Washington heads into the final week of June on a bit of a hot streak after claiming the series in San Diego Sunday with an 8-3 victory. MacKenzie Gore, who fanned the first six batters of the game (a franchise record), secured his fourth win of the season, striking out nine and giving up just one run — a Fernando Tatis solo homer — in five solid innings against his former team.
Four of those first six San Diego hitters that Gore sat down were some of the top offensive performers in the league — Tatis, former Nat Juan Soto, Manny Machado, and Xander Boegarts. Gore became just the third pitcher to strike Soto out three times in a game, joining Hyun-Jin Ryu and Max Fried.
At the plate Sunday, Jeimer Candelario and Joey Meneses drove in three runs apiece as the Nationals (30-47) cranked out 11 hits against Padres pitching. Candelario hit his second first-inning solo home run in as many days to get things started.
The Nats have won two games in a row, and three of their last five after dropping each of their previous five, and 13 of their previous 15. They will remain out West to start the week, beginning tonight with a three-game set at Seattle.
After a much-needed day off on Thursday (the team’s first since June 12), Washington then returns to the East Coast this weekend, taking on the Phillies (Friday through Sunday) at Citizens Bank Park.
Nats right fielder Lane Thomas (team-best 13 home runs, 39 RBI) is batting .295 on the year, good for fifth in the NL and 12th in the majors. Meneses is a few points behind at .293 (8th in the NL, 16th in MLB).
Thomas, who leads the team in several offensive categories, has been included in a few trade rumors with the deadline quickly approaching on Aug. 1. Meneses has hit safely in 14 of his 19 games in the month of June, including each of the last three against the Padres.
Second baseman Luis Garcia (.274, 5 home runs, 33 RBI) had his seven-game hit streak snapped in Thursday’s make-up loss to Arizona, a game in which Washington manager Davey Martinez was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with home-plate umpire Doug Eddings.
In case you missed it, Martinez truly got his money’s worth before getting tossed, kicking the dirt around home plate before planking on the field to illustrate how low an Eddings called-third strike was against CJ Abrams, after a similarly located Washington pitch in the following inning was ruled a ball.
“They’re not perfect; neither is anybody else, and those things will happen,” the skipper said of Thursday’s crew. “It’s when it happens — that’s the thing that really frustrates me a lot… In situations where it’s meaningful, you really have to bear down and get it right.”
Aside from a 3-for-4 day against the Diamondbacks, Nats catcher Keibert Ruiz (.227, 8 homers, 27 RBI) went 0-for-21 in his other four games last week.
This Week’s Opponents
The Mariners (37-39) have slipped into fourth place in the American League West standings, 9.5 games back of Texas and 4.5 back in the Wild Card race.
Washington’s Trevor Williams (4-4, 4.14 ERA) is scheduled to take the hill in tonight’s opener at T-Mobile Park against Seattle right-hander Luis Castillo (4-6, 2.89 ERA). On Tuesday, Jake Irvin (1-4, 4.71 ERA) faces Mariners rookie Bryan Woo (1-1, 5.09 ERA), and Patrick Corbin (4-9, 5.32 ERA) goes up against Logan Gilbert (5-4, 4.07 ERA) in the getaway game on Wednesday.
Seattle outfielders Julio Rodriguez and Teoscar Hernandez have combined for 27 home runs and 84 RBI this season to lead the offense. The Mariners dropped two of three on the road last week at the Yankees and Orioles, respectively.
The Nats will then look to gain some ground on Philadelphia (40-37), which enters Monday in third place in the NL East, 10 games back of first-place Atlanta and 3.5 games back in the NL Wild Card standings. The Phils have won 14 of their last 19 games.
Washington’s Josiah Gray (5-6, 3.43 ERA) is expected to start Friday against Cristopher Sanchez (0-1, 4.05 ERA), while Gore (4-6, 3.89 ERA) will oppose Zack Wheeler (6-4, 3.76 ERA) on Saturday, and then Williams takes on Phillies lefty Ranger Suarez (1-2, 3.50 ERA) in Sunday’s finale.
Wheeler has struck out 106 batters this season (third-most in the NL), while his Saturday counterpart, Gore, has fanned 104 (tied for 4th).
Philly slugger Nick Castellanos has racked up 92 hits on the season, fifth-most among all MLB batters. He also owns the fourth-best batting average in the National League (.313). Kyle Schwarber leads the Phillies with 20 home runs (4th in the NL), while another former Nat, Bryce Harper, made his season debut in early May after starting the year on the injured list. The 30-year-old, who spent his first seven seasons in the nation’s capital, is batting .286 with 3 homers and 17 RBI in 45 games in 2023.
Nats Notes
- Center fielder Victor Robles was put back on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with back spasms. Derek Hill, 27, who spent his past three seasons with Detroit, was signed as a free agent in the offseason and was called up from Triple-A Rochester in a corresponding move. Hill has had a productive season in the Nats’ farm system, hitting .320 with 8 dingers and 31 RBI.
- Nats set-up man Carl Edwards Jr. (1-3, 3.69 ERA) was placed on the 15-day IL on Wednesday with inflammation in his throwing shoulder. The 31-year-old, now in his eighth year in the big leagues, has posted 13 holds and a pair of saves this season. Left-hander Joe La Sorsa will replace him in the bullpen.
- Paolo Espino is back with the Nationals as well, after he was called up to replace fellow veteran right-hander Chad Kuhl (0-4, 8.45 ERA), who was designated for assignment on Saturday. Kuhl allowed four runs on four hits and a walk — in just one inning of relief — in Friday’s 13-3 loss at San Diego. Espino made 11 starts for the Red Wings, producing a 3-2 record and a 4.56 ERA in the process.
- MLB Pipeline just updated its top 100 prospects, and there are five players in the Nationals organization on the list. Outfielder James Wood (Double-A Harrisburg), the second pick by the Padres in the 2021 MLB Draft, checks in at No. 6 overall; third baseman Brady House (High-A Wilmington), the top pick in ‘21, is No. 75; pitcher Cade Cavalli, who cracked the Washington starting rotation but was injured for the year prior to the start of the season, is No. 82; Elijah Green (Single-A Fredericksburg), the fifth pick in last year’s draft, is No. 86; Robert Hassell III (Harrisburg), who has been battling the injury bug, is No. 99.
- The Nats will soon add another to that list, as they have the second overall selection in the upcoming draft (July 9-11), and Washington fans might want to keep an eye on a couple of the stars from tonight’s College World Series finale (7 p.m., ESPN). LSU teammates Dylan Crews (OF; top prospect) and Paul Skenes (RHP; No. 2 prospect) are each expected to be taken in the first few picks, along with Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford (No. 3). Pittsburgh owns the first pick, and the general consensus seems to be that if they choose to go with Crews — who just won the Golden Spikes Award for college baseball’s MVP — the Nats would then gladly take the talented Skenes at 2. Stay tuned.
- Washington returns home next week for a four-game series against Cincinnati and a three-game weekend set against Texas before heading into the All-Star break. Both the Reds (41-37) and Rangers (47-30) enter the week in first place in their respective divisions.
This Week’s Schedule
- Monday at Seattle, 9:40 p.m. (MASN2, MLBN*)
- Tuesday at Seattle, 9:40 p.m. (MASN2)
- Wednesday at Seattle, 4:10 p.m. (MASN2)
- Friday at Philadelphia, 6:05 p.m. (MASN)
- Saturday at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m. (MASN)
- Sunday at Philadelphia, 1:35 p.m. (MASN)
*-Out of market only
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