Going Deep with The Nats

The Washington Nationals got a good start from Patrick Corbin to get the win yesterday in a 4-1 victory. The Nats have now taken 2-of-3 in this four game series with the hopes of securing this series win today against the Marlins.

The Washington Nationals got another ace performance from DJ Herz as he has stepped up as the team’s No. 1 starter this season. He was never even in the plans until Trevor Williams went down with an injury in the first week of June. With 17-starts in the books, Herz lowered his ERA to an impressive 3.70. Can he improve further? Herz will get back into the pitching lab this offseason to try to emerge next season as the team’s ace.

Today, it is Patrick Corbin‘s third start from the end of his checkered Nats’ career that will finish hopefully on an up-note. His World Series contributions in the 2019 season started his 6-year deal on a high note — but it is hard to sugarcoat his 5.10 ERA in his Nats’ tenure.

The Washington Nationals got another ace performance from Mitchell Parker last night, but it went wasted as the offense stalled after the first inning, the infield defense was horrific, and the bullpen buckled. But seriously, what is up with the defense and why is Jose Tena still playing at 3rd base? This is the definition of insanity. The game would have been tied if not for the unearned runs.

The Washington Nationals got that ace performance they needed from Jake Irvin as he was throwing a no-hitter with two outs into the sixth inning before it ended on double. The Nats won — and basically shutdown the Braves by a final score of 5-1. For the season series, the Nats beat the Braves 8-5 in the 13-game head-to-head matchups.

A couple of other notes were that Jose Tena played second base for the first time last night in a regular season game without any issues, and CJ Abrams hit his 20th home run to become the fifth member of the 20/20 club in Nats history. With two more steals, he would join the 20/30 club as the second member with Alfonso Soriano. For a while, Abrams looked like a lock for the 30/30 club until he fell into a long slump in the second half of the season. Now we will see if Abrams can go en fuego for the remainder of the 2024 season.

The Washington Nationals had already clinched the season series with the Atlanta Braves by winning 7-games. But still, losing to them last night by a final score of 12-0 was nothing to feel good about. Poor defense started the mess followed by some bad pitches.

How can you properly evaluate your pitching when the infield defense does not make much more than routine plays? Jose Tena has an .869 fielding percentage this season at the MLB level, and has become a major defensive liability.

The Washington Nationals are back home with a 2-game set against the Braves, a team in a fight for the final Wild Card spot. The Mets are rooting hard for the Nationals to help them. Of course, next week the Nats have a 3-game series with the Mets. The Cubs are also hoping the Nats win. They have a small chance to sneak into the playoffs.

The Washington Nationals had not played in a doubleheader since May 14 in Chicago, and they had not swept a doubleheader since April 19 of 2022 against Arizona. In fact, last year on April 29, the Pirates swept the Nats in a doubleheader.

This doubleheader sweep had a miraculous finish with four runs against Pirates closer, Aroldis Chapman, in a dramatic 9th inning. Ildemaro Vargas got a 2-run double that went in and out of the glove of the Pirates’ rightfielder with 2-outs for the game winner. Too often it has been the Nats on the other end of a final inning heartbreaker, and this time they were the team celebrating. Today, the Nats will go for the series win in the 4-game set with the Pirates.

The Washington Nationals got a very nice win this afternoon led by DJ Herz‘s five scoreless innings with no hits. Dylan Crews carried the offense with a home run, double, walk, two RBIs and two runs scored. With the unexpected day-off yesterday after a rain-out in Pittsburgh, this is the second game of this afternoon/evening split-doubleheader today against the Pirates.