Fedde, back of bullpen shut out Dodgers for 1-0 win (updated)

Meaningful late-inning opportunities for Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey have been so sparse this season that Davey Martinez has regularly been compelled to use his best relievers in blowouts just to make sure they don’t get rusty.

The Nationals have had a save opportunity in only two games this month (each of them blown saves by Rainey, for what it’s worth). So when the situation finally presented itself again early this evening on South Capitol Street, it was more than appropriate to feel some pangs of anxiety for the home ballclub.

Turns out there was nothing to be worried about, because Finnegan and Rainey delivered in the eighth and ninth innings to close out a tense, much-needed, 1-0 victory over the Dodgers to avoid a series sweep.

"Those are the moments you want to be pitching in, and those are the moments you're hoping for," Finnegan said. "To get one of those tonight and do our job at the back end of the bullpen and come away with the win, it was awesome."

A matinee finale that saw Erick Fedde toss six scoreless innings and the Nationals push across one run in the bottom of the sixth, ultimately came down to the two relievers Martinez has ready to pitch the final two innings every night but hardly ever had been able to use as desired through the season’s first 45 games.

Game 44 lineups: Nats vs. Dodgers

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The reunion tour continues tonight at Nats Park when the Nationals and Dodgers play the second game of this three-game set.

Monday night saw Trea Turner and Daniel Hudson return to D.C. for the first time since last summer’s selloff (although Hudson didn’t enter the game). Tonight, it will be Josiah Gray and Keibert Ruiz’s turn to face off against their former team together. While Gray takes the mound for the first time against the Dodgers, Ruiz went 0-for-4 last night in his first action against L.A.

Gray went 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and 1.500 WHIP in eight innings over two appearances (one start) with the Dodgers last year before getting shipped off to Washington as part of the four-player package in exchange for Max Scherzer and Turner. In 20 career starts with the Nats, he’s 6-5 with a 4.92 ERA and 1.311 WHIP, including 4-3 with a 4.36 ERA and 1.269 WHIP in eight starts this season.

The Dodgers will counter with right-hander Walker Buehler, who is now tied with teammate Tyler Anderson (and six others, including Scherzer) in the league lead with five wins after the left-hander’s dominant performance on South Capitol Street last night. Buehler has the 11th-best ERA in the National League at 2.89 and is 1-1 with a 2.33 ERA in four career outings (three starts) against the Nats.

César Hernández is back in the leadoff spot after Lane Thomas led off last night. Thomas is in center field and batting eighth. We will check on Victor Robles after he came out of the Monday's game with a calf cramp.

You’ll see a familiar face in the MASN booth tonight, as Ryan Zimmerman will join Bob Carpenter, Kevin Frandsen and Dan Kolko for tonight’s broadcast. Pregame coverage starts with “Nats Xtra” at 6:30 p.m., followed by a scheduled first pitch at 7:05 p.m., all on MASN2.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 60 degrees, wind 9 mph in from right-center field

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Juan Soto
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Josh Bell
LF Yadiel Hernandez
3B Maikel Franco
CF Lane Thomas
SS Dee Strange-Gordon

RHP Josiah Gray

DODGERS
RF Mookie Betts
1B Freddie Freeman
SS Trea Turner
C Will Smith
2B Max Muncy
3B Justin Turner
DH Edwin Ríos
CF Chris Taylor
LF Gavin Lux


RHP Walker Buehler

Second triple play in Nats history felt familiar to Franco

MILWAUKEE – The ball came off Luis Urias’ bat, headed down the third base line and bounced directly to a charging Maikel Franco, at which point anybody watching immediately must’ve had the same thought.

Could this be a triple play?

And when Franco stepped on third, fired to second and watched as teammate César Hernández made a smooth turn to get the ball to Josh Bell at first base in plenty of time to retire Urias, it almost felt too good to be true.

Has a triple play in a big league game ever looked as easy as the 5-4-3 triplet-killing the Nationals pulled off during Friday night’s loss to the Brewers?

“It’s not easy,” Franco insisted afterward. “But you know, sometimes the play tells you what you have to do. I know I’ve been on the line and the ball was (hit) hard on the line, and I just catch the ball and I think about go to second, and César made the good turn.”

Game 27 lineups: Nats at Rockies

Aaron Sanchez throw gray wide

DENVER – After a cold, rainy Wednesday night here at Coors Field, it’s a beautiful Thursday afternoon for the series finale between the Nationals and Rockies. The Nats have a chance to win their second straight road series, which would be no small feat under the circumstances.

They’ll hope to get the bats going again after getting shut down by left-hander Austin Gomber on Wednesday. Today they face right-hander Antonio Senzatela, who has only a bit of experience against Nationals hitters during his career. César Hernández (3-for-9, double), Josh Bell (3-for-5, double, two walks) and Maikel Franco (2-for-5, triple) have enjoyed the most success against Senzatela.

Aaron Sanchez, meanwhile, makes his third start since joining the Nats rotation. The 29-year-old right-hander faced the Giants each of his previous outings, losing to them once and then beating them in the follow-up game. Today he faces a Rockies lineup that really hasn’t done much so far this series, scoring five of its seven total runs in the bottom of the fourth Tuesday night, an inning that would’ve ended with a zero on the scoreboard if not for Alcides Escobar’s error on a tailor-made double play grounder.

Friendly reminder: Today’s game is available only on YouTube. It’s free and requires no login, only a computer, tablet, phone or smart TV of your choice. Here’s the link to watch it.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at COLORADO ROCKIES
Where: Coors Field
Gametime: 3:10 p.m. EDT
TV: YouTube
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 62 degrees, wind 8 mph in from center field

Corbin’s best not enough as Nats’ losing streak reaches eight (updated)

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Patrick Corbin was “pissed” after his last start. He said so after completing only 1 2/3 innings against the Giants on Friday while his ERA inflated to 11.20 and his WHIP went up to 2.561 on the season.

So after an extra day of rest and an intense bullpen session Tuesday with pitching coach Jim Hickey that manager Davey Martinez called “crisp,” Corbin was looking for his best outing of the season. And the Nationals needed it to avoid a second straight sweep and an eight-game losing streak at home.

Corbin did his part, becoming just the second Nationals starter to complete six innings this season while only giving up two earned runs. He struck out a season-high eight batters over his six-plus innings.

But even Corbin’s best wasn’t enough to break the losing streak as the Nats fell to the Marlins 3-2 in front of 12,454 fans taking in Thursday’s matinee.

“Felt really good," Corbin said after the game. "I've been working on a lot of stuff, so it's good to see some results out there. But yeah, I felt pretty good. Just try to continue off this. It's been a tough week or so for us here. It stinks we didn't get the win, but guys are out there fighting and they'll come.”

Game 17 lineups: Nats vs. Giants

Lane Thomas swing white

Hope you slept fast because we’re right back at Nationals Park for a rare early Saturday afternoon game. The Nationals are looking to bounce back after last night’s 7-1 series-opening loss to the Giants in which Patrick Corbin gave up seven runs in just 1 2/3 innings. 

The Nationals needed to make some changes to their roster this morning in order to bring up a pitcher for today’s start. Although Monday’s rainout gave the staff a needed break, Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Diamondbacks created a conundrum for today. And after Paolo Espino’s two innings of work last night, the Nats needed reinforcements for their second game against the Giants.

Aaron Sanchez, who made his way to D.C. from Triple-A Rochester last night, is set to make his Nationals debut against his former team. The 29-year-old right-hander is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in three starts with the Red Wings. He has a 3.93 ERA over his seven-year major league career, including a 1-1 record and 3.06 ERA over nine appearances (seven starts) with the Giants last year.

In order to select Sanchez's contract and make room on the 40-man roster, the Nats designated right-hander Patrick Murphy for assignment.

Manager Davey Martinez has made a significant change to the top of his lineup this afternoon. Lane Thomas is in the leadoff spot with César Hernández moving down to the sixth spot. After posting a .364 on-base percentage in 45 games with the Nats last year, Thomas gets his first chance to lead off this season.

Nats follow similar recipe to complete doubleheader sweep of D-backs

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The Nationals got what they needed in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Diamondbacks. Josiah Gray pitched 5 ⅓ innings of one-run ball and four relievers combined to cover the remaining outs in a 6-1 win.

Would it be too much to ask for the same in the nightcap?

Joan Adon was hoping to get deep into the game to help out his taxed teammates in the bullpen and perhaps turn around his start to the season. The relievers who weren’t used in this afternoon’s game were hoping to post more zeros. And the Nationals offense was hoping to manufacture runs just like they had done earlier.

Adon did his part, becoming the first Nationals starting pitcher to complete six innings in 2022 as he helped his club complete the doubleheader sweep with a 1-0 win in front of an announced crowd of 11,720.

The 23-year-old rookie starter held the D-backs scoreless over 6 ⅓ innings with five strikeouts on 88 pitches, 57 for strikes, to earn his first major league win. A big turnaround from his previous two starts.

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