The Nationals are heading back to Washington looking for a reset after a trip that went sideways in a hurry.
Thursday’s 7-3 loss to the Phillies finished off a rough four-game set in Philadelphia, where Washington dropped three of four and has now lost eight of its last nine overall. Miles Mikolas took the brunt of it on the mound, giving up six runs and a season-high 12 hits in five innings. Philadelphia kept the pressure on all afternoon, piling up 16 hits and eight doubles.
Even in a loss, Andrew Pinckney gave the Nationals something to hang onto. In his first major-league start, he launched his first big-league home run. But the result still left Washington at 56-61, five games under .500 and 5.5 games back in the Wild Card race.
Now the Reds come to town, and Cincinnati arrives with momentum. The Reds are 56-58, have won four straight after sweeping the Athletics, and have gone 13-6 since the All-Star break. On Thursday, Elly De La Cruz and Tyler Stephenson each went deep in a 6-5 win, while rookie Sal Stewart added his 25th homer of the season.
Friday night opens the series at 6:45 PM ET with Chase Petty listed as the Reds’ starter, though he’s expected to function as an opener in a bullpen game. Petty, who recently came off the injured list, hasn’t gone beyond 2⅓ innings in an outing since June 4, so Washington should be ready for a parade of Cincinnati relievers.
Cade Cavalli gets the ball for the Nationals. He’s coming off his fifth straight quality start, a stretch that has made him the club’s most dependable starter with Foster Griffin gone. Against the Braves last Sunday, Cavalli gave up three runs, two earned, over six innings while striking out three, and he’ll try to keep that run going against a Cincinnati lineup that’s been swinging it well.
Saturday brings one of the toughest pitching matchups of the series. Chase Burns, who is 13-1 with a 2.35 ERA, has been one of the best starters in baseball all season.
He was sharp in his last outing against Pittsburgh, allowing one run on two hits over six innings with nine strikeouts in a 10-2 win. Burns already handled the Nationals once this year, tossing six scoreless innings against them in May.
Andrew Alvarez will start for Washington. He worked efficiently against the Phillies in his last outing, carrying a low pitch count into the seventh inning and not allowing a run. But once he left with two runners aboard, the bullpen couldn’t finish the job, and a grand slam ended up adding two runs to Alvarez’s final line.
The series wraps Sunday at 12:15 PM ET, and the Nationals still don’t have a starter announced. Brady Singer will go for Cincinnati after allowing three runs over six innings with six strikeouts against the Athletics. His season has been uneven, but he has given up three earned runs or fewer in six of his last seven starts, and the Reds will be hoping for one more steady outing.
Washington will be trying to close out the weekend with a series win, and it comes at the end of a 17-game stretch. The game will have national coverage on Peacock and NBCSN.
In Other News...
Nationals May Have Found A New Outfield Power Option
Andrew Pinckney arrived in Washington with a chance to help patch an outfield gap, and he made the kind of first impression that can change a conversation fast. Called up to replace the injured James Wood, the Nationals gave the rookie his major league debut against the Phillies and sent him out there against Cristopher Sanchez, giving him a real test right away.
Pinckney answered with his first big league hit and finished 1-for-2 before coming out in the sixth inning. For a club looking for any jolt it can find in the outfield, the debut did more than just check a box on the rookies career path. It gave the Nationals a glimpse of a player who might offer more than temporary depth, even if the larger question of how quickly he can fit into the mix is still very much open. [Read more 🡒]
Dylan Crews Is Giving The Nationals A Reason To Believe Again
Dylan Crews has started to look more like the player the Nationals envisioned when they made him the No. 2 overall pick in 2023. After a rocky opening stretch, the young outfielder made clear progress in July, showing better plate discipline and a more mature approach at the plate while the club continued reshaping its roster around younger talent and evaluating who can help form the next core.
The encouraging part for Washington is that the process has held even when the results have not always followed in a neat line. Crews improved strike-zone judgment has given the Nationals something concrete to build on, especially at a time when they are leaning heavily on emerging players to carry the organization forward. There is still plenty to sort out, but for a team searching for reasons to believe, his development has become one of the more meaningful ones. [Read more 🡒]