The Washington Nationals enter the Players Weekend promotion with a chance to show off their individuality . The team got clobbered last night in Philadelphia, and the game seemed to slip away quickly. “As we talked about [before the game],” manager Dave Martinez said after the loss, “two things that can’t happen: We can’t give away outs and we can’t make pitching mistakes. Today, we did both.” The defense was riddled with mistakes and each time a defensive faux pas occurred, the pitching seemed to immediately fall apart.
In the first inning, it was a routine grounder to third base that newbie Jose Tena played back on against the speedy Trea Turner who beat it out after Tena’s throw skipped to first base. An unforced mistake ruled a single. That was followed by a single then a 3-run bomb. It felt right there like game over — but it only got worse.
Based on last year’s win total of 71-games, the Nats need to go 17-23 or better to beat that total. To beat the 66-win total from FanGraphs, the Nats need to win 12 more games. There are just 41-games remaining in the season, and the rest of this season is really supposed to help to determine the players who could help impact the 2025 roster.
The Nats are VERY deep underdogs today, at +220 to win on the moneyline. That means if you bet $100 you would win $220. Bet $10.00 and you win $22.00.
Nats’ manager Dave Martinez has not pitched Kyle Finnegan now in 6-days. The Nats had to cover 5.0 innings last night and were able to do it with three relievers: Tanner Rainey, Orlando Ribalta, and Eduardo Salazar. There might be a need for a long-man for this weekend just in case — but also consider that Monday is a day-off.
This is what the Nats schedule looks like going forward:
- Friday: Patrick Corbin vs. Phillies
- Saturday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Phillies
- Sunday: Jake Irvin vs. Phillies
- Monday: Day-Off
- Tuesday: DJ Herz vs. Rockies
- Wednesday: Mitchell Parker vs. Rockies
- Thursday: Corbin vs. Rockies
- Friday: Gore vs. Braves
- Saturday: Irvin vs. Braves
- Sunday: Herz vs. Braves
Your top Washington Nationals on the FanGraphs’ WAR leaderboard has Luis Garcia Jr. atop of the WAR rankings at +2.8, and Jacob Young and CJ Abrams are at +2.2. In total, 26 Nats’ players are in positive WAR and another eight are at a neutral 0.0 WAR.
“This one I’m going to flush. Come back tomorrow and be ready to play tomorrow.”
— Nats’ manager Dave Martinez said after yesterday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.50 and 22nd in MLB.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 5.98
No. 4 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.50
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 4.44
No. 2 Starter: DJ Herz 4.25
No. 1 Starter: Jake Irvin 3.72
Washington Nationals vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Stadium: Citizens Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1st Pitch: 6:40 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 123:
The Nationals won on 08/18 at home against the Brewers in a record of 67-56. 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 08/26 at home against the St. Louis Browns resulting in a record of 70-53. The Senators have sole possession of second place. Box Score / Standings
