Nats Chat

The Nats and Guardians were rained out on Monday and will play a traditional doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 3:35PM.

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The Nats won their first road series of the season after a 4-1 victory over the Reds on Sunday afternoon. Mark (From Cincinnati) & Al note the bullpen having a solid weekend and instilling a bit more confidence as of late.

(04:40) MacKenzie Gore extended his MLB lead for strikeouts this season by whiffing nine Reds in the series finale.  Gore fought through muddy conditions to make it through the bottom of the 5th as the rain intensified in what was his last inning of work.

(13:00) Three Nationals relievers combined for four scoreless frames after Gore departed. Jorge Lopez tossed two innings on his way to earning the win.  Lopez has five consecutive scoreless appearance and all of them have come in high leverage situations.

(16:10) Luis Garcia Jr. hit the go ahead solo homer to give Washington a 2-1 lead in the top of the 7th.  Garcia hit two homers on the road trip and his OPS this season is at .642.

(20:00) The Nats begin a three game series vs. Cleveland on Monday night in Navy Yard.  There is some mystery as to who will start on Wednesday afternoon as it could either be Trevor Williams or Michael Soroka.  Brad Lord is slated to start the middle game on Tuesday evening.  

(26:30) Jim Callis from MLB Pipeline previews the options for the Nationals this summer when they select the top pick in the Draft on July 13th. 

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The Nats totaled 15 hits on their way to an 11-6 triumph at the Reds on Saturday evening.  Mark (From Cincinnati) & Al note Amed Rosario's biggest game yet since joining the team as he had four hits and a 3-run homer in the 6th to put Washington ahead for good.

(07:00) Riley Adams had a big game with both the bat and his arm. Adams came through with a late 2-run single and threw out a pair of base stealers. Adams only has 22 at bats so far this season in the backup catcher role.

(11:15) Trevor Williams had another rocky outing as he gave up four runs off of nine hits in just over five frames. Williams' ERA is up to 5.86 and his spot in the rotation is under closer scrutiny as Michael Soroka is poised to return soon from the IL.

(16:20) Andrew Chafin excelled in his organizational debut as he recorded two strikeouts in relief of Williams to keep the 7-4 lead in tact through six innings. Mark relays his colorful impression of the veteran lefty who is full of personality.

(23:00) MacKenzie Gore takes the mound on Sunday in the series rubber match.  Gore currently leads all of MLB w/ 59 strikeouts this season in seven starts. 

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The Nats fell 6-1 in Cincinnati on Friday evening to open the three game set. Mark (From Cincy) & Al discuss Mitchell Parker's second consecutive poor outing as he allowed five runs off of four walks in only four innings on the mound. Parker this past week has been struggling with control and looks like a different pitcher than the one that began the season.

 (06:40) Michael Soroka struck out 11 Iron Pigs in only five innings of work in his AAA rehab outing in Rochester. He is expected to return to the big league rotation in the near future. 

(9:45) Jackson Rutledge tossed a scoreless bottom of the 8th and quietly is sporting a 2.38 ERA. Will he start to pitch in more high leverage situations moving forward? 

(13:10) Reds hurler Hunter Greene dominated Washington as he collected a dozen strikeouts in only six innings of work. Greene now has 55Ks this season, 3rd most in the majors, trailing league leader MacKenzie Gore by four strikeouts. 

(16:30) Josh Bell homered and the exited the game early due to tweaking his hamstring. 

(19:40) Trevor Williams is slated to start on Saturday, but there is heavy rain in the Cincinnati forecast.

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The Nats snapped their three game skid with a 4-2 victory on Thursday night at the Phillies.  Mark (From Philadelphia) & Al open with the eventful top of the 6th where Washington scored all of their runs.  Luis Garcia Jr. not only had a RBI single, but also stole home on a double steal for the final insurance run.

(08:10) Keibert Ruiz knocked in Nathaniel Lowe on what was ruled a three base error by Bryce Harper, but should it have been scored as a triple?

(12:45) Brad Lord lasted five innings and recorded his first Big League "W". The timing is rather interesting as his rotation spot is at stake if Michael Soroka returns from the IL in the near future.

(18:45) The bullpen came through for Lord as three relievers combined for four scoreless frames.  Jose A. Ferrer tossed two innings, Jorge Lopez pitched the 8th, and Kyle Finnegan bounced back with his 10th save of the season, the 2nd most in the NL.

(25:00) The Nationals made their first bullpen transaction post Opening Day as they signed veteran Andrew Chafin and DFA'd Colin Poche. Chafin has been in the majors since 2014 and has a career ERA of 3.42. The lefty pitched well for AAA-Toledo last month before signing a major league deal with the Nats.

(30:00) The road trip moves this weekend to Cincinnati for a three game set.  Mitchell Parker will start the opener on Friday night vs. Hunter Greene.   The Reds are 17-15 overall and are in 2nd place in their division. 

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The Nats lost 7-2 on Wednesday night for their 3rd straight defeat. Mark (From Philadelphia) & Al begin with an update on James Frisbie, one of the Nationals batting practice pitchers, who collapsed on the field at the beginning of the day's workouts.  He received immediate medical attention and is apparently "feeling better".

(04:30) A look at the Nats in April as they end the opening month at 13-18 overall.

(06:45) Jake Irvin gave up a pair of homers, including a 3-run shot in the bottom of the 1st to Kyle Schwarber.  Irvin has allowed eight homers so far on the season in seven starts and has shown signs of diminishing velocity.

(15:45) Josh Bell went 0 for 4 and struck out three times on Wednesday.  His OPS is now down to .503 and the hosts evaluate what to do regarding Bell's struggles at the plate.

(24:00) Nathaniel Lowe had a RBI double hitting out of the cleanup spot. Lowe has likely been the team's 2nd best hitter so far and his OPS sits at .762.

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The Nats lost a heartbreaker in Philadelphia as what briefly looked like a thrilling comeback victory turned into a 7-6 walk-off loss. Mark (From Citizens Bank Park) & Al start with the seesaw 9th inning that was initially a 5-2 Phillies lead at the start of the frame.

(12:45) Discussion on how this ballpark has an aptitude of quirky games due to its odd dimensions.

(16:30) MacKenzie Gore gave up a pair of homers and struck out six in his outing. Gore returns to the MLB lead for strikeouts this season just ahead of Zack Wheeler, his foil on Tuesday night.

(19:30) The offense scored two off of Wheeler and came through with six extra base hits on the evening.  The highlight came in the four run top of the 9th when Nathaniel Lowe hit a go-ahead 3 run homer for a brief 6-5 edge.

(22:45) Mark points out that Washington had the bases loaded in four separate at bats and struck out every time.

(28:40) A special report on Cade Cavalli's short rehab outing in AAA, from Josh Whetzel, the voice of the Rochester Red Wings. 

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Monday was an ugly one in Navy Yard as the Mets routed the Nats 19-5 to split the series.  Trevor Williams allowed five runs in just over five innings of work, but the bullpen really imploded in the loss.  The 'pen then combined to give up 14 runs in less than four innings on the mound. Cole Henry especially had a rough afternoon, as New York plated five runs off of him in the top of the 7th.

(13:30) The offense only scored in the bottom of the 8th in this one.  Among the scoring was James Wood's 9th homer of the season, putting him just one back of the MLB lead.  Nathaniel Lowe also went deep and this leads to a discussion about the trade that brought him over to Washington this offseason.

(22:45) Al & Tim look at the recent emergence of MASN+, the new direct to consumer streaming option of Nationals & Orioles baseball.  What does this mean for the team's broadcast rights long terms?

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The Nats had their second walk-off win of the weekend as they overcame a six run deficit on Sunday afternoon for a thrilling 8-7 victory over the NL East leading Mets.  Riley Adams hit a 3 run HR in the bottom of the 7th to put Washington just one run back.  The offense then ncame through with two runs in the 9th and yet again it was CJ Abrams coming across for the winning run.

(11:30) Dylan Crews began the team's scoring with a solo homer to continue his hot stretch. Crews has six hits in the past three games and has gotten a hit almost everyday since April 15th.

(16:00) The much maligned bullpen kept its momentum as of late alive.  The 'pen combined for four innings of scoreless work, including a clean inning by the lefty Colin Poche.

(19:30) Mitchell Parker had a disastrous first inning as he allowed five runs and saw the Mets bat around.  As bad as his start was, he was able to settle down and fight his way to complete five innings and save the bullpen for a few frames.

(25:00) Evaluating where the Nationals are at after this recent stretch.

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The Nats were blanked 2-0 by the Mets on Saturday afternoon in D.C. Al & Mark evaluate the wasted opportunity as their solid pitching performance did not get any help from the offense. The bats produced only singles in their seven hits in defeat. 

(05:45) Jose Tena singled but most importantly had another good day at 3B in the field. Tena has been filling in at the hot corner due to Paul DeJong's trip to the IL and has markedly improved on defense since last season. 

(09:35) Brad Lord's started last four innings, but was interrupted by a brief early rain delay. Lord gave up a 2 run HR to Francisco Alvarez, the only source of scoring on Saturday. Lord began the season a reliever, but has filled in as a starter during Michael Soroka's stint on the IL. 

(16:00) The bullpen combined to toss five scoreless frames in the loss. Encouragingly, Lucas Sims threw one inning and only needed nine pitches in the process. 

(22:10) Mitchell Parker will take the mound on Sunday and believe it or not, but he leads all of MLB in pitcher WAR so far this season. 

(24:15) Juan Soto went for 0 for 4 on Saturday and is hitting .235 thus far. Soto has not homered since April 15th, but the Mets do have the best record in baseball.

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