Game 78 lineups: Nats at Mariners

SEATTLE – Hello from the great Pacific Northwest, where the Nationals make only the fourth visit in club history but their second in as many years. They’ve had very good results here, no matter the era, sweeping a three-game set in 2008, taking two of three in 2014 and then splitting a quick two-game series last August. Now they’re back for three with the Mariners, who, like the Padres, had high expectations entering the season but are currently under .500.

Seattle does have a legit ace on the mound tonight in Luis Castillo, who currently ranks sixth in the American League in ERA (2.89), 10th in WHIP (1.053) and seventh in strikeouts (101). The electric right-hander will pose a real test for a Nationals lineup that bust out for nine runs during Sunday’s win in San Diego but as you already know has been in a real rut for quite a while.

Trevor Williams gets the start, looking to build off possibly his best outing of the season, in which he shut out the Cardinals for six innings and earned his fourth win in the process. Davey Martinez let Williams pitch into the seventh in that game, and he may be tempted to push him again tonight because multiple relievers (most notably Hunter Harvey and Mason Thompson) figure to be unavailable tonight after pitching each of the last two days.

The Nats bullpen will have another new face tonight, though: The club called up Amos Willingham from Triple-A Rochester. The 24-year-old right-hander, a 17th round pick in the 2019 draft out of Georgia Tech, has worked his way up the organizational ladder since, and now gets his first promotion to the big leagues. To clear a roster spot for Willingham, the Nationals optioned Paolo Espino back to Triple-A after only one appearance.

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, 72 degrees, wind 5 mph out to right field

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

RHP Trevor Williams

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 Luis Castillo