The Washington Nationals got a 5.0 inning gem from DJ Herz on Saturday followed by a 6.0 inning gem by Mitchell Parker in back-to-back zero earned run outings. Both James Wood and Luis Garcia Jr. came through to provide the needed run-support.
Those wins over the weekend certainly helped to get the Nats on a winning course, and with 50-games remaining in the season and 51-wins in the books, the Nats need to win 16 additional games to beat the most optimistic of evaluator’s projections.
Based on last year’s win total of 71-games, the Nats need to go 21-29 or better to beat those totals. And we say all of this as the Nats enter today’s game with Patrick Corbin pitching and deep underdogs today, at +140 to win on the moneyline. That means if you bet $100 you would win $140. Bet $10.00 and you win $14.00.
Nats’ manager Dave Martinez‘s bullpen was shaky again in taking a 4-0 lead to a razor thin 4-3 victory with the go-ahead run in the batter’s box in the 9th inning. Derek Law, Robert Garcia, and Jacob Barnes along with Kyle Finnegan have been carrying the extra load in the bullpen. Finnegan earned his 30th save yesterday and that ranks him in third in MLB for the most saves.
This is what the Nats schedule looks like going forward:
- Monday: Patrick Corbin vs. Giants
- Tuesday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Giants
- Wednesday: Jake Irvin vs. Giants
- Thursday: DJ Herz vs. Giants
- Friday: Mitchell Parker vs. Angels
- Saturday: Corbin vs. Angels
- Sunday: Gore vs. Angels
- Monday: Day-off (August 12)
- Tuesday: Irvin vs. Baltimore
- Wednesday: Herz vs. Baltimore
Your top Washington Nationals on the FanGraphs’ WAR leaderboard has Luis Garcia Jr. atop of the position WAR rankings at +2.3, and CJ Abrams at +2.0 and Jacob Young at +1.9. 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 Saturday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.38 and 21st in MLB.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 5.88
No. 4 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.54
No. 3 Starter: DJ Herz 4.27
No. 2 Starter: Mitchell Parker 4.06
No. 1 Starter: Jake Irvin 3.56
Washington Nationals vs. San Francisco Giants
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 6:45 pm EDT
TV: MASN
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 175 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 113:
The Nationals lost on 08/06 on the road against the Giants in a record of 60-53. 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 won on 08/14 at home against the Cleveland Indians resulting in a record of 61-51. Box Score / Standings
