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NEW YORK – The Nationals need to flush away the first eight innings of last night’s 10-5 loss to the Yankees and really try to build momentum off the ninth, when they scored all of their runs, thanks to swinging at strikes and patient at-bats. Jacob Young’s first grand slam didn’t hurt either.
Now that the initial shock of playing at Yankee Stadium has passed, the young Nats can focus on just playing baseball. They’ve proven that when they can string together good ABs they can go toe-to-toe with anyone.
Their next task is defending American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil. The 27-year-old right-hander missed most of the year with a lat strain and only returned to the major leagues this month. In his four starts, he’s 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA and 1.684 WHIP. He’s been prone to walks in his career, leading the majors last year with 77 and having already issued 13 in just 19 innings this season. So the Nats really need to be patient against him.
MacKenzie Gore takes the mound for the visiting side, and you know he’s looking forward to facing this Yankees lineup in a tough environment. The lefty is 5-12 with a 4.11 ERA and 1.349 WHIP over his 26 starts. Gore held the Yankees to two runs on six hits and one walk with six strikeouts when he faced them in D.C. last year as part of his strong stretch to finish the season. Hopefully, tonight kickstarts a similar stretch to end this campaign.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK YANKEES
Where: Yankee Stadium
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 76 degrees, wind 9 mph out to right field
NATIONALS
LF James Wood
SS CJ Abrams
2B Luis García Jr.
1B Josh Bell
C Riley Adams
DH Dylan Crews
3B Brady House
RF Robert Hassell III
CF Jacob Young
LHP MacKenzie Gore
YANKEES
1B Paul Goldschmidt
DH Aaron Judge
LF Cody Bellinger
RF Giancarlo Stanton
CF Trent Grisham
3B Amed Rosario
2B Jazz Chisholm Jr.
SS Anthony Volpe
C Austin Wells
RHP Luis Gil
