The Washington Nationals have a golden opportunity to win another series with a win today. A lot of the outcome could come on the arm of Jake Irvin who up until 4 1/3 innings ago had an 0.84 ERA and enters this game with a 5.50 ERA. In those 4 1/3 innings, Irvin gave up 12-runs of which 10 were earned runs.
If the Nats find a way to win today, they will not only win this series, but they will also leapfrog over the Padres in the Wild Card standings in the NL.
The Padres have their struggling former ace, Blake Snell, on the mound today. His ERA is at 5.40, and the lefty is trying to right his ship.
“Every series, I do my work before everybody comes in,” Martinez said. “And I pick groups of [hitters] based on information that I get, where I feel guys match up best late in games. The [top of the San Diego lineup] was where I really felt comfortable with Harvey. … It worked out really well. These guys came in and shut the door down.”
— manager Dave Martinez on game situations for his bullpen
The Nats starters have a combined ERA of 4.41 for 15th best in MLB as they just moved ahead the Yankees by 0.01.
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 4.32
No. 2 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.88
No. 1 Starter: Josiah Gray 2.65
Here is your Baseball Savant Statcast link for the game.
San Diego Padres vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 4:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN2
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
