The Washington Nationals have won 55-games this year and just sunk to a season’s low of 13-games under .500. Another one-run loss in the final inning could be looked at with optimism that the team is close due to the 17 losses by just one-run. Add to that the tie-games that went to extra innings where the losses were by more than a one-run loss and that would add another 3 losses to that 17 to make it 20 losses from either a tie in the 9th inning or a one-run loss at the end.
Learning how to win is something this team needs to learn how to do. “Obviously, we couldn’t get the job done tonight, but it was a good fight we put up in the ninth [inning]. We’re never out of the game.” — said 21-year-old rookie, James Wood. The Nats put themselves, with mistakes and not adding on runs, in a spot that where a former Nats’ player of Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper would be in a spot to be the walk-off hero last night. Turner took care of business — but truthfully it was the Nats failing to score early in the game, and then with two mistakes in the 9th inning to allow the Phillies to win.
Based on last year’s win total of 71-games, the Nats need to go 17-22 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 39-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.
According to manager Dave Martinez, today’s starter, MacKenzie Gore, did some work in his side bullpen session to try to get back on track. We will see if it works as he takes the mound today.
Nats’ manager Dave Martinez hadn’t pitched Kyle Finnegan for 6-days, and he was rusty last night in a meltdown 9th inning. The team added Joe La Sorsa back to the 40-man roster and activated him for today’s game in place of Robert Garcia who was going on the bereavement list. The bad news today was the 15-day IL move of Derek Law with a right elbow flexor strain, and in his place, Joan Adon was brought back. You had to wonder if Law could sustain the usage that he was subjected to as the most used reliever in baseball. That had been part of the problem where Law pitched in 61 games compared to Tanner Rainey at only 35 games. The distribution of workloads had trouble written all over it from the start.
This is what the Nats schedule looks like going forward:
- Saturday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Phillies
- Sunday: Jake Irvin vs. Phillies
- Monday: Day-Off
- Tuesday: DJ Herz vs. Rockies
- Wednesday: Mitchell Parker vs. Rockies
- Thursday: Patrick 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, Jacob Young at +2.3 and CJ Abrams at +2.1. In total, 25 Nats’ players are in positive WAR and another nine are at a neutral 0.0 WAR.
“We don’t field the bunt. It cost a big run. We got behind on Schwarber. We threw the ball away which could‘ve kept a runner on first base. That was the difference.”
— Nats’ manager Dave Martinez said after yesterday’s game
“I mean, if he bunts the guy to second, we could walk Schwarber. We get a fly ball from Turner. It’s two outs. But we made too many mistakes that inning.”
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 5.92
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: 6:05 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 180 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 124:
The Nationals won on 08/19 on the road against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a record of 68-56. 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 won on 08/26 at home against the St. Louis Browns resulting in a record of 71-53. The Senators have sole possession of second place. Box Score / Standings
