SAN DIEGO – The path that ultimately brought Joe La Sorsa to the visitors’ clubhouse at Petco Park this afternoon was as follows: Montgomery, Ala., to Durham, N.C., to St. Petersburg, Fla., to DFA Purgatory to Rochester, N.Y., to Washington, where the left-hander spent barely more than 24 hours learning his new surroundings before hopping aboard the Nationals’ charter flight for a nine-game road trip that will take the team from San Diego to Seattle to Philadelphia.

“I haven’t really had more than a month any place. That’s pretty much been it,” La Sorsa said with a hint of both exasperation and appreciation. “But I feel very comfortable here. How I’ve been treated here, and everything with the Nationals so far is leaving a very good first impression.”

Plucked off waivers after the Rays designated him for assignment earlier this month, only two games into his big league career, La Sorsa made four relief appearances at Triple-A Rochester before getting the call to come to D.C. and replace the injured Carl Edwards Jr. in the Nats bullpen.

He didn’t appear in either Wednesday or Thursday’s game, but chances are he’ll make his debut sometime this weekend at Petco Park, perhaps thrown into the fire to face Juan Soto in a big spot late in a game.

Davey Martinez has been wanting a left-handed reliever for nearly two months now since the Anthony Banda experiment was aborted. He’s got one now in La Sorsa, an unassuming, mustachioed, 25-year-old rookie from Westchester County, N.Y., and St. John’s University.

SAN DIEGO – A very pleasant evening to you from one of the most pleasant ballparks in America. Maybe the change in locations will be good for the Nationals, who just endured through a dismal, 1-6 homestand and continue to struggle like crazy in D.C, with a 13-27 record. The story has been much better on the road, where they’re actually 15-19. They better hope that trend continues since they now embark on a long, nine-game trip from San Diego to Seattle to Philadelphia.

The Padres were struggling to find their footing when they played at Nationals Park last month, and they’re still kind of stuck in that same spot, entering tonight’s series opener three games under .500, 9 1/2 games back and in fourth place in the National League West. Juan Soto, however, is feeling just fine, thank you very much. Over his last 14 games, the ex-Nat is batting a healthy .353/.453/.588.

It’ll be Patrick Corbin’s job to try to hold Soto and Co. in check tonight. Corbin didn’t face the Padres last month. He’s kind of in a strange place right now where he’s giving up a ton of hits (11 in two of his last three starts) but still keeping the damage to a relative minimum (3-4 runs).

Joe Musgrove gets the start for San Diego. After a brutal start to his season, he’s been much better, going 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA in his last five starts. A Nats lineup that has had all kinds of trouble scoring runs is going to have to figure out the veteran right-hander.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Petco Park
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 67 degrees, wind 11 mph left field to right field

Although they lost an off-day, the Nationals were hoping to use this makeup game against the Diamondbacks to create some momentum before heading out on a nine-game road trip.

Yesterday’s win over the Cardinals was only their fourth since the start of June. Putting together back-to-back wins to end this homestand would have made for a happy flight out west.

Davey Martinez applauded his team for playing clean baseball during yesterday’s rainy conditions. But the Nats got sloppy again, committing two errors and allowing four unearned runs in a 5-3 loss to the D-backs in front of 13,251 fans who withstood the misty weather.

"We can't give good teams 28-29 outs. We can't," Martinez said after their 14th loss this month. "I think we had four unearned runs today. Take those away and we're right in the ballgame. So we gotta get better at that, we really do. And if we do that, we're going to be able to compete. So we got to just come back tomorrow and play a good, clean baseball game and see where we're at.”

Weird circumstances surrounded today’s getaway game, which technically was recognized as a one-game series since it was rescheduled from June 8 due to poor air quality in the D.C. area from the Canada wildfires.

Two weeks ago, the Nationals were looking at this date on the calendar and expecting to spend their off-day in sunny San Diego. But because of the postponement of the June 8 finale against the Diamondbacks due to the poor air quality from the Canada wildfires, they’re instead still in cloudy D.C. ready to play an early afternoon makeup game.

That made for an odd schedule this week to end this seven-game homestand before the team embarks on a nine-game road trip, which starts with six consecutive games on the West Coast. They had a late afternoon start on Monday for the Juneteenth federal holiday. They had another 4 p.m. start yesterday as it was still a getaway day for the Cardinals, who had a transatlantic flight to London to play two games against the Cubs. And now they have this early afternoon game against the D-backs, who arrived from Milwaukee last night and will also travel back to the West Coast tonight.

The lost off-day means the Nationals are in the middle of a stretch with games scheduled for 16 straight days. So Davey Martinez has to get creative in finding ways to give guys some rest.

“This would have been a nice day off for us, obviously,” the skipper said during his pregame press conference. “And it would have been in San Diego, which is kind of nice. But you know what, we got to play today. So I know these guys will be ready to play. But finding days off, we played so many days in a row.”

Today’s lineup against the Diamondbacks and left-handed starter Tommy Henry features some regulars getting the day off and some others playing in different positions.

And we’re back. After the Nationals finally got a win here yesterday to end their series against the Cardinals, they’re right back to play today’s makeup game against the Diamondbacks. What should have been the series finale between these two teams two weeks ago was postponed due to the poor air quality from the Canada wildfires to make this now a one-game series before both clubs head to the West Coast tonight.

Jake Irvin will make his ninth major league start this afternoon, seventh here at Nats Park. The rookie bounced back to pitch well on Saturday after having his spot in the rotation skipped the week before, tossing five innings of one-run ball against the Marlins. In his start against the D-backs two weeks ago, he gave up four runs (three earned), five hits and three walks in just four-plus innings.

In a rematch of that June 6 game against Irvin, Tommy Henry will start for the Diamondbacks. The 25-year-old left-hander was tagged for five runs over 4 ⅓ innings, including a grand slam by Stone Garrett in the second inning and a leadoff homer by Lane Thomas in the fifth. In his two starts since against the Phillies and Guardians, Henry gave up seven runs over 10 ⅔ innings for a 5.91 ERA.

While all day yesterday there was rain in the forecast for today, it now seems like we’ll be much drier this afternoon, with the rain supposedly not starting again until this evening.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 67 degrees, wind 8 mph in from left field

The situation surrounding this afternoon’s finale between the Nationals and Cardinals was a tricky one.

Rain was in the forecast all day today in the District of Columbia, with only a brief window right around the 4:05 p.m. scheduled start time. The Nationals have a makeup game against the Diamondbacks scheduled for 1 p.m. tomorrow (with more rain in the forecast), with both teams traveling back to the West Coast afterward. And the Cardinals have a transatlantic flight out of D.C. tonight for their two-game weekend series against the Cubs in London.

All of that made for a lot of uncertainty on South Capitol Street.

But as if both teams understood the assignment of playing fast, the Nats and Cards were able to complete this one in a swift 2 hours and 12 minutes, with the home team finally emerging victorious 3-0 in front of a damp 16,191 fans.

This one couldn’t have been scripted better when it came to the weather. A drizzle started in the top of the second inning and had turned into actual rainfall as the game moved into the third.

An odd Tuesday night has turned into a busy Wednesday afternoon here at Nationals Park.

After some misplays in the field, a confrontation with MacKenzie Gore in the dugout and questions about his health, Victor Robles was placed back on the 10-day injured list today with back spasms in the lumbar spine, with the Nationals selecting the contract of Derek Hill from Triple-A Rochester to take his spot on the active roster

It was a rough couple of days in the field since Robles was reinstated from the IL on Friday after he seemingly recovered the same back spasms that had him inactive since May 8. On Monday, he got a late break on a ball over his head that turned into an RBI triple after he crashed into the wall trying to get back to make the catch. Then last night, he let a ball land in front of him while slowly moving to his left, leading to the animated discussion with Gore. Later in the game, he only made it to first base on a line drive off the left field wall and then struggled to go first-to-third on CJ Abrams’ double to right-center.

Davey Martinez mentioned after the game that he was going to have a discussion with Robles to see how he felt.

“We made a move today. We put Victor on the IL,” Martinez said before this afternoon’s finale against the Cardinals. “As I said last night, I was gonna have a conversation with him. I talked to him last night. I had to really stress that he needed to be honest with me. And he said he was a bit sore and that it bothered him running. It doesn't bother him hitting, it bothers him running.

It doesn’t get any easier to say, but it remains true: The Nationals need a win. Ideally, they would win their next two games to end this homestand on a somewhat positive note. They’re 0-5 since returning to D.C. last week and have only won two of their last 15 games.

Trevor Williams gets the start this afternoon in the finale against the Cardinals. The right-hander is 3-4 with a 4.50 ERA and 1.414 WHIP in his first 14 starts. He was roughed up for five runs over 4 ⅓ innings Friday against the Marlins.

Miles Mikolas gets the ball for St. Louis. The 34-year-old right-hander is 4-4 with a 4.36 ERA and 1.362 WHIP over his first 14 starts this season. He too has been beat up by opposing lineups recently, giving up 11 runs over 12 innings for an 8.25 ERA over his last two starts against the Reds and Mets.

The Nationals made a roster move this afternoon, placing Victor Robles back on the 10-day with back spasms in the lumbar spine and selected the contract of Derek Hill from Triple-A Rochester. Hill is immediately in the lineup, batting eighth and playing center field.

Unfortunately, there is rain in the forecast all day in the District. The Cardinals depart D.C. tonight for their two-game series against the Cubs in London this weekend, while the Nats have to bounce back for a makeup game against the Diamondbacks here tomorrow afternoon (which also has rain in the forecast) before they head to the West Coast for the fourth time.

MacKenzie Gore and Victor Robles drew most of the attention Tuesday night, but there were plenty of other factors that contributed to the Nationals’ 9-3 loss to the Cardinals, their fifth straight in this homestand and 13th in their last 15 games overall. …

* Another weak offensive performance was mitigated only somewhat by two late runs scored to put a small dent into an already lopsided margin.

The Nats managed all of one run on four hits against Jordan Montgomery, who had won only one of his previous 12 starts but managed to dominate for seven innings this time. The other two runs came late against Drew VerHagen and Jake Woodford with the game already out of reach.

The Nationals’ average exit velocity off Montgomery was only 80.7 mph. They didn’t have one batted ball hit over 100 mph against the St. Louis left-hander. (For comparison’s sake, the average exit velocity off Gore was 95.4 mph, with eight balls hit at 100 mph or harder against him.)

Equally troubling was the continued lack of patience from the Nats. They drew only one walk in the game (by Stone Garrett). That’s the seventh straight game they’ve drawn two or fewer walks. They’ve drawn a grand total of 20 free passes over their last 15 games (13 of which they’ve lost).

The frustration of a team-wide slump that is now approaching three weeks reached what was perhaps an inevitable low point tonight, when MacKenzie Gore confronted Victor Robles in the Nationals dugout after the latter didn’t make a play on what looked like a routine fly ball to center.

The brief confrontation, which lasted only a few seconds and was relatively tame compared to more dramatic incidents widely remembered from that same dugout over the last decade and a half, was not the reason the Nationals lost the fifth straight game of this homestand, this one by the lopsided count of 9-3 to the Cardinals.

A lack of any sustained offense by the power-starved Nats lineup certainly played a key role. As did Gore’s struggles on the mound on a night the young left-hander gave up a pair of homers and five total runs across six innings. A blowup ninth inning that saw Hunter Harvey serve up a two-run homer and CJ Abrams airmail a throw to first only made things worse.

Suffice it to say, Davey Martinez would seem to have plenty on his plate right now, a number of issues that need to be fixed lest things spiral out of control for a rebuilding Nationals club that legitimately looked like it had turned a corner only 2 1/2 weeks ago but is now reeling from 13 losses in its last 15 games.

The manager's message after this loss, though, wasn't all that different from previous ones. He may have been frustrated by the loss and the factors that contributed to it, but he didn't see reason to publicly scold his team at the end of the night.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Selected the contract of C Anthony Bemboom from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Recalled RHP Logan Gillaspie from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Designated RHP Spenser Watkins for assignment.
• Optioned C José Godoy to Triple-A Norfolk.
• RHP Noah Denoyer has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk.

The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 40 players.

Carter Kieboom’s path back to the major leagues has taken another step backward.

The oft-injured former first-round pick is back on the injured list at Triple-A Rochester, this time with a left oblique issue. He’s scheduled to undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury, Nationals manager Davey Martinez said.

This latest injury comes barely one month after Kieboom finally started playing every day at Rochester after a long recovery from Tommy John surgery. The 25-year-old third baseman missed all of the 2022 season, then remained at extended spring training throughout April while dealing with a shoulder problem.

After a four-game rehab stint at Double-A Harrisburg, Kieboom was activated off the IL and debuted for Rochester on May 9. In 26 games since, he hit .264 with six doubles, one triple, three homers, 18 RBIs, a .366 on-base percentage and .790 OPS.

“He’s worked really hard to get back to where he’s at,” Martinez said. “He’s had all these little nagging injuries. And then again, people don’t realize how tough it is to play every day (in) this game. It’s tough. When he’s not used to doing it for over a year and he’s playing every day, your body sometimes reacts to it. Hopefully this is just a minor setback and we can get him back on the field, because he’s been hitting the ball really well.”

MASN and ICE CUBE’S BIG3 Launch Programming and Community Impact Partnership

 

3 on 3 Professional Basketball League Is the Hottest Growth Property in Sports

 

Growing Ratings and Community Impact Programs Are the Focus of MASN-BIG3 Partnership

 

Network Joins CBS Sports as Media Home to BIG3

 

MASN to Carry 52 BIG3 2023 Games Throughout its Seven-State Television Territory

 

LOS ANGELES and BALTIMORE, MD – June 20, 2023 — The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) and Ice Cube’s BIG3 pro league are joining forces to launch a programming and community partnership, bringing the excitement of televised three-on-three basketball to seven new states. This historic partnership will allow for viewing 52 professional 3-on-3 basketball league games this summer, starting later this month.

 

The BIG3 league, founded by producer, actor, and artist Ice Cube has quickly become the hottest growth property in sports. The summer 3-on-3 tour tips off Sunday, June 25, extending nine weeks with games in Chicago, Dallas, New York, Memphis, Miami, Boston, DC, Charlotte, and Detroit. All-Star and Championship Games will take place across the pond in London, England, on August 26th.

 

BIG3 features many of the biggest names in basketball history, including coaches Gilbert Arenas, Charles Oakley, George Gervin, Gary Payton, Nancy Lieberman, Stephen Jackson, Lisa Leslie, Rick Barry, Rick Mahorn, and Julius Erving.   Players this year include Joe Johnson, Jason Richardson, Nick Young, Michael Beasley, Isaiah Briscoe, Mario Chalmers, Leandro Barbosa, Gerald Green, Frank Nitty, Kevin Murphy, and many more.

 

MASN will televise BIG3 on MASN and MASN2.  A promotional video of the partnership is available here:

 

"The addition of MASN to our media partnership family is a tremendous milestone for the BIG3,” said Ice Cube. “This collaboration allows us to bring more of BIG3’s signature style of 3-on-3 to an area of the country that has shown us tons of love.”

 

“Cube and BIG3 energize communities across the country," said MASN and Orioles Chair, CEO, and Managing Partner John Angelos. “This partnership is another step toward merging Major League Baseball's economic development power and our network’s world-class live entertainment production capabilities with visionaries like Cube and Jeff. MLB and BIG3 can together rejuvenate the communities where our kids learn, live, and play."

 

“Our primary goal has been working to get all of our games in front of the best sports fans,” said BIG3 President and Co-Founder Jeff Kwatinetz. “The Mid-Atlantic region has some of the most dedicated BIG3 fans, and we are excited to bring FIREBALL, our unique brand of play, to a top tier regional sports network that is already home to iconic, must-see sports teams like the Orioles.”

 

The BIG3 is returning to a full nationwide touring model with stops at arenas in Dallas, New York, Memphis, Miami, Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, Washington D.C., and London, England.

 

Tickets for the first three weeks of season six are available here. To learn more about the BIG3 and see the full season schedule, go to BIG3.com and follow @thebig3 on twitter and Instagram.

 

ABOUT BIG3:

BIG3 (BIG3.com) is who we are, FIREBALL3 is what we play. It’s not your grandfather’s 3-on-3. The premier global BIG3 league features many of the greatest, most popular, and skilled professional athletes of all time. Founded by producer, actor and music legend Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz, the BIG3 combines highly competitive, physical, fast game experiences and incredible fan experiences. In 2023, the BIG3 was named “Best in Web3” by Sports Business Journal for the league’s groundbreaking Web3 Project, Forever Experience Action Tokens (FEATs), offering utility and ownership-like value in BIG3 teams via blockchain technology.

 

ABOUT MASN:

The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) is a regional sports network and multimedia platform that televises every available game of both the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, pre- and postgame shows, and NCAA Division I men’s and women’s sports, totaling more than 500 live events annually.  The network is available in a seven-state region, from Harrisburg, Pa., to Charlotte, N.C., on 25 cable and fiber optic providers, and is televised nationally via satellite provider DirecTV. MASN’s digital home - https://www.masnsports.com/ - features news and sports content and offers in-market streaming of both O’s and Nats games.  MASN has won more than 100 Emmy and Addy awards for broadcast and marketing excellence.

The Nationals need a win. It doesn’t matter how they get it. It doesn’t matter who makes it happen. They just need to win a game for the first time since Thursday in Houston and for only the third time in their last 15 games.

There are multiple paths toward that outcome, but the best of them would be a top-notch start from MacKenzie Gore. The left-hander shut out the Astros over 5 2/3 innings in that aforementioned game Thursday evening. He faded a bit in the sixth, and with his pitch count rising, Davey Martinez decided not to push him any farther. But the performance was a good one, and the Nats would love to get something like that (or even better) tonight.

Jordan Montgomery is the Cardinals’ starter, and the lefty has been good this month with a 2.00 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 18 innings. The Nationals have been better against left-handers than right-handers this season, but that wasn’t true over the weekend against the Marlins. Martinez has his usual lineup for these matchups, with Stone Garrett in left field and batting fifth. Riley Adams gets the start behind the plate, with Keibert Ruiz sitting.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 77 degrees, wind 13 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
2B Luis García
3B Jeimer Candelario
DH Joey Meneses
LF Stone Garrett
1B Dominic Smith
C Riley Adams
CF Victor Robles
SS CJ Abrams

3 on 3 Professional Basketball League is the Hottest Growth Property in Sports

Growing Ratings and Community Impact Programs is Focus of MASN-BIG3 Partnership

Network Joins CBS Sports as Media Home to BIG3

MASN to Carry 52 BIG3 2023 Games Throughout its Seven-State Television Territory

LOS ANGELES and BALTIMORE, MD – June 20, 2023 — The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) and Ice Cube’s BIG3 pro league are joining forces to launch a programming and community partnership, bringing the excitement of televised three-on-three basketball to seven new states. This historic partnership will allow for viewing 52 professional 3-on-3 basketball league games this summer, starting later this month.

Not so long ago – 2 1/2 weeks, to be precise – the Nationals appeared to be making real progress.

With an 8-7 win over the Phillies on June 2, the Nats improved to 25-32 overall. They even owned a winning record over nearly one-quarter of a full season, going 20-19 after opening the year a dismal 5-13. They were on pace for a 71-win season, which would be a dramatic improvement from a 55-107 fiasco in 2022.

Josiah Gray and MacKenzie Gore were leading the pitching staff, each making a case for All-Star consideration. The lineup, while still lacking in the power department, was managing to string together rallies with some regularity, scoring six or more runs five times in a span of 11 games. Young potential cornerstones Keibert Ruiz, CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia were making positive contributions.

In that moment, it was fair for anyone who has watched this franchise’s decline from World Series champs to full-scale rebuild to wonder if the worst days of this painful process were now in the past.

Then the Nationals started losing. And losing more. And losing even more.

It was something of a throwaway line from Davey Martinez during a postgame press conference that didn’t include many bright spots.

Minutes after his Nationals lost for the 14th time in 18 games overall, the sixth straight time against the Marlins, Martinez was mentioning Lane Thomas’ third-inning homer (which ultimately accounted for all of the team’s runs during the 4-2 loss) and how it was just the latest in an ongoing string of big hits by the starting right fielder.

“We talk about all these guys for the All-Star Game, right now Lane Thomas is possibly a guy that could make the All-Star team for us,” Martinez said. “He’s played that well.”

Lane Thomas, All-Star? It’s not a crazy thought.

Sunday’s performance left Thomas sporting a .287 batting average, 11 homers, 35 RBIs and an .822 OPS. That final number ranks 14th among all National League outfielders, so it’s not exactly elite. But it is solid, it’s far and away the best mark among all Nats regulars and it continues to rise.

The ball made a loud sound off Stone Garrett’s bat, a 105-mph bullet, and headed in the air toward deep left-center. A Father’s Day crowd of 25,339 at Nationals Park that had little reason to get excited most of the afternoon briefly rose with the kind of anticipation you’d expect from such loud contact at a big moment in a ballgame.

And then everyone slinked back into their seats as Jonathan Davis hauled in the ball at the warning track to end the bottom of the sixth, the Nationals still trailing the Marlins by two runs. Garrett, who came about 20 feet shy of giving his team the lead, slammed his helmet in frustration as he arrived at first base.

"I thought it was gone off the bat," teammate Lane Thomas said. "I think he did, too."

"We thought once he hit it," manager Davey Martinez said, "it was going to be a different ballgame."

The feeling of frustration was mutual throughout the ballpark as the Nats slogged their way through yet another loss to the division foe that somehow has become their white whale.

When the Nationals embarked on a 16-games-in-16-days stretch earlier this week, Davey Martinez began to map out scheduled days off for various members of his everyday lineup. The idea: Make sure everyone gets a break at some point, hopefully on a day when the pitching matchup is conducive to it.

So, Luis García sat Wednesday against Astros left-hander Framber Valdez. Joey Meneses sat Thursday against Houston right-hander Christian Javier. Keibert Ruiz sat Saturday against Marlins lefty Braxton Garrett. And today, Martinez planned to sit both Dominic Smith and CJ Abrams against Miami lefty Jesús Luzardo … until circumstances forced a late change.

“I planned these probably a week ago,” Martinez said. “We’ve had a tough go, all the day games, traveling. I wanted to try to give these guys some days off.”

Smith was due to sit for only the second time in 46 games, but the second time in eight days. In both cases, Michael Chavis was set to make the start at first base in his place, with Meneses remaining as designated hitter.

That plan, however, changed about an hour before first pitch when Jeimer Candelario was scratched from the lineup with a sore right thumb. The veteran third baseman is still available to pinch-hit, according to the Nationals.

The Nationals keep finding themselves in this position, needing a win to avoid a series sweep. This is actually the fifth time in their last six series they’ve lost the opening two games to an opponent. In three of the previous cases (Dodgers, Braves, Astros) they found a way to salvage a win in the finale. They never had a chance to do it in the fourth series, because the finale against the Diamondbacks was postponed due to hazardous air quality. (We’ll see how Thursday’s makeup game shakes out.)

So if the pattern holds true, the Nats will actually beat the Marlins this afternoon and avoid the sweep. Then again, they still haven’t beaten the Marlins this season in five tries, having been swept in Miami last month and now finding themselves in danger of it happening again today.

We’ve talked a lot about pitching throughout this rough stretch, but let’s not give the lineup a free pass. The Nationals have averaged only 3.3 runs, 8.2 hits and a paltry 1.4 walks over their last 12 games (of which they’ve won only two). So they’ve got to do a better job making Jesús Luzardo work today. The long-ago Nats prospect continues to be an enigma: Over his last six starts, he’s alternated between allowing five or more runs or only one run (including once against the Nats).

Patrick Corbin gets the start on the other side. He was solid against the Astros, allowing only two runs over five innings, though he did issue a whopping five walks. If he can hold Miami in check, Davey Martinez should be able to turn to his top relievers today.

Update: Jeimer Candelario was a late scratch from the lineup for undisclosed reasons. Michael Chavis will slide over to third base, and Dominic Smith (who was supposed to sit today) will start at first base.