The last position the Nationals wanted to find themselves in today is the one they’re in, needing a win over the Phillies to avoid an 0-3 start to their season. They certainly had a chance to win Thursday’s opener before falling in 10 innings. And they briefly had a chance to win Saturday’s game, until the bullpen gate swung open in the sixth and turned a 2-2 game into an absolute mess.
We’ll have to see how the bullpen shakes out today. The best thing the Nats could do to help their case would be to score a good number of runs themselves and take some pressure off the pitching staff. The good news: They’ve hit four homers through two games, two of them off the bat of Keibert Ruiz. The bad news: They’re 3-for-21 with runners in scoring position. That has got to improve.
The challenge today is a stiff one against the Phillies’ Aaron Nola, who has been very good in these matchups in recent seasons. In nine starts against the Nationals since 2022, the right-hander is 4-1 with a 1.70 ERA.
The Nats got a dominant start from MacKenzie Gore on Opening Day and a solid start from Jake Irvin on Saturday. They’ll hope for more that today from Mitchell Parker, who actually gets the third game of the season even though he’s technically the No. 5 starter. Davey Martinez wanted another lefty against the lefty-heavy Philadelphia lineup, so Parker gets the call. He faced the Phillies once as a rookie, and it did not go well: nine runs and 10 hits in only three innings of work.
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 76 degrees, wind 13 mph out to center field
PHILLIES
DH Kyle Schwarber3B Alec Bohm1B Bryce HarperRF Nick Castellanos2B Bryson StottSS Edmundo SosaLF Brandon MarshCF Johan Rojas
C Rafael Marchán
RHP Aaron Nola
NATIONALS
SS CJ AbramsLF James Wood2B Luis García Jr.C Keibert Ruiz1B Nathaniel LoweDH Josh Bell3B Paul DeJongRF Dylan Crews
CF Jacob Young
LHP Mitchell Parker
