SEATTLE – Would you have imagined after Tuesday’s blowout loss the Nationals wound now find themselves in position to win this series behind their ace? Probably not. But Wednesday’s 9-0 thumping of the Mariners canceled out Tuesday’s 9-1 loss and sets up the rubber match tonight.

And it’s MacKenzie Gore on the mound looking to win the series for the Nats. The 26-year-old lefty is coming off an outstanding outing against the Giants (one run, two hits, nine strikeouts over six-plus innings) that was marred only by his departure with a nasty welt on his upper left leg from a line drive that struck him way back in the top of the second. Gore is perfectly fine now, and he’ll be trying to expand his lead over Detroit’s Tarik Skubal (currently one behind him) for the major league lead in strikeouts.

Emerson Hancock, the Mariners’ first-round pick in 2020, will oppose Gore. The tall right-hander is 2-2 with a 5.95 ERA in eight starts so far this season, 6-6 with a 5.14 ERA in 23 career starts. He’s not a big strikeout guy; he throws the ball over the plate and tries to induce weak contact. We know the Nats (who have never faced him before) sometimes struggle with these type of pitchers. It’s on them to figure him out and make adjustments along the way.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SEATTLE MARINERS
Where: T-Mobile Park
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 63 degrees, wind 9 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
1B Nathaniel Lowe
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Josh Bell
CF Robert Hassell III
3B José Tena
RF Daylen Lile

SEATTLE – The first five days of Robert Hassell III’s major league career included 17 at-bats, two hits (both coming in his debut), zero walks and some clear-cut pressing at the plate.

Not that anyone should have been surprised by that. How many rookies, no matter how highly touted, look totally comfortable in their first week in the bigs?

Davey Martinez knows this as well as anyone. The Nationals manager often reminds his young players that he began his career in an 0-for-11 slump. And as he reminded Hassell on Wednesday morning, the key is stay true to yourself, to try to remain the same player you were the previous week at Triple-A.

“You’re going to get overamped, and you want to try to do a lot,” Martinez told Hassell. “But this game is tough enough. Don’t make it harder on yourself. Just do the things you’re capable of doing.”

Several hours later, on the heels of the biggest night of his brief big league career, Hassell was complimenting his manager for the much-needed message.

SEATTLE – As lost as they looked at the plate Tuesday night against Logan Evans, the Nationals could not have looked more comfortable when they dug in this evening against George Kirby.

As labored as his recent starts against a number of opponents had felt, Trevor Williams could not have looked more in control tonight when he faced the same Seattle lineup that exploded for nine runs the previous night.

Baseball’s a funny game sometimes, and perhaps it has caused even more head-scratching for the 2025 Nationals than ever before. Because it’s hard to know which version of this team is going to show up on any given night. But when the good version does report for duty as it did tonight in a 9-0 pasting of the Mariners, it sure is fun to watch.

Behind four solo homers from Luis García Jr., Josh Bell, James Wood and Robert Hassell III (the first of his career) and six scoreless innings from Williams, the Nats cruised to an easy victory only 24 hours after they were dominated in the series opener.

"There's always going to be a tomorrow," García said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. "So you have to erase what happened the last day, come in here, work hard and get the win."

SEATTLE – Cade Cavalli is nothing more than a minor league pitcher these days, no longer injured, no longer rehabbing, just trying to earn his way back to the major leagues. The way he’s pitching, he’s starting to make a compelling case for a promotion to D.C.

Cavalli dominated over five innings today for Triple-A Rochester, shutting out Columbus on three hits and a walk while striking out 10. It was the latest, and best, outing for the Nationals’ 2020 first-round pick in his prolonged quest to return from Tommy John surgery more than two years ago.

“I saw the reports,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I heard he threw really well. Ten strikeouts in five innings, which is awesome. That’s great for us, as well.”

Cavalli, who made his one and only major league start in August 2022, had elbow ligament reconstruction surgery in March 2023 and has been trying to make it back ever since. He spent all of 2023 and 2024 on the big league injured list, plus the first 45 days of this season before the club deemed him healthy and optioned him to Triple-A (where he was already pitching on a rehab assignment).

Now that he’s on a regular throwing regimen, Cavalli seems to be finding a groove. Over his last three starts, he’s allowed two total runs across 14 innings, striking out 23 while issuing only three walks.

SEATTLE – Tuesday night’s series opener went about as badly as it could have gone from the Nationals’ perspective. Mitchell Parker put them in an early hole, the lineup never seriously threatened to come back and the bullpen expanded the deficit to the point it became a 9-1 rout by the Mariners.

So they’ll try all over again tonight and see if they can’t get back on track. As always, the pressure to score first is significant, and the stats confirm it. When they score first the season, the Nats are 18-7. When the opponent scores first, they’re 6-23. That’s an awfully extreme difference.

Can a lineup that managed one run (a James Wood solo homer) Tuesday night against Logan Evans do more tonight against George Kirby? Davey Martinez is trotting out the same lineup in hopes of better results.

Meanwhile, Trevor Williams desperately needs to put together a solid start himself, even if that means only five innings. The veteran right-hander enters with a 6.39 ERA and has surrendered at least four runs in each of his last five starts.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SEATTLE MARINERS
Where: T-Mobile Park
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 75 degrees, wind 10 mph out to center field

SEATTLE – The only change the Nationals have made to their rotation through the season’s first two months was related to injury. When Michael Soroka strained his right biceps muscle in his first start of the year, they turned to rookie Brad Lord to make six spot starts until Soroka was ready to return from the IL.

There have been zero moves made as a result of performance so far. But could the club be headed in that direction?

Mitchell Parker’s outing Tuesday night during a 9-1 loss to the Mariners brings that question back to the forefront. The left-hander was roughed up for three home runs in 4 2/3 innings, including back-to-back blasts by Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh in the bottom of the first. And this was merely the latest in a string of rough outings.

It feels like an eternity ago, but Parker opened the season 3-1 with a 1.39 ERA over his first five starts. He put fewer than one batter on base per inning during that stretch while surrendering only one home run.

Since then, it’s been a completely different story. Over his last six starts, Parker is 1-3 with an 8.46 ERA. He has put nearly two batters on base per inning during this stretch while surrendering five total home runs.

SEATTLE – It’s one thing to be aggressive at the plate. It’s quite another thing to have so little success being aggressive at the plate and making no obvious adjustment to reverse that trend.

The Nationals have often shown that unfortunate propensity in recent seasons, and tonight they took it to new (and increasingly agonizing) lengths. During a 9-1 trouncing at the hands of the Mariners, they made quick outs early against Logan Evans, then continued to make quick outs against Seattle’s rookie starter and never did anything to fix it.

By the time Eduard Bazardo completed what Evans started, the Nats ensured tonight would rank among the most futile offensive efforts in club history: They saw 98 total pitches, tied for the 11th fewest they've seen in a nine-inning game over the last 20-plus seasons.

"We're trying to work and see pitches. But when he's like that and you know he's attacking like that, you've got to go up there and be ready to hit," manager Davey Martinez said of Evans, who threw 65 of his 88 pitches for strikes. "You might get just one pitch like that down the middle, and then all of a sudden you're fighting. Tip my cap to him. He kept going out there and kept throwing strikes."

The Nationals nearly failed to draw a walk for the third consecutive game, a distinction they had achieved only once before in club history (September 2016). Josh Bell’s free pass in the top of the eighth finally snapped their streak of impatience at 26 innings.

SEATTLE – The Nationals hope to have Kyle Finnegan available to them for tonight’s series opener against the Mariners, but the closer’s availability was still up in the air as the team took the field this evening for pregame workouts.

Finnegan hasn’t pitched in five days due to shoulder fatigue, a seemingly minor ailment that kept him from taking the mound in the ninth inning of Saturday’s 3-0 victory over the Giants. The Nats lost Sunday’s series finale, so there was no save situation, but it appears their closer would not have been available if they held a lead in the ninth.

Finnegan, who has never spent a day on the injured list in five-plus seasons in the big leagues, expressed confidence the ailment wasn’t serious and believed by mentioning it quickly he avoided any kind of long-term problems. But he still needs to pitch in a game until anyone can say for certainty.

“I’m not going to assume anything until he goes out there and actually throws,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Right now, I have high expectations that he will be able to pitch for us today. But if he doesn’t, we’ll see where he’s at. If he’s better than he was a few days ago, that’s a good sign. If he’s not, then we’ll have to sit down and talk to him and maybe do something else.”

Finnegan was set to throw pregame during batting practice and see how his arm felt. In addition to the physical sensation in his shoulder, the Nationals planned to pay attention to his mechanics for any sign of trouble.

SEATTLE – Hello from the Great Pacific Northwest, where the Nationals are making their bi-annual trip to face the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. It’s the first West Coast trip of the season, with a stop in Arizona coming up this weekend before they head back home.

The Nats come here playing better baseball of late but still quite a bit inconsistent at the plate. After scoring 37 runs during their five-game winning streak against the Orioles and Braves, they scored only five runs while losing two of three last weekend to the Giants. Most notably, they drew zero walks Saturday or Sunday.

This is important, because the Nationals now face a Mariners club that boasts a solid 3.69 ERA as a team. Their bullpen is even better, with a 3.43 ERA. And get this: Seattle is a perfect 21-0 when leading after seven innings this year, 24-0 when leading after eighth. The Nats have shown a propensity for coming from behind late, but this might be the wrong opponent to try to pull off that kind of magic against.

It's Mitchell Parker on the mound tonight, looking to build off a solid start last time out against the Braves. He’ll be opposed by right-hander Logan Evans, who makes the sixth start of his career, having gone 2-1 with a 3.33 ERA through his first five.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SEATTLE MARINERS
Where: T-Mobile Park
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 69 degrees, wind 9 mph in from left field

As part of their 20th anniversary celebration, the Nationals invited a number of former players to attend spring training for a few days a piece and serve as guest instructors. The list included familiar faces who have come back frequently over the years (Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond) and some who hadn’t been back at all since retiring (Drew Storen, Danny Espinosa).

Perhaps the ex-National who drew the most attention in West Palm Beach, though, was Jayson Werth. Because while everyone who showed up this spring made a point to say something to the current team, Werth made a point to really say something. Something that appears to have resonated with everyone who was there to hear it.

Two months later, Werth was back at Nationals Park over the weekend, joining Howie Kendrick for the team’s “Mystery Bobblehead” giveaway. He was asked if he could share anything about his spring training speech, and the 46-year-old former outfielder smiled wide and proceeded to tell the story. It’s a bit convoluted, but it makes sense when you get to the end.

Werth began by telling everyone about a critical moment during his playing career: the summer of 2007, when he was an injury-prone 28-year-old trying to make it with the Phillies after previously playing for the Orioles, Blue Jays and Dodgers. Right around the trade deadline that season, starting outfielders Shane Victorino and Michael Bourn both suffered injuries. That opened a spot in the lineup for Werth, who was just coming off the IL himself.

Philadelphia general manager Pat Gillick pulled Werth aside and told him in no uncertain terms this was going to be his last chance to play full-time in the big leagues.

Whatever concern there may have been a few weeks ago about Jake Irvin and his surprisingly sudden inability to strike guys out, feel free to ignore that.

Two strong outings later, Irvin has put any fears to rest. And then some after today’s brilliant outing at Nationals Park.

With eight scoreless innings, Irvin dominated the Giants with relentless efficiency. And thanks to James Wood’s two-run blast in the bottom of the first and Robert Hassell III’s first career RBI in the seventh, the Nationals coasted to a 3-0 win before an enthusiastic crowd of 36,873 that came to see Jayson Werth and Howie Kendrick on their bobblehead day and departed with a rousing victory to celebrate as well, one that was completed a scant 1 hour, 52 minutes.

"It was sweet," Irvin said. "Nats Park was freaking packed. Fans came out. You can feel that energy, and we fed off of it."

Irvin was in peak form all afternoon, recording strikeouts when given the opportunity but more importantly recording quick outs when San Francisco’s hitters were aggressively putting everything in play.

Though he’s sporting an impressive bruise on his upper left leg, Nationals ace MacKenzie Gore appears to be fine and doesn’t expect to miss his next scheduled start.

Gore was struck by a 101.4 mph comebacker off Willy Adames’ bat in the top of the second Friday night, and though he went on to complete the play and pitch six scoreless innings against the Giants, the leg stiffened up on him by the top of the seventh. After Gore issued a leadoff walk to Jung Hoo Lee and then two straight balls to Matt Chapman, manager Davey Martinez and director of athletic training Paul Lessard came to the mound to check on him and convinced him to depart the game.

One day later, the left-hander appears to be fine, if admittedly still a little sore.

“He’s got a nice bruise, but he’s fine,” Martinez said. “I talked to him. He said he’ll be good.”

Gore was able to pitch an additional five innings after getting hit by the line drive by using heat on his leg while the Nats were batting, keeping it warm. But on an unseasonably cool late-May night, he couldn’t keep it warm all the way into the seventh and reached a point where his leg felt dead.

Friday night’s series opener was one to forget. MacKenzie Gore was great but had to depart in the seventh when his left leg tightened up, five innings after he was struck by a comebacker. The Nationals bullpen quickly gave up four runs after the starter left. The lineup did nothing all night against Landen Roupp and the Giants bullpen. And so the five-game winning streak ended.

The Nats will try to bounce back this afternoon and not let this devolve into a losing streak, hoping for a better offensive showing against Kyle Harrison. The left-hander has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen so far this season, but with Justin Verlander hurt, San Francisco needs a spot starter and is turning to Harrison, who did make 31 big league starts the last two seasons. That includes a pair of outings last year against the Nationals, during which he allowed five runs over 10 2/3 innings, striking out 11 without issuing any walks.

Jake Irvin gets the start for the Nats, and he’s coming off a really sharp one at Camden Yards in which he allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings to earn his third win of the season. Most impressive, Irvin rediscovered his swing-and-miss stuff, getting six strikeouts after totaling only three across his previous three starts. That’ll be something to watch today.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 70 degrees, wind 15 mph left to right field

GIANTS
RF Mike Yastrzemski
LF Heliot Ramos
RF Jung Hoo Lee
DH Wilmer Flores
3B Matt Chapman
SS Willy Adames
1B LaMonte Wade
C Patrick Bailey
2B Tyler Fitzgerald

The Nationals managed to overcome injuries to Dylan Crews and Jacob Young, both by winning the games each departed and by having more outfield prospects ready to be called up to take their place.

It may be too much to ask for them to adequately overcome their latest potential injury loss: MacKenzie Gore. Though the early indication suggests it's not serious.

A brilliant start by Gore tonight ended on a decidedly sour note when the left-hander departed mid-batter in the top of the seventh after throwing an errant fastball and grimacing in some type of discomfort. He had not surrendered a run to that point, but he still wound up charged with the loss when the Nats bullpen gave up a quartet of late runs while falling 4-0 to the Giants, snapping the team’s five-game winning streak.

The Nationals do not provide in-game injury updates, so it was impossible to know what exactly caused Gore to come out following his 91st pitch until postgame. The lefty did appear to be telling Davey Martinez "I'm fine, I'm fine" as his manager approached him, and he returned to the dugout instead of heading directly to the trainer’s room, for what that’s worth.

The postgame revelation: Gore's upper left leg tightened up on him five innings after he was struck by a Willy Adames comebacker, an incident that left an impressive welt on his thigh but should not keep him from making his next start.

For the second straight day, a top outfield prospect is making his major league debut for the Nationals after one of the team’s young Opening Day regulars landed on the injured list.

Only 24 hours following Robert Hassell III’s first big league game, Daylen Lile is set to take the field for the first time, the 22-year-old promoted from Triple-A Rochester this afternoon when Jacob Young was placed on the 10-day IL with a sprained left shoulder.

Lile, a second-round pick in the 2021 Draft, has been touted by scouts and club officials alike for several years but was previously hampered by injuries and only reached Triple-A three weeks ago. After tearing up the International League to the tune of a .361/.432/.514 slash line in 18 games, though, he got the call to come to D.C.

How did Lile make it up the organizational ladder so fast?

“Just staying true to myself, staying consistent, staying on my routine,” he said, “knowing that I could possibly make my debut at some point this season. Everywhere I went, my feet were there, and I tried not to rush anything. But, I mean, it came a lot quicker than I thought.”

The Nationals, suddenly, are flying high. After suffering a seven-game losing streak just last week, they’ve now won six of their last seven, including five straight entering tonight’s weekend series opener against the Giants. And for the second night in a row, they’ve got a touted young outfielder set to make his major league debut.

One night after Robert Hassell III got the spotlight, Daylen Lile now joins him. With Jacob Young placed on the 10-day injured list with an AC sprain in his left shoulder, Lile got the call from Triple-A Rochester (where he was slashing .361/.432/.514 in only 18 games since his promotion from Double-A Harrisburg). The club’s second-round pick in the 2021 Draft, he’s young but an exciting player who hits and runs well.

MacKenzie Gore gets the ball for the Nationals, seeking a far more efficient outing than his last one. Despite allowing only two runs to the Orioles, Gore gave up 10 hits and two walks while striking out nine and threw a whopping 102 pitches in only 3 2/3 innings. After the bullpen needed to go 6 1/3 innings Thursday night in the 8-7 win over the Braves, the Nats need length out of Gore tonight.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 65 degrees, wind 14 mph left to right field

GIANTS
LF Heliot Ramos
CF Jung Hoo Lee
3B Matt Chapman
DH Wilmer Flores
SS Willy Adames
1B Casey Schmitt
RF Mike Yastrzemski
C Patrick Bailey
2B Tyler Fitzgerald

The moment was uplifting on its own merits, Keibert Ruiz ripping an RBI double down the right field line in the bottom of the first Thursday night to drive in the Nationals’ first run of the game. But upon reaching second base, the 26-year-old catcher immediately looked toward the stands behind home plate, flashed a wide smile and waved at the group that was simultaneously cheering and crying at what just happened.

Jose and Leidis Ruiz have followed their son’s career every step of the way, providing him every opportunity they could in their native Venezuela to learn and play baseball, get signed by the Dodgers as a teenager, then make his major league debut in Los Angeles in 2020, get traded to the Nationals in 2021 and sign a $50 million contract extension in 2023.

But Thursday, remarkably, represented the first time they had been able to watch him play any ballgame, at any level, in person since 2015 when Ruiz first began as a professional with the Dodgers’ Dominican Summer League club.

“I can’t believe it,” Ruiz said following the Nats’ 8-7, 10-inning win over the Braves. “They had to wait for, what, maybe 10-11 years to see me play for the first time, even here in the big leagues. That’s amazing. I can’t describe it.”

It’s not like the Ruiz family hadn’t been trying all this time to watch him in person. They applied for travel visas on five separate occasions over the last decade and were denied each of the first four attempts. Finally, last week they got the news they worried they might never receive and made preparations to fly to Washington for the first time.

It would’ve been a bit too easy had the Nationals simply closed out tonight’s game without any bullpen drama. So they decided to make their fifth consecutive win a bit more exciting.

Despite Kyle Finnegan’s blown save in the top of the ninth – one made possible by a José Tena fielding error – the Nats came back to walk off the Braves on Amed Rosario’s sharp single to left in the bottom of the 10th.

With Robert Hassell III (making his major league debut) serving as the automatic runner to begin the inning, Alex Call put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to put the rookie 90 feet away. Rosario (making his first appearance since suffering a nasty cut near his left knee six days ago that required stitches) turned on a 1-1 changeup from left-hander Dylan Lee and ripped a single to left, allowing Hassell to race home with the winning run to cap a memorable debut.

"It felt great," said Hassell, who became the first player in club history with two hits and a stolen base in his big league debut. "Truly the most important thing is we got the W. It feels amazing to win."

Finnegan took the mound with a one-run lead in hand, hoping to finish off what was shaping up to be an impressive bullpen effort that already included 4 1/3 innings of one-run (unearned) ball. The Nats' closer did get himself into trouble with a leadoff single, but after inducing a popout, he got Austin Riley to hit a sharp grounder to third for what could’ve been a game-ending, 5-4-3 double play. Alas, Tena couldn’t get a handle on the ball, leaving everybody safe and prolonging the game.

A doctor’s review of the MRI taken on Dylan Crews confirmed the club’s initial diagnosis of a left oblique strain, but manager Davey Martinez could not offer anything resembling a timetable for the Nationals rookie to return.

Crews, who already had been dealing with a sore lower back and left side for about a week, experienced additional pain on a check-swing attempt in the fifth inning Tuesday night against the Braves. He was placed on the 10-day injured list the following afternoon, with top outfield prospect Robert Hassell III called up from Triple-A Rochester to take his roster spot.

The timetable for oblique strains varies from player to player and based on the severity of each injury. Nationals first baseman/designated hitter Andrés Chaparro suffered a left oblique strain during batting practice March 14 prior to a spring training game and tonight is finally beginning a rehab assignment with Rochester after going 4-for-15 with a double and a homer in five rehab games for the Nats’ rookie-level Florida Complex League team.

Asked how Crews’ injury compares to Chaparro’s ailment, Martinez redirected his answer to compliment Crews’ physical and mental makeup.

“I’ll be honest with you: When I played, I didn’t even know what an oblique was,” the manager said. “Every guy is different. He’s a very strong kid, I know that. He’s going to work diligently to get back as soon as possible. But we want to make sure that when he does come back, this doesn’t become a problem for him. Hopefully sooner than later, but we’re going to give him as much time as he needs to get him ready.”

Let’s give this another try, shall we? After Wednesday night’s game was rained out, the Nationals and Braves will attempt to play their series finale as scheduled this evening, though there is again some rain in the forecast (more so early than late, so that should hopefully help matters).

It’s the same pitching matchup that was supposed to take the mound Wednesday, with Trevor Williams starting for the Nats and AJ Smith-Shawver starting for the Braves. The bullpens, of course, will be well refreshed and available for as much work as needed. Perhaps that plays into Davey Martinez’s hands, allowing him to pull Williams after five innings regardless of results, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Robert Hassell III has had a chance to process his first major league promotion for more than 24 hours now, so he should be good and ready to go come 6:45 p.m. He made a point to shag a bunch of fly balls in both center and right fields Wednesday afternoon to start getting a feel for the perspective here at Nationals Park. Of course, there’s nothing like the real thing, and you can’t simulate that.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 60 degrees, wind 8 mph out to right field

BRAVES
LF Alex Verdugo
3B Austin Riley
1B Matt Olson
DH Marcell Ozuna
C Drake Baldwin
2B Ozzie Albies
RF Eli White
CF Michael Harris II
SS Nick Allen