Going Deep with The Nats

The Washington Nationals will have DJ Herz on the mound for his second career start after his debut five days ago. The Braves will have an MLB debut for their top pitching prospect, 22-year-old right-hander, Hurston Waldrep. He was drafted in the first round less than 12 months ago from the University of Florida and has just 18 pro starts across the Braves’ various minor league levels. The Nats are up 2-1 in this 4-game series, and have won 5-of-7 games so far against the Braves this season. Tomorrow is a day-off and this game completes the long 17-game consecutive game marathon.

The Washington Nationals stopped their losing streak and got their fifth one-run win of the season last night. This team continues to get some great starting pitching, and last night it was Jake Irvin leading the way.

The Washington Nationals are now tailspinning from a 4-game losing streak. When they had a no-hitter through five innings from Mitchell Parker, and a 2-0 lead going into the 7th inning — they gave the game away last night. We are all frustrated, and this team just can’t put it all together. Tonight, Jake Irvin needs to be the stopper, and his offense needs to give him some much-needed run support.

The Washington Nationals need a stopper, and tonight’s game will put Mitchell Parker on the mound against former Nat, Reynaldo Lopez, in a game the Nationals desperately need to win. The Braves have their best four starters going in this series, and the Nats have their best four available pitchers.

The Washington Nationals have lost the first two games against the Mets in this three game series — and while execution is certainly at fault, just look at the managerial decisions in sending a fatigued DJ Herz out on the mound for the 5th inning. Quickly, the 2-0 deficit became 4-0. The Nats chipped away, and scored three runs — but even in the 9th inning, the struggling Keibert Ruiz who fell below the Mendoza mark again, batted for himself, while Luis Garcia Jr. sat on the bench in the 9th inning. Winnable games just flushed away.

The Washington Nationals got some good news and bad news today. The bad news is that the Nats best pitcher, Trevor Williams, was placed on the 15-day IL with a strained flexor tendon in his right forearm. He will be shutdown from throwing for two weeks and go through another MRI before he throws again. Josiah Gray has been out nearly two months with this same diagnosis. The good news is the both CJ Abrams and Jacob Young are in tonight’s lineup after dealing with their own bumps and bruises.

The Washington Nationals won yesterday in Cleveland and arrived at Dulles Airport just before 7:30 pm last night. What a difference in an early arrival after that debacle traveling out of Atlanta last week. The Nationals have the Mets in for a 3-game series before a 4-game series with the Braves at Nationals Park.