Friday’s schedule around the Nationals’ farm system is light on games and heavy on reset time, with four affiliates in All-Star break mode and the rest either off or dealing with split results from the Dominican Summer League.
Rochester, Harrisburg, Wilmington, and Fredericksburg are all idle Friday, while the FCL Nationals and DSL Nationals each have recent action worth sorting through. Rochester is set to return against Jacksonville at 6:45 p.m. with a TBD starter opposite Blalock, who is listed at 1-6 with a 5.81 ERA.
Harrisburg will host New Hampshire at 7 p.m., with Lyon, 3-3 and a 4.54 ERA, matched up against Stanifer, 3-6 with a 4.48 ERA. Wilmington is scheduled to face Jersey Shore at 6:35 p.m. with Tepper, 1-2 and a 6.10 ERA, listed as the starter, while the opponent is still TBD.
Fredericksburg also comes back Friday night, taking on Hill City at 6:35 p.m. with Manning, 3-2 and a 3.58 ERA, opposed by DeSanto, 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA.
The FCL Nationals handled business in a 7-1 win over the FCL Marlins, and Marconi German supplied the swing that changed everything. His grand slam in the third inning put the game in control, and the offense kept stacking on runs with three more in the fifth, highlighted by Nauris De La Cruz’s first double of the season.
Noah Millikan earned the win after five innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits, one run, one earned run, one walk, and striking out six. Adam Bogosian and Colby Frieda each finished the seven-inning game with scoreless outings and two strikeouts apiece.
German finished 1-for-2 with a run, a walk, the grand slam, four RBI, and an error. De La Cruz went 2-for-3 with two runs, a walk, a double, and an RBI. Cortesia didn’t record an official at-bat but scored twice, walked three times, and stole a base, his 20th.
The DSL Nationals had a far messier day in a game that finally resumed and then slipped away. In the continuation of the July 2 contest, the DSL Nationals lost 14-13 to DSL Arizona Red after an eight-run lead disappeared.
The bullpen was hit for 11 runs over three-plus innings, and Josue Rondon was charged with the loss after retiring two of the seven batters he faced across the eighth and ninth innings. Rafael Mejias then entered with the bases loaded, hit the first batter he saw to force in a run, and later allowed the game-winning two-run single.
The offense did enough to make the finish sting even more. Euris Acosta reached base three times, homered, drove in two, scored three times, and stole three bases, part of a line that also included 10 hits, six walks, and six steals for the club.
Acosta was joined by a 2-for-4 effort from Tarifa, who scored once, walked, doubled, and drove in a run, while B. Rodriguez also went 2-for-4 with a run, two strikeouts, and a hit by pitch.
Ja. Garcia added a 1-for-3 day with three runs, a walk, and two RBI.
In the “aftercap,” the DSL Nationals at least avoided a sweep with a 5-4 win, their seventh victory in 32 games. Jhondel Salas worked the first four innings and allowed three runs on seven hits, including a home run, with one walk and five strikeouts.
Braylin Moren threw a scoreless inning in the seventh and picked up the win after the Nationals put together their third, fourth, and fifth hits, capped by Juan Duran’s walkoff single with two outs. Vargas finished 1-for-3 with two runs and a double, Tusen went 1-for-2 with two runs and a walk, and Acosta drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.
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Krooks return gives Washington another option at a time when the relief mix is being reshuffled on the fly, and the expectation is that he will be leaned on more heavily now than he was before the injuries. For a Nationals club trying to patch together innings, the timing matters as much as the name, and Krook suddenly finds himself back in the middle of a bullpen picture that has changed fast. [Read more 🡒]
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Harrisburgs offense gave the club a lift in that comeback effort, led by Ethan Petrys 4-for-4 night with five RBIs, and the Senators now have a chance to carry that momentum into the middle game of the set. After this three-game stretch, they will turn quickly to a six-game series against Reading, but for Washington, the bigger focus is on how Irvin looks in a setting that matters beyond the box score. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Suddenly Have A Zack Littell Problem Before The Deadline
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For a club trying to sort out its pitching picture, Littell now sits in an awkward middle ground: not quite reliable enough to count on, and not productive enough to assume there will be a strong market for him. Washington has to decide whether to ride it out with him the rest of the season and factor in the 2027 mutual option, or keep exploring a move even as the clock toward the Aug. 3 deadline keeps ticking. [Read more 🡒]