The Washington Nationals have a quick two-game series in Baltimore as part of their final five games of 2023. Josiah Gray, the team’s All-Star, gets the start tonight, his final start of 2023 — and Joan Adon on Sunday with Jackson Rutledge on Saturday in Atlanta — with a final start for Trevor Williams on Friday is the plan. All of this from manager Dave Martinez who disclosed this today as the weekend plan.
The Nats won their afternoon start on Sunday with Rutledge on the mound. He went 5.0 innings giving up just one-run and earned this win. In his past two starts, he has a 2.38 ERA. This is the type of performances the Nats need the rest of the way during these five games. The team opens today with 69-wins on the season, and needs one more win to get to 70 wins. That would be a 15-game improvement over last season.
The Orioles are playing for the AL East crown and the best record in the American League. It is stunning how this team improved their starting rotation in the second half even though they swung and missed big at the trade deadline as they added Jack Flaherty and he was subsequently demoted to the bullpen already. If the Orioles go far in the postseason, then they are smarter than the rest because they gave up no Top-20 prospects at the trade deadline and are hugging the second lowest payroll in baseball. We will all wait and see how that goes as the postseason opens up next week.
“He’s just been very consistent. That guy has gone out there and played hard for us all year long. I’m proud of him. He’s made some huge strides. I think he’s going to get better, as well.”
— manager Dave Martinez said of Lane Thomas and reaching the 20/20 milestone
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 5.00 for 25th best in MLB.
Here is how they rank by starter’s ERA:
No. 7 Starter: Joan Adon 6.54
No. 6 Starter: Jackson Rutledge 6.00
No. 5 Starter: Trevor Williams 5.55
No. 4 Starter: Patrick Corbin 5.13
No. 3 Starter: Jake Irvin 4.61
No. 2 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.42
No. 1 Starter: Josiah Gray 4.00
Here is your Baseball Savant link for the game.
Washington Nationals vs. Baltimore Orioles
Stadium: Orioles Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
1st Pitch: 6:35 pm EDT
TV: MASN2
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app
