The Washington Nationals had their largest crowd of the year last night, and it might have been even larger if there wasn’t the threat of rain that delayed the start of the game. Officially, the attendance was 36,290, and the overwhelming majority of the fans were cheering for the Nats. Most stayed for the postgame fireworks. But the die-hards left the stadium wondering how they lost another winnable game. Those who have attended all 41 games at Nationals Park have only seen 13 wins. Let that sink in for a minute. Home teams are supposed to have a home field advantage. Supposed to. That .317 winning percentage is pathetic, truth be told.
When general manager Mike Rizzo does his 2023 post-mortem on the season, he will see that if his team had a home record that equaled the road record, his team would be at 41-43, and probably a buyer at the trade deadline. Instead, he will have to figure out why his team ERA is 0.29 better on the road which includes the entire slate of west coast high-altitude games that are already completed for the season. But also Rizzo has analyze why his team scores a healthy 4.60 runs on the road and only 3.61 at home. Add up those road/home splits and they are giving up a 1.28 home field disadvantage in total runs. The Nats are 10-15 in one-run games. Oddly, 10 of those 15 one-run loss games are on the road of which four were walk-off losses. It tells you how close the Nats keep their games on the road, even in defeat, and they still are only one-game under .500 on the road.
Patrick Corbin, who returned from his bereavement leave yesterday, is today’s starter. Did he somehow throw his bullpen session on Sunday while he was on leave? With his grandmother’s passing weighing on him mind, we will see how that affects him today.
The Reds have called up RHP Brett Kennedy to start this game. The kid from Pomona, New Jersey last pitched in the Majors in 2018 for San Diego — and not well.
With this Independence Day, 4th of July game, first pitch is set for an early morning first pitch. The lineup is the same as yesterday, and the same ordering. Hopefully better results for the Washington Nationals.
“We were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. That hurt us from the first inning on. I talk about it all the time: Drive in that runner from third with less than two outs. We’ve got to find a way to do that. It’s a different ballgame if we do that. … We’ve got to come back tomorrow and score some runs.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after the previous game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.55 for 20th best in MLB.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 4.84
No. 4 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.70
No. 3 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.48
No. 2 Starter: Trevor Williams 4.34
No. 1 Starter: Josiah Gray 3.30
Here is your Baseball Savant Statcast Link for the game.
Cincinnati Reds vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 11:05 am EDT
TV: MASN2
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app
