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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
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
RHP Trevor Williams
MARINERS
SS J.P. Crawford
DH Jorge Polanco
CF Julio Rodríguez
C Cal Raleigh
LF Randy Arozarena
1B Rowdy Tellez
RF Leody Taveras
2B Miles Mastrobuoni
3B Ben Williamson
RHP George Kirby
