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SAN DIEGO – Hello from beautiful Petco Park, where the Nationals begin the second leg of their three-city trek through Southern California tonight with the opener of a three-game series against the Padres. Though they legitimately played well for most of the weekend series in L.A., they made just enough mistakes at critical moments and wound up losing two of three to the Dodgers. Now they try to flip that script against a very good San Diego club.
It's up to Mitchell Parker to hold the Padres lineup in check. The left-hander was stuck in a pretty good rut there for a while, but he bounced back big-time in his last start (admittedly against the Rockies). In that game, he allowed one run over six innings, striking out eight without issuing a walk. It’s probably too much to ask for that kind of performance tonight against a much better lineup, but it’s not too much to ask Parker to give his team a chance to win.
At the plate, the Nationals will try to score early against Padres starter Stephen Kolek, who pitched out of the bullpen last year but has become a full-time starter this year. It’s been kind of all-or-nothing for the right-hander. In four of his nine starts, he’s posted a zero. In the other five, he’s surrendered at least three runs.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Petco Park
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly clear, 65 degrees, wind 7 mph out to right field
NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
2B Luis García Jr.
1B Nathaniel Lowe
DH Josh Bell
3B Brady House
RF Daylen Lile
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Jacob Young
LHP Mitchell Parker
PADRES
RF Fernando Tatis Jr.
CF Jackson Merrill
3B Manny Machado
DH Luis Arraez
SS Xander Bogaerts
LF Gavin Sheets
2B Jose Iglesias
1B Jake Cronenworth
C Elias Díaz
RHP Stephen Kolek
