The Washington Nationals have had one of their best starting rotation turns of the season as their starting pitchers have kept them in every game despite some horrific defense and baserunning at times — and a lack of offense to go 2-3 in that span. DJ Herz 5 2/3 IP 2 ER, Mitchell Parker 7.0 IP 1 ER, Patrick Corbin 6.0 IP 1 ER, MacKenzie Gore 6.0 IP 1 ER, Jake Irvin 5 1/3 2 ER. That is 30.0 combined innings of 7 earned run baseball for a 2.10 ERA.
In order to win a game in Atlanta this weekend, the Nats will need to dig deep to go start to finish with good baseball in this one. The team will fly back to Washington, D.C. after this game.
An interesting tidbit that in games that Alex Call started and finished this season — the Washington Nationals were exactly at .500 with a 13-13 record. Call only appeared in 30-games but he made an impact in most of them by playing solid defense, and batting .343 with a .950 OPS. But it was more than that. Call took pride in working long at-bats — and accepting his walks. He also hustled on all plays and set an example for the young players on the team. Call showed that X-Factor intangible that team’s need, and he will be missed while he is on the IL nursing his plantar fasciitis injury in his left foot.
In another baseball twist, Dylan Crews‘ hometown Little League team from Lake Mary, Florida will make their first appearance in the Little League World Series championship game this afternoon. A day later, Crews will be making his first appearance as a big league player. Lake Mary has a population of 17,000 and is about 23 miles north of Orlando. Crews grew up in Lake Mary and attended Lake Mary High School where many of these Little Leaguers will attend school in a few years.
Lake Mary Little League World Series game: Time, TV channel, streaming schedule:
- Who: Lake Mary, Florida vs. Taoyuan City, Chinese Taipei
- When: 3 p.m. EDT, Sunday, Aug. 25
- Where: Lamade Stadium (Williamsport, Pa.)
- TV: ABC
- Streaming: ESPN+ ($10.99 per month), WatchESPN and the ESPN app (TV provider subscription needed), Fubo (7-day free trial), YouTube TV (2-week free trial), Hulu + Live TV
Based on last year’s win total of 71-games, the Nats need to go 14-18 or better to beat that total. To beat the 66-win total from FanGraphs, the Nats need to win 9 more games. There are just 32-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 underdogs today, at +155 to win on the moneyline. That means if you bet $100 you would win $155. Bet $10.00 and you win $15.50.
Nats’ manager Dave Martinez put in Robert Garcia with a man on third and a 2-1 lead with one out. Garcia was in a lefty-lefty situation and an 0-2 count when he missed his spot and gave up the tying run with a booming double high off the outfield wall. Shortly after that the winning run would score. Tanner Rainey entered in his highest leverage spot of the season by that 3-2 score (Nats trailing) and got a zero. Jose A. Ferrer pitched a very encouraging inning. While Kyle Finnegan warmed up again, he has not pitched in this series.
This is what the Nats schedule looks like going forward:
- Sunday: DJ Herz vs. Braves
- Monday: Mitchell Parker vs. Yankees
- Tuesday: Patrick Corbin vs. Yankees
- Wednesday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Yankees
- Thursday: Day-Off August 29
- Friday: Jake Irvin vs. Cubs
- Saturday: Herz vs. Cubs
- Sunday: Parker vs. Cubs
- Monday: Day-Off September 2
- Tuesday: Corbin vs. Marlins
- Wednesday: Gore vs. Marlins
Your top Washington Nationals on the FanGraphs’ WAR leaderboard has Luis Garcia Jr. atop of the WAR rankings at +3.0, Jacob Young at +2.4 and CJ Abrams at +2.1. In total, 27 Nats’ players are in positive WAR and another seven are at a neutral 0.0 WAR.
“I think the game just speeds up on our guys a little bit. We’ve just got to relax in certain situations. Just make the plays. Make the routine plays.”
— Nats’ manager Dave Martinez said after yesterday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 4.43 and 22nd in MLB.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Patrick Corbin 5.73
No. 4 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.51
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 4.26
No. 2 Starter: DJ Herz 4.15
No. 1 Starter: Jake Irvin 3.80
Washington Nationals vs. Atlanta Braves
Stadium: Truist Park, Atlanta, Georgia
1st Pitch: 12:05 pm EDT
TV: Roku
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 131:
The Nationals lost on 08/27 at home against Baltimore with a record of 73-58. The Nats are in second place in the NL East. But you knew this already. Box Score / Standings
The Senators won on 09/01 at home against the Philadelphia Athletics resulting in a record of 76-55. The Senators have sole possession of first place and ahead of the Yankees. Box Score / Standings
