Going Deep with The Nats

The Washington Nationals have just 30-games remaining on the season. And tonight’s matchup of starting pitchers evoke memories to Game 7 of the 2019 World Series that should bring a temporary smile to your face. Patrick Corbin, starting for the Nats tonight was a Game 7 reliever (and earned the win) while the Yankees starter tonight, Gerrit Cole, was warmed up in the Houston bullpen as a reliever — and never entered the game. Of course the Nats won on Howie Kendrick‘s “Clang heard ’round the world” off of the Astros’ bullpen as Cole watched.

The Washington Nationals continued one of their best starting rotation turns of the season that now has spanned six starts with a 3-3 record in that span. DJ Herz had two of the starts and has gone 10 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 35.0 combined innings of 7 earned run baseball for a 1.80 ERA.

With the pitching humming, the Nats have the New York Yankees at Nationals Park for a 3-game series, and tonight officially marks the call-up of Dylan Crews for his MLB Debut. He will officially wear jersey No. 3. Both teams have some mighty star power with Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, CJ Abrams, James Wood and Crews.

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.

The Washington Nationals had found something special in Alex Call who was a sparkplug in so many ways for the Nats. In two separate callups, Call said that he had made a mechanical tweak but also a mental adjustment that had changed his game. In his 30-games this season, Call batted an impressive.343 with a .950 and delivered some clutch hits including another memorable walk-off. This time, Call was hitting with power and a consistency at the plate. Unfortunately, his season might come to an end as he suffered, per our source, a tear in his plantar fascia in the heel of his left foot. He will head to the 10-day IL.

In baseball’s twists, Dylan Crews is getting called up on Monday, and it would have pushed Call into a fourth outfielder and DH role as it was — and now looks like Call will be lost for a while. The good news, if you are an optimist, is that many thought this was an achilles injury that would have cost Call most of the 2025 season too.

The Washington Nationals have a weekend series in Atlanta, and tonight is a tough test as the team faces lefty Chris Sale to open this series. This is a quick 3-game road trip with an early game on Sunday before the Nats fly back to Washington D.C., ahead of their series with the Yankees on Monday.

The Washington Nationals will go for a series win today, and starter Patrick Corbin is still in search of career win No. 100. He won his 99th game on July 19, and for him, this will be his sixth attempt, since then, for the elusive 100th milestone career win. After this game, the Nats will get on their American Airlines charter to fly for a weekend series in Atlanta. The team is back in Washington D.C. on Sunday night ahead of their series with the Yankees on Monday.