Tonight marks the 60 day sprint to the end of the season as games come off of the calendar. A team that has 55 wins right now would have to go 35-25 to finish the season just to reach 90 wins. The Marlins are at 55 wins, and the Mets are at 53 wins. The math starts making each win and loss crucial to the teams with playoff aspirations.
There are only two teams in baseball with 60 wins or more, and they are the Cubs and Nationals.
The Nationals will start Max Scherzer tonight, and the Giants have Jeff Samardzija. Wilson Ramos is still playing without a day-off, and Clint Robinson, Wilmer Difo and Ben Revere are all starting with Ryan Zimmerman, Danny Espinosa and Trea Turner all not starting.
On the trade market, we were asked to find out about Jon Morosi’s claim that the Nats would trade Lucas Giolito straight up for Andrew Miller. Our source told us that they would not be trading Giolito straight up for any reliever.
Sources who have spoken with #Nats believe they would trade Lucas Giolito to #Yankees for Andrew Miller, straight up.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 29, 2016
I heard not accurate from my source.
— Talk Nats (@TalkNats) July 29, 2016
Nationals not trading Lucas Giolito in any deals at this deadline…not for Davis not for Miller. They are… https://t.co/HyKT1jelXJ
— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) July 29, 2016
Personnel moves today were Jose Lobaton to the DL with tendonitis, and the Nationals call-up Pedro Severino. No word on a DL move for Jonathan Papelbon. The Nats will need to make a corresponding move to make room for Reynaldo Lopez tomorrow.
Here are the Nats stats against Samardzija:
Here is Max Scherzer’s stats against the Giants:
Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants
Stadium: AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA
1st Pitch: 10:15 pm EDT
TV: MASN2, Comcast Bay Area, MLB.tv
Line-ups (subject to change without notice):
- Ben Revere CF
- Bryce Harper RF
- Daniel Murphy 2B
- Wilson Ramos C
- Jayson Werth LF
- Clint Robinson 1B
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Wilmer Difo SS
- Max Scherzer RHP
