It was another tough week for Washington, dropping five of six games against Houston and Miami, capped off by a weekend sweep by the Marlins.
Davey Martinez’s team won’t get a day off this week, as St. Louis is in town to visit the nation’s capital for a three-game series. The Nats (27-44) will then make up a game against Arizona at home on Thursday afternoon before heading out West to face San Diego for a three-game set this weekend.
The Cardinals rallied from an early 5-0 deficit to take the opener on Monday, 8-6, thanks to back-to-back jacks by Brendan Donovan and Paul Goldschmidt in the fifth, part of a four-run inning. The Nationals have now won just three out of 15 games this month.
Washington second baseman Luis Garcia had a big day Monday despite the loss, going 1-for-3 with 4 RBI, continuing his hit streak to five games.
Josiah Gray (4-6, 3.64 ERA) took the loss, as he’s now winless in his last five starts after recording victories in four of his previous six.
The Nats have slipped into last place in the National League, and will enter tonight’s game 6.5 games behind the fourth-place Mets (34-38) in the NL East standings.
The Cardinals (30-43) struggled out of the gate themselves this season, but came into Monday’s game on a win streak after claiming the last two games over the weekend at Citi Field against New York.
They’ll look for their fourth-straight victory Tuesday, as Jordan Montgomery (3-7, 3.91 ERA) is scheduled to start against Washington’s MacKenzie Gore (3-5, 3.74) in the second game of the series. Cards right-hander Miles Mikolas (4-4, 4.36 ERA) will face Trevor Williams (3-4, 4.50 ERA) on Wednesday.
Washington outfielder Lane Thomas leads the team in just about every offensive category in the month of June, racking up 19 hits (8 of them doubles), 3 home runs and 9 RBI with 38 total bases, a .967 on-base percentage and 3 stolen bases, all despite striking out a team-high 16 times.
Victor Robles returned from the injured list over the weekend and recorded his first extra-base hit with a double against the Cardinals on Monday. He is batting .291 on the season, the best average in his seven years in Washington (he hit a career-best .288 in 2018).
The Diamondbacks will be looking for the “suspended” series sweep Thursday, two weeks after winning the first two against the Nats on June 6 and 7. The June 8 contest was postponed due to poor air quality as a result of the Canadian wildfires. As of Tuesday morning, Arizona (44-29) still holds a 3.5-game lead over the Dodgers in the NL West.
Left Tommy Henry (3-1, 4.66 ERA) is expected to take the hill Thursday for the D-Backs against Jake Irvin (1-3, 5.25 ERA), who gave up three runs on five hits in a 10-5 loss to Arizona on June 6.
It’ll be the second meeting of the season between the Nats and the Padres (35-37), another team that has not exactly lived up to its hefty expectations thus far in 2023. San Diego took two of three at Nationals Park last month.
Former Nat Juan Soto notched his first multi-homer game as a Padre on Monday, taking two out of the yard to give San Diego a 4-0 lead midway through the fifth, but the Giants rallied for a 7-4 walkoff win in the 10th.
Patrick Corbin (4-8, 4.89 ERA), who is 0-3 in June, will square off against Joe Musgrove (5-2, 4.22 ERA) in Friday’s opener at Petco Park. Gray will oppose Michael Wacha (7-2, 2.90 ERA) on Saturday, and Gore battles against Seth Lugo (3-3, 4.10 ERA) in the series finale on Sunday.
This Week’s Schedule
- Monday: St. Louis 8, Washington 6
- Tuesday vs. St. Louis, 7:05 p.m. (MASN)
- Wednesday vs. St. Louis, 4:05 p.m. (MASN)
- Thursday vs. Arizona, 1:05 p.m. (MASN)
- Friday at San Diego, 9:40 p.m. (MASN2)
- Saturday at San Diego, 8:40 p.m. (MASN2, MLBN*)
- Sunday at San Diego, 4:10 p.m. (MASN2)
*-Out of market only
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Chris Graham
