It’s the Fourth of July in our nation’s capital, and that means the return of one of the great annual traditions around here: morning baseball! Every Independence Day since 2012 (except for 2020), the Nationals have taken the field at 11:05 a.m. for the only major league game played during that early window. They’ve gone 6-6 all-time in the morning game, including a dramatic 1-0 victory over the Mets last year.
This year’s opponents are the Red Sox, who also played here on July 4, 2018, and won the game 3-0 behind a combined shutout from Eduardo Rodriguez, Matt Barnes, Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel. Boston’s starter today: Lucas Giolito, the long-ago Nats prospect who finally makes his first career start at Nationals Park for the opposition after six appearances for the home team as a rookie in 2016. Finally healthy after missing the 2024 season following Tommy John surgery, the right-hander is 4-1 with a 3.99 ERA. He’s not striking out as many batters as in the past, but his velocity remains at pre-surgery levels (93.4 mph fastball).
Michael Soroka (who is Canadian) gets the honor of starting today for the Nationals. As rough as June was for the team, the right-hander enjoyed a strong month, delivering a 3.49 ERA with an 0.812 WHIP and impressive 36-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
BOSTON RED SOX at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 11:05 a.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv, MLB Network (outside D.C. market)
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 81 degrees, wind 7 mph in from left field
RED SOX
Lineup TBA
RHP Lucas Giolito
NATIONALS
Lineup TBA
RHP Michael Soroka