The Washington Nationals got a 5.0 inning gem from DJ Herz, and some power from Luis Garcia Jr. to halt that losing streak in front of over 30,000 fans in attendance yesterday. But maybe the real story is that Garcia was demoted to the minor leagues exactly one year ago. He has come back playing much improved defense, limiting mistakes, and a clutch bat. This morning, he leads all Nats’ position players in FanGraphs WAR. One of the best redemption stories in baseball.
There are just 50-games remaining in the season after this game, and the Nationals won their 50th game of the season last night. The team is on a pace to finish 73-89. Slightly better than last year, and most likely 4th place in the NL East. To get to those 73 wins, the team would need to go 23-27 the rest of the way.
Nats’ manager Dave Martinez‘s bullpen was shaky again in taking a 6-1 lead to a 6-4 game with the tying run in the batter’s box in the 9th inning. Derek Law carried most of the bullpen usage going two innings, and Kyle Finnegan covered the final 1 1/3 innings for his 29th save of the season — and that ranks Finn third in MLB for the most saves.
The Nationals are slight underdogs today, at +110 to win on the moneyline. That means if you bet $100 you would win $110. Bet $10.00 and you win $11.00.
This is what the Nats schedule looks like going forward:
- Sunday: Mitchell Parker vs. Brewers
- Monday: Patrick Corbin vs. Giants
- Tuesday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Giants
- Wednesday: Jake Irvin vs. Giants
- Thursday: DJ Herz vs. Giants
- Friday: Parker vs. Angels
- Saturday: Corbin vs. Angels
- Sunday: Gore vs. Angels
- Monday: Day-off (August 12)
Your top Washington Nationals on the FanGraphs’ WAR leaderboard has Luis Garcia Jr. atop of the position WAR rankings at +2.1 fractionally ahead of CJ Abrams, and Jacob Young at +2.0. In total, 21 Nats’ players are in positive WAR and another eight are at a neutral 0.0 WAR.
“I see a different [Luis Garcia Jr.]. More confident, and understands what he needs to do. … He’s playing really well.”
— Nats’ manager Dave Martinez said after yesterday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.42 and 22nd in MLB.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 5.88
No. 4 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.54
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 4.31
No. 2 Starter: DJ Herz 4.27
No. 1 Starter: Jake Irvin 3.56
Washington Nationals vs. Milwaukee Brewers
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; In Spanish on DC 87.7 FM and La Pantera 100.7 FM/1220 AM. On Sirius/XM, tune to Channel 178 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
TalkNats is Celebrating the 5 and 100 year anniversaries of World Series Wins by providing Game-by-Game Summaries.
Game 112:
The Nationals lost on 08/05 on the road against the Giants in a record of 59-53. They won’t drop below .500 the rest of the season. The Nats are in second place in the NL East. But you knew this already. Box Score / Standings
The Senators lost on 08/13 at home against the Cleveland Indians resulting in a record of 61-51. Box Score / Standings
