone. That’s because Josiah Gray is on the mound. Keibert Ruiz is behind the plate. And CJ Abrams is starting at shortstop.
The Nats officially called up Abrams today, placing Luis García on the 10-day injured list with a left groin strain. The 21-year-old becomes the first of the five prospects acquired from the Padres in the Juan Soto-Josh Bell trade to play here in D.C., and expectations will be high for him to show us a glimpse of his potential game tonight.
It’s also a big start for Gray, who faces the Cubs for the second start in a row. The young right-hander had success at Wrigley Field throwing fastballs down in the zone more than he typically does, even though he still surrendered one home run in the seventh inning after six scoreless frames. Can he take that same approach and enjoy success again, or does he need to change anything up?
CHICAGO CUBS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 72 degrees, wind 5 mph in from right field
NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
RF Joey Meneses
1B Luke Voit
LF Yadiel Hernandez
DH Nelson Cruz
C Keibert Ruiz
SS CJ Abrams
CF Lane Thomas
3B Ildemaro Vargas
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Orioles will try again today to win their first series against the Rays at Tropicana Field since 2017.
Ryan Mountcastle is out of the lineup after former Orioles reliever Jimmy Yacabonis drilled him on the left hand yesterday in the ninth inning. Mountcastle swung a bat and played catch this morning, and had the hand wrapped in ice again later.
“It’s sore, swollen, but I’m going to try to work, I guess,” he said. “Hopefully, I can get out there and play, but as of right now it doesn’t really feel great, but try to work it out.
“Hopefully, I can get in there today, but we’ll see. … In the morning it felt about the same as it did right after. Yeah, doesn’t feel great.”
Manager Brandon Hyde said Mountcastle is day-to-day.
The Nationals have played two really long games the last two nights against the Padres. Now they’ve got a quick turnaround to this afternoon’s series finale. And it’s barely an afternoon game, with a 12:05 p.m. start thanks to the good folks at Peacock who are televising the contest.
After an emotionally uplifting victory Saturday night, the Nats will once again try to win the rubber game of a series, something they’ve struggled to do all season. They’ll need to keep it going offensively, this time against left-hander Blake Snell, who will try to keep Joey Meneses in the yard. (Which, as we’ve seen, is proving far more difficult than anyone could’ve ever imagined.)
There's a new name in the lineup: Alex Call. The 27-year-old outfielder was called up from Triple-A Rochester, where he had only been for five games after getting claimed off waivers from the Guardians. And the Nats are wasting no time throwing him into the fire: Call is leading off and starting in left field. (Josh Palacios was optioned to Rochester to make room on the roster.)
Paolo Espino gets the start for the Nationals, who used up four key relievers (Steve Cishek, Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey, Carl Edwards Jr.) to pull off Saturday’s win. Davey Martinez might need to push Espino to go a bit deeper than he normally would in an attempt to save some bullpen arms.
SAN DIEGO PADRES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 12:05 p.m. EDT
TV: Peacock, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 80 degrees, wind 9 mph out to left field
The hubbub of Friday night should have dissipated now, so tonight’s game between the Nationals and Padres should feel a bit more normal. That is, as normal as it could feel with Juan Soto and Josh Bell playing for the opposition. Both former Nats should continue to receive nice ovations when they step to the plate tonight, but I wouldn’t expect nearly as much emotion or any formal acknowledgment of them in this one.
The Nationals were beaten around by San Diego’s lineup in the series opener, and that’s even with Soto and Bell playing only a minimal role in the proceedings. That’s an awfully tough lineup to contend with, and so the challenge tonight for Aníbal Sánchez is significant. The 38-year-old right-hander is still seeking his first win (or even his first no-decision) in his sixth big league start of the season. He was better in his last outing at the Cubs earlier this week, but he was done in by a pair of third-inning home runs, which continues to be his primary issue.
The Nats lineup faces a significant challenge itself in Padres starter Yu Darvish, who over his last 11 starts is 6-2 with a 2.68 ERA and 0.919 WHIP. It’s only the third time the veteran right-hander has ever faced Washington; he dominated here in D.C. way back in 2014 with the Rangers but was hit hard last summer at Petco Park in a game that became better known as the one when Max Scherzer gave up a grand slam to a relief pitcher.
SAN DIEGO PADRES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 5 mph out to left field
NATIONALS
CF Victor Robles
1B Luke Voit
DH Nelson Cruz
LF Yadiel Hernandez
RF Joey Meneses
C Keibert Ruiz
2B César Hernández
3B Maikel Franco
SS Ildemaro Vargas
