The Nats came up short in their sweep attempt as they fell 2-1 on Sunday afternoon in Miami. Al gets you up to speed on the catching situation as Riley Adams started every game this series while Keibert Ruiz has been out of the starting lineup since taking a foul ball to the mask on Wednesday in New York. It is important to note that Ruiz did pinch hit and minor league catcher Drew Millas will join the team on Monday in Toronto per Mark's report.
(05:00) Trevor Williams had a solid outing, but the 2 run HR he gave up to Jorge Soler was the difference. It was Williams 2nd straight good performance after navigating through a difficult stretch this summer.
(14:15) Al answers an email about how the team should handle this off-season now that the team is clearly more competitive. Should they be spending on the Free Agent market this Winter?
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Game 131: Williams Pitches Well in Defeat

A Washington Nationals podcast offering recap and analysis after every game, plus all the breaking news throughout the year. Hosted by Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com & Al Galdi, host of "The Al Galdi Podcast". For sponsorship opportunities, contact Tim Shovers at natschatpodcast@gmail.com.

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Baseball

The Nats avoided the sweep with a 5-2 victory on Sunday afternoon in Cleveland to conclude a winning road trip. Mark (From Progressive Field) & Al have another very good Jake Irvin outing to discuss as the young right-hander lasted six innings and threw 98 pitches. Irvin has allowed three runs or fewer in six of his past seven starts.
(05:00) Mark gives the latest on CJ Abrams and Jacob Young, both of which did not play on Sunday. Abrams hurt his shoulder on Friday night and Young exited Saturday with a swollen hand after being hit by a pitch.
(12:00) The bullpen used three arms to finish off the win and the hosts note that there has less relief pitcher usage recently. This is a difficult stretch as the next scheduled off day is not until June 10th.
(16:00) The offense came through with an early four run in the top of the 2nd. Joey Meneses had a RBI double and Ildemaro Vargas, in the lineup for Abrams, collected a RBI single. Lane Thomas had a good afternoon while playing CF as he had two RBIs.
(20:00) Nick Senzel was picked off and the Nationals have now been picked off eight times in the past ten games!
(23:30) Drew Millas and Riley Adams swapped roster spots on Sunday. Adams had a bad game on Saturday behind the plate and the stated reason for the demotion is to get him more at bats and to get work at 1B.
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Irvin & the Nats Avoid the Sweep

The Nats lost 3-2 on Saturday afternoon in Cleveland for their second straight defeat. Mark (From Ohio) and Al have plenty of sloppy Washington play to sort through, both defensively and on the bases. All of the Guardian runs came in quirky ways when facing Mitchell Parker, including Jose Ramirez scoring from second base on a wild pitch.
(14:00) This season has had plenty of instances of poor base running by the Nationals and Saturday was no different. There was a miscommunication involving the third base coach (Ricky Gutierrez) and yet another player was picked off. The team has been collectively picked off seven times in the past nine games.
(20:00) Jacob Young was hit by a pitch in the third inning and a lot ensued from there. Hear the complicated explanation that led to a Davey Martinez ejection and Young being removed from the game due to swelling in his hand.
(32:00) CJ Abrams was a late scratch from the lineup and Mark explains the situation surrounding that.
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Sloppy in a Bizarre Defeat

The weary traveling Nats lost 7-1 on Friday night in Cleveland. Mark (From Progressive Field) & Al open with the crummy logistics that preceded the Nationals for this series opener as they did not make it to their hotel room until 5 AM after flying in from Atlanta. Davey Martinez gave the team off from "BP" for additional rest.
(06:00) Washington only collected four hits and Luis Garcia Jr. had three of them. Garcia cooled off a bit at the plate in May as opposed to April (.253 vs. .311).
(10:00) Keibert Ruiz missed a tag on a play at the plate that brought in an early Guardians run. This leads to extended discussion on Ruiz's defense so far this season.
(15:30) Not a banner night for the bullpen as they allowed five runs in just two innings of work. The bulk of trouble belonged to Jacob Barnes and he was responsible for three runs while only recording one out. Why didn't Tanner Rainey pitch the bottom of the 8th when the game was out of reach?
(25:30) Patrick Corbin struck out five and allowed a pair of runs in six innings of work. Corbin continues the team's stretch of solid starting pitching.
(28:00) An update on where things stand with Victor Robles and his recent "DFA".
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Beaten in Cleveland

The Nats won 3-1 on Thursday night to take three out of four games this week in Atlanta. Al & Tim begin with what has become a familiar starting point for this podcast.... solid team pitching. Trevor Williams earned the victory as he lasted into the 6th and four relievers combined for a scoreless effort. The final six outs were recorded by the dynamic duo of Hunter Harvey & Kyle Finnegan.
(17:00) Joey Meneses had the hit of the night with a two run double in the top of the 3rd and came through with five hits during this series. Meneses is hitting .246 this month, which is much better than his April (.200).
(20:00) Jacob Young reached base multiple times and also stole his 17th base of the season. Young's speed created a lot of havoc on Thursday and led to a Braves throwing error.
(26:30) We read a pair of listener submitted email questions. Send us yours to natschatpodcast@gmail.com.
(33:00) As Josh Gibson's stats are very much in the sports news this week, we play a segment from our podcast's interview with Bob Kendrick in June of 2021 about Gibson. Kendrick is the President of the Negro Leagues Hall of Fame in Kansas City, MO.
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More Good Pitching Down South

The Nats beat the Braves 7-2 on Wednesday night to move to 25-29 on the season, putting them on pace for 75 victories this season. Mark & Al have another solid starting pitching performance to discuss as MacKenzie Gore earned the win and did not issue a walk along the way. Gore's ERA so far this season is 2.91 through 11 starts.
(14:00) The bullpen threw nearly four innings, but didn't need to use Kyle Finnegan. Hunter Harvey recorded four outs and pushed his WHIP down to 0.92.
(17:00) Lane Thomas had a big game as he hit a 3 run HR, doubled, singled, stole a pair of bases, and drew a walk.
(24:30) Joey Gallo was in the news on Wednesday and also had a bunt single in the top of the 8th. (https://www.tmz.com/2024/05/28/hayden-hopkins-expecting-child-mlb-player-joey-gallo-not-mark-davis/)
(28:30) Major League Baseball has officially elevated Negro League statistics and the legendary Josh Gibson now owns multiple major records in baseball history. Gibson played a portion of his career in Washington D.C. while with Homestead Grays.
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Game 131: Williams Pitches Well in Defeat

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