Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
When you score 16 runs in a game, you want to show that your offense can score a lot of runs again. Before last night, the Nats had been on a 2.9 runs per game pace. Obviously that 16-run outburst will skew the numbers. Pitchers throwing the Rawlings in low lev sure is easier than clinging to small leads like we saw on Saturday. After Max Scherzer bowed out of his last start after 1.0 inning of work due to a tight hamstring, he is right back at it six days later. The ace will need to show that he is healthy.
With Stephen Strasburg on the mound on Sunday, he returned from a wrist and hand nerve impingement and was throwing zeros until he hit the wall in the 5th inning and surrendered five runs. Hopefully, Max can hold down his end, and the offense can get him a lot of run support to take some pressure off.
Speaking of injuries, Will Harris is supposed to throw some “live” BP today as he works his way back from the 10-day IL stint with a groin injury.
Maybe the key tonight for the Nats is to figure out Rick Porcello who they just faced last Wednesday in that game against Scherzer. The Nats offense only got 5 hits off of Porcello and one run. The balls just weren’t falling in for the Nats. They put 17 balls into play and only tallied those 5 hits, but the Nats also did not work any walks off of him so he lasted 7.0 innings on the way to a 3-1 final. The lefties did well off of Porcello with Adam Eaton, Juan Soto, Asdrubal Cabrera (batted lefty), and Eric Thames with all of the hits. The right-handers ate donuts going 0-17 in that game. These are the types of games you wish manager Dave Martinez had an extra lefty or two to insert.
Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets
Stadium: CitiField, Queens, New York
1st Pitch: 7:10 pm EDT
TV: MASN; SNY; MLB App out-of-market
Nats Radio: 106.7 The Fan and via the MLB app
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
Go Juan-0 today.#NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/eJr5SESgq7
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 11, 2020
