The Washington Nationals finally got back into the win column yesterday, and with the 5-2 win the Nats can go for the series win today with Josiah Gray starting. In the last 12.5 innings, the Nats have outscored the Tigers 11-2. Unfortunately the first 5.5 innings counted on Friday’s game when the Tigers put eight runs on the board.
For the Tigers in this series finale, they send lefty Joey Wentz to the mound. Checking records, we found no familial relation to ex-Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz. This Wentz almost had local ties as he was committed to the University of Virginia after high school, but ended up going into the draft. He was traded from the Braves to the Tigers in the Shane Greene trade in 2019. Righties hit Wentz at a .758 OPS in his short career, and over 200 points higher than the lefties. In his 5 career starts in the month of May, Wentz has a 6.86 ERA.
“We battled back. Lane is swinging the bat really well. Candy’s still swinging the bat well, and these guys battled back and played well..”
— manager Dave Martinez said about yesterday’s game
The Nats starters have a combined ERA of 4.43 for 15th best in MLB as they just moved ahead of the Padres. It was good to see Patrick Corbin get his season’s ERA below 4.50 for the first time, and he now has seven quality starts in a row with a 3.40 ERA and 3.94 FIP in that span. His start did not begin well yesterday, and the only two runs he gave up was in the first inning on a fastball that leaked over the zone for a 2-run homer.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Jake Irvin 5.50 ERA
No. 4 Starter: Patrick Corbin 4.47
No. 3 Starter: Trevor Williams 4.26
No. 2 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.69
No. 1 Starter: Josiah Gray 2.73
Here is your Baseball Savant Statcast link for the game.
Detroit Tigers vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 1:35 pm EDT
TV: MASN2
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
