In the end, the Nationals went with the other talented shortstop from Oklahoma whose father played in the big leagues.

The Nats selected Eli Willits with the No. 1 pick in tonight’s Major League Baseball Draft, a choice that may have surprised some but became increasingly possible over the last week both because of the 17-year-old’s all-around skills and the suspicion he might command a lower signing bonus than either Ethan Holliday or Kade Anderson, possibly opening the door for the club to go over slot on later-round picks.

Owners of the top selection in the draft for the third time in club history, the Nationals faced a much tougher decision this time than they did when last they found themselves in this position. Stephen Strasburg (2009) and Bryce Harper (2010) were no-brainers, two of the most highly touted prospects in the history of the sport.

The list of viable options was much longer this year, with Willits joined by fellow Oklahoma high school infielder Holliday, LSU left-hander Anderson, Tennessee lefty Liam Doyle and California high school right-hander Seth Hernandez all meriting consideration down to the wire, according to a source familiar with the club’s deliberations.

Willits, who admitted he made it his personal goal to be drafted No. 1 overall two years ago, was optimistic about his chances after he visited Nationals Park last month and got a chance to meet team executives and coaches. That didn't diminish his emotions when he officially got the call today.

The Washington Nationals selected collegiate outfielder Ethan Petry out of the University of South Carolina in the second round with the No. 49 overall pick in the 2025 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Sunday. Interim General Manager Mike DeBartolo; Vice President, Amateur Scouting Danny Haas; Senior Director, Amateur Scouting Brad Ciolek; and Assistant Director and National Crosschecker, Amateur Scouting Reed Dunn made the joint announcement.

Petry, 21, hit .321 with 10 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, 34 RBI, 26 walks and 30 runs scored in 44 games for the Gamecocks in 2025. He posted a .437 on-base percentage and a .590 slugging percentage while leading the team in home runs and ranking second in RBI and walks.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound right-handed power hitter was named a consensus All-American, an All-Southeastern Conference First-Team selection and the Perfect Game National Freshman of the Year in 2023 after he hit .379 with a South Carolina freshman record 23 home runs and 75 RBI.

Petry added 21 more home runs his sophomore season in 2024, hitting .306 with eight doubles, a triple, 53 RBI, 51 walks and 57 runs scored. He was named to the All-NCAA Raleigh Regional after he was 3-for-7 with a pair of doubles.

A native of Land O’ Lakes, Fla., he attended Cypress Creek High School. A two-way prep player, he hit .402 with 80 runs scored, 29 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs and 80 RBI with a 1.211 OPS in his high school career. He was named the Sunshine Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2022 after he was 5-2 with a 1.97 ERA and 60 strikeouts on the mound in addition to his accomplishments at the plate.

Petry was ranked the No. 31 overall player in the 2022 class by Perfect Game and played in the High School All-American Game at Coors Field in Denver.

The Washington Nationals selected prep shortstop Eli Willits out of Fort Cobb-Broxton (Okla.) High School with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Sunday. Interim General Manager Mike DeBartolo; Vice President, Amateur Scouting Danny Haas; Senior Director, Amateur Scouting Brad Ciolek; and Assistant Director and National Crosschecker, Amateur Scouting Reed Dunn made the joint announcement.

Willits, 17, hit .473 with 14 doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 34 RBI, 27 walks, 47 stolen bases and 56 runs scored while striking out just four times all season to lead the Mustangs to their sixth straight Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association Class B state title. He posted a .602 on-base percentage and a .912 slugging percentage to combine for a 1.514 OPS in 128 plate appearances.

Willits was named a  Baseball America, Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association and Perfect Game High School All-American, an Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association Class B All-Star and was an OBCA Class B All-State selection.

The switch-hitting Willits was also a member of the U-18 Team USA squad that won the gold medal at the 2024 World Baseball and Softball Confederation World Cup America qualifier to earn a place in the U-18 WBSC World Cup. He started all eight games for the Americans in center field and recorded four hits, four RBI and two stolen bases in the tournament. He registered one hit, a hit by a pitch and a stolen base in the gold medal game.

At 17 years old and seven months, Willits is the youngest first overall pick in Major League history and the fourth-youngest selection at any point in the history of the MLB Draft. After he reclassified to the 2025 class, he was rated the eighth overall player in the Perfect Game national rankings and the second in the state of Oklahoma, while being named a Perfect Game All-American in 2024.

MILWAUKEE – If the Nationals were going to head into the All-Star break on a positive note, they had an uphill climb to battle.

Already having struggled this weekend against Brewers pitching, facing right-hander Freddy Peralta, who was selected for the upcoming All-Star Game but will not pitch in it, may have proved to be the Nats’ toughest challenge yet.

And they were shorthanded heading into the matchup, with their two best hitters sidelined before the game even started. For the first time in 174 games since he made his major league debut, James Wood was not in the starting lineup, the struggling All-Star slugger getting some extra rest before tomorrow’s Home Run Derby.

“He's going to be in the Home Run Derby, he's going to play in the All-Star Game. And he doesn't have time off, so I just wanted to give him the day today so that he can just chill out and relax," interim manager Miguel Cairo said after the game. "He's been playing every day. He's the big player on our team. And I just wanted to give him a day.”

Then 30 minutes before first pitch, CJ Abrams was scratched from the starting lineup, with Paul DeJong taking over at shortstop and batting fourth. The Nats announced during the game (a change from the team’s policy under the previous regime) that the young shortstop was scratched with minor right shoulder soreness, which he first experienced on Saturday.

MILWAUKEE – One more. There is only one more game to play before the Nationals head into the desperately-needed All-Star break.

This week has not been easy for the boys in curly W caps. The front office shakeup. The managerial change. Having lost seven of their last eight games, yesterday in spectacularly heartbreaking fashion. But there is one more game they need to battle through before they can finally rest for a couple of days.

Jake Irvin will try to be the stopper against the Brewers. And much like his team as a whole, he really needs to finish the first half on a strong note. Although his record is better than it was at this point last year (7-4 vs. 7-8), the rest of his numbers are worse. His ERA is over a run higher (from 3.49 to 4.78) and his WHIP is about 200 points higher (from 1.112 to 1.306). He also leads the National League with 22 home runs surrendered after giving up 14 in the first half last year. A strong outing against this potent Brewers offense would be a good step toward a strong second half.

The Nats' offense, on the other hand, will have to face another tough starting pitcher in Freddy Peralta. The right-hander was selected to the All-Star Game, but obviously will not pitch. So he will be full-go this afternoon in his first-half finale. Peralta is 10-4 with a 2.74 ERA and 1.086 WHIP over 19 starts, and he’s given up more than three earned runs in a start only once this year.

A small roster move this morning: The Nats recalled right-hander Andry Lara from Double-A Harrisburg to take the roster spot of Shinnosuke Ogasawara, who was optioned to Triple-A Rochester after yesterday's game.

MILWAUKEE – The Nationals made a small roster move ahead of their first-half finale against the Brewers. They recalled right-hander Andry Lara from Double-A Harrisburg to take the open roster spot left by Shinnosuke Ogasawara, who was optioned to Triple-A Rochester last night.

“Very happy. Very happy to be back here,” Lara said of coming back to a major league clubhouse, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz.

Lara’s return comes 11 days after he made his major league debut on July 2 as the 27th man in the first game of a split doubleheader against the Tigers, in which he tossed three scoreless innings and struck out four to preserve the Nats' bullpen for the nightcap. His outing came in an 11-2 loss, but he was the lone bright spot for the team in a moment he’ll never forget.

“I remember everything. Everything,” Lara said. “It was really special to me. Of course, it was my major league debut. That's something I've always dreamed of, and I'm really happy.”

The debut was a long wait for the 22-year-old, who signed with the Nationals out of Venezuela for $1.25 million as one of their top international prospects six years ago. After some ups and downs in the minor leagues, Lara, currently the Nats’ No. 16 prospect per MLB Pipeline, gets another chance at the major league level.

MILWAUKEE – The Nationals entered Saturday’s matchup with the Brewers needing to put Friday night’s loss behind them. They struggled mightily against opener DL Hall and regular starter Quinn Priester, who combined to hold them to just three runs over the course of the series opener.

But today, the Nats would only need to face one Milwaukee starting pitcher before manager Pat Murphy turned it over to his traditional relievers. The problem was that one starter was Brandon Woodruff.

That mattered little to two Nationals rookies, who hit two home runs off the two-time All-Star and then one more late in the game. But that was not enough to power their team to a win, as the Nats were walked off by the Brewers in the ninth for a 6-5 loss.

Handed a two-run lead following CJ Abrams’ sacrifice fly in the top of the inning, Kyle Finnegan immediately ran into trouble in the bottom of the ninth.

The Nats' closer issued a first-pitch infield single that bounced over third baseman Brady House's head to lead off the frame. He then walked Christian Yelich on four pitches and gave up a two-run double to Andrew Vaugn that tied the game at 5-5. After a groundout moved the runner to third and an intentional walk to set up a potential double play, Caleb Durbin hit a single down the right field line to give the home team the walk-off celebration.

MILWAUKEE – Brady House’s bat helped him earn his first promotion to make his major league debut about a month ago. But it’s his glove at third base that’s impressed the most so far over his first 21 big league games.

House slashed .304/.353/.519 with an .873 OPS, 15 doubles, 13 home runs and 41 RBIs in 65 games with Triple-A Rochester before getting the call on June 16. And while the bat is slowly coming around at the major league level, his defense at the hot corner has been the best the Nationals have received at the hot corner this year.

“I'm feeling good. I'm just trying to attack everything that kind of comes my way,” House said before today’s game against the Brewers. “That's kind of helped out a little bit with that mindset. Just once it's hit, try to come up and get it, unless it's hit hard. But yeah, just trying to attack it and not let the ball attack me.”

The 22-year-old was a first-round pick out of high school in 2021, largely because he was scouted as one of, if not the, best prep bats in that draft class. A shortstop in school, many thought his 6-foot-4, 208-pound frame was a better fit at third base. And although he said he wished to stay at short after he was selected 11th overall, the Nationals quickly moved their top prospect over to be their third baseman of the future.

“He's special. He can play defense, and you can see that,” said interim manager Miguel Cairo. “Last year, when I first got here for my first year as the bench coach for the Nationals, the improvement from one year to another one has been amazing. He's still, what, 22, 23? He's still a young player. And he's elite. To me, he's an elite third baseman every day over there.”

MILWAUKEE – After struggling against two Brewers pitchers last night, the Nationals offense hopes to get going in the second matchup of this three-game set before the All-Star break, which will feature two starting pitchers making just their second starts of the season for completely different reasons.

The Nats' bats’ challenge doesn’t get any easier against Brandon Woodruff. The veteran right-hander, who is coming off various injury setbacks, dominated in his first start of 2025, holding the Marlins to just two hits and one run over six innings while striking out eight.

For the Nats, Shinnosuke Ogasawara takes the hill for just his second major league start. His season wasn’t delayed due to injury but rather because the 27-year-old Japanese left-hander, who was the first player the Nats have ever signed directly out of Asia, wasn’t yet up to the challenge of major league hitters. And his debut was evidence of that, as he was charged with four runs and seven hits in 2 ⅔ innings against the Red Sox.

The roof is open for the first time this weekend at American Family Field, so playing conditions will be less controlled.

A quick shoutout to our colleague Andrew Golden at The Washington Post. He and his now-wife Jasmine celebrated their wedding last night back home in the D.C. area. Wishing a lifetime of health and happiness to the newlyweds!

MILWAUKEE – There aren’t a lot of positives to take away from an 8-3 drubbing like the one the Nationals suffered at the hands of the Brewers last night. But of the few, the biggest one perhaps was the contributions the Nats got from their No. 9 hitter and backup catcher.

With primary backstop Keibert Ruiz back on the seven-day concussion injured list, Riley Adams has been thrust back into the starting catcher’s role. And while most of the Nats' lineup struggled against Brewers opener DL Hall and Quinn Priester on Friday night, Adams actually reached base in each of his first three plate appearances, finishing 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk and two of the Nats’ three runs scored at the bottom of the lineup.

“It was big,” said interim manager Miguel Cairo. “It was nice to see him get a couple (of hits). A homer and a double and a really good walk, too. So it was nice to see him come back. You know, he's going to be catching, so he's going to be helping us.”

Adams drew a five-pitch walk – just his fourth of the year – against Hall leading off the third inning. He then hustled to score all the way around from first on CJ Abrams’ triple to give the Nats an early 1-0 lead.

After working a full count against Priester in the fifth, he smoked a ball 102 mph off the bat for just his fourth double of the year.

MILWAUKEE – The Nationals have three opportunities this weekend to end this disappointing first half on a high note. They entered this three-game set against the red-hot Brewers having lost five of their last six games.

Even so, they began the day only 2 ½ games behind the Braves in the National League East, leaving a small chance they could enter the All-Star break not in last place for the first time since June 23.

Alas, this surging Brew Crew squad was too much for the Nationals to handle, getting them off to a rough start to the weekend with a 8-3 setback in front of an announced crowd of 35,057 at American Family Field.

For the Nats to have any chance of a more successful second half, the pitchers in the starting rotation not named MacKenzie Gore need to find more success on the bump. Once a promising young core on the roster, Nats starters entered the day with a collective 4.72 ERA, fifth-worst in the major leagues.

Mitchell Parker is definitely in that group looking to turn things around. After a strong rookie campaign in 2024, the left-hander has struggled to recapture that success in his sophomore season.

MILWAUKEE – For obvious reasons, this week has been challenging for the Nationals. Two mainstays for the organization – general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez – are no longer here.

It’s been an adjustment period for the players, many of whom were drafted or acquired by Rizzo and only knew Martinez as their big league skipper. But it’s also been a challenge for the coaching staff, particularly interim manager Miguel Cairo, who moved over from the bench coach role to take over the head man’s job after the dismissal of his close friend.

Cairo’s first series at the helm of the Nationals resulted in losing two out of three to the Cardinals in St. Louis. Now as he gets ready for his second series as skipper, he’s settling more into his new role, one that he’s somewhat familiar with after managing 34 games on an interim basis with the White Sox in 2022.

“We got to take it one day at a time,” Cairo said during his pregame media session ahead of tonight’s opener against the Brewers. “The guys are playing hard. I got to continue being myself. And put the players in the best situation possible for them to succeed. That's my main goal. And with the pitching staff, the same way. Put them in the spot where they can have a good outing and be successful.”

One of his first challenges comes tonight against a Brewers team that is 13 games over .500 and owns the best record in the major leagues since May 25 (28-12). And Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy is not making it easy on his counterpart by sending out left-hander DL Hall as an opener before handing the ball to right-hander Quinn Priester.

MILWAUKEE – Hello, Wisconsin! Now that my obligatory “That '70s Show” reference is out of the way, let’s get back to baseball. The Nationals have one weekend left of this forgettable first half. All that stands between them and the All-Star break are three games against the Brewers, who are 53-40 and currently hold the top National League Wild Card spot.

The Nats will be looking for any positives to carry over into the second half. But perhaps the most encouraging ones would come from the starting rotation, as all pitchers not named All-Star MacKenzie Gore (who will not pitch in this series) are searching to get back on track. Mitchell Parker will try to end his first half strong while improving upon his 5-9 record, 4.72 ERA and 1.377 WHIP. The lefty got roughed up by the Red Sox in his last outing, giving up 10 hits and nine runs, though only four were earned.

Meanwhile, the bats will have to navigate an opener to start this series. DL Hall, the former Orioles prospect, will start the game for the Brewers before giving way to Quinn Priester, a 24-year-old right-hander who was traded to Milwaukee from Boston in April. Hall is 1-0 with a 2.29 ERA and 0.864 WHIP in 10 appearances, two of which were starts. In those starts, the lefty has pitched a combined six scoreless innings with one hit, three walks and seven strikeouts.

Priester was charged with five runs (four earned) in just 4 ⅔ innings in his last start against the Marlins. But in his outing before that, he struck out 11 Rockies over seven shutout frames. So the Nats will need to stay patient and not give him easy outs early, or it could be another long night.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Where: American Family Field
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

The only two previous times the held the No. 1 pick in the MLB Draft, the Nationals knew well in advance who they would be selecting. Shoot, the whole baseball world knew they’d take Stephen Strasburg in 2009 and Bryce Harper in 2010, two of the most-hyped prospects in draft history who would go to enjoy stellar careers in their own separate ways.

This time around, nobody seems to really know who the Nats are going to pick. In a year with no clear-cut consensus No. 1 guy, the player’s identity very well may remain a mystery right down to the wire at 6 p.m. Sunday when the 2025 Draft begins in Atlanta.

The pool of potential candidates has been deep since the moment the Nationals surprisingly won the Draft Lottery in December, despite owning the fourth-best odds of any team in the mix at a mere 10.2 percent. The club’s amateur scouting department has spent the last seven months scouring the country, getting dozens of firsthand looks at perhaps a half-dozen or more players under consideration.

The group finally gathered in the war room at Nationals Park last week to begin deliberations, only to be impacted by a stunning grenade drop Sunday evening when the club’s owners fired longtime general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez.

The timing of Rizzo’s firing shocked many, because it came one week before a draft he was supposed to be intimately involved in. Does his dismissal change the way the team will approach this all-important pick? Not necessarily.

ST. LOUIS – Wednesday night’s offensive explosion may have created an uplifting moment for a Nationals club reeling from a week of turmoil. But anyone who predicted that lopsided win over the Cardinals would serve as a springboard for bigger and better things to come hasn’t been watching this team enough all year long.

The 2025 Nats can be defined by many things, but high on the list is inconsistency. The results of one game rarely have any carryover effect into the next one. And boy was that on display tonight during an 8-1 lambasting at the hands of the Cardinals.

Overwhelmed yet again by Miles Mikolas, the otherwise struggling St. Louis right-hander who somehow has owned this particular opinion for some time now, the Nationals put forth one of their weakest offensive showing of the season. They finally scored their lone run in the top of the eighth, finishing with four hits, three walks and five total bases.

As such, they trailed from the get-go and never seriously threatened to come back, certainly not after the Cardinals torched the bullpen for six late tack-on runs to finish off the series victory and send the Nats (38-55) off to Milwaukee to close out the first half of a season that few will want to remember.

"Take a deep breath and understand the talent in this room is able to win baseball games on a daily basis," right-hander Michael Soroka said. "That's what we get to: Looking back on the good things we did in this first half. And I think there is a good amount. It's just a matter of being consistent with it." 

ST. LOUIS – Dylan Crews’ path back to the active roster took another big step Wednesday when the Nationals outfielder began throwing for the first time since suffering an oblique strain seven weeks ago.

Crews participated with his fellow outfielders prior to tonight’s game against the Cardinals in defensive drills and shagged fly balls during batting practice. He was purposely being cautious with his throws, but he felt comfortable enough to make a lunging, backhanded grab of a line drive hit to his right, a good test for his core muscles.

Though he isn’t taking BP on the field yet, Crews has been hitting in the batting cage for the last week, further signs of his progress.

“He’s feeling good right now,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “Yesterday he threw from the outfield. He’s been hitting in the cages. It’s a good sign. Yesterday I talked to him and asked how he’s feeling, and he said he’s feeling great. Just waiting to see this protocol he has got to follow with the trainers, but hopefully he can come back sooner than later.”

Crews hurt himself May 20 on a check swing, tugging at his right side. He was shut down from anything resembling baseball activity for more than a month while the oblique muscle healed, and has been slowly ramping up his rehab since cleared to begin.

ST. LOUIS – It’s been an eventful week, to put it mildly. The Nationals have been in chaos mode since Sunday, and only on Wednesday did things start to feel a bit closer to normal again. Tonight, though, presents an opportunity to not just feel normal again but feel good about themselves. With a win over the Cardinals, the Nats would complete a series victory.

That’s easier said than done, of course. The offense needs to put together quality at-bats like it did during Wednesday night’s 8-2 win at Busch Stadium, and that group needs to do it against an opposing pitcher who has owned them for a while. Miles Mikolas has not been an effective starter in several years, but he has thoroughly dominated the Nationals over the last three seasons, posting a 1.95 ERA and 1.012 WHIP in five total starts. In 79 starts against everyone else since 2023, the right-hander has a 5.28 ERA and 1.324 WHIP. There’s your challenge for tonight.

On the mound, Michael Soroka wants to bounce back from a ragged July 4 start against the Red Sox, one in which he allowed the first five batters he faced in the top of the fifth to reach (and ultimately score after he was pulled). Seven total runs were charged to the right-hander that night. As always, he needs to show he can finish what he started, though it will be interesting to see how Miguel Cairo manages his start as opposed to Davey Martinez.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Busch Stadium
Gametime: 7:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 90 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Josh Bell
1B Nathaniel Lowe
3B Paul DeJong
RF Daylen Lile
C Drew Millas
CF Jacob Young

Washington Nationals left-handed pitching prospect Alex Clemmey has been selected to represent the organization in the 2025 All-Star Futures Game at Truist Park in Atlanta on Saturday, July 12. The 26th All-Star Futures Game features the top Minor League prospects competing as part of All-Star Saturday.

Clemmey, 19, is the Nationals No. 4 prospect according to Baseball America, and the No. 5 prospect in the organization according to MLBPipeline.com. He leads the Nationals Organization and ranks third in the South Atlantic League with 88 strikeouts. Those 88 strikeouts are also the most by any player in Minor League Baseball under 20 years old, 12 more than the next closest teenager. He also leads all Nationals farmhands with 12.25 strikeouts per 9.0 innings, which is good for fourth in the South Atlantic League and 11^th in all of Minor League Baseball (min. 60.0 IP).

A second-round pick in the 2023 First-Year Player Draft out of Bishop Hendricken High School (RI), Clemmey was acquired as part of the trade that sent Lane Thomas to the Guardians on July 29, 2024. He is 4-4 with a 3.34 ERA in 15 games this season with High-A Wilmington this season and has limited opposing hitters to a .213 average against in 64.2 innings of work.

The 6-foot-6, 205-pound lefty helped the Fredericksburg Nationals to the league title in 2024 with five strikeouts in 4.0 innings of two-hit, one-run ball in the Championship Series.

The 2025 All-Star Futures Game will air live exclusively on MLB Network and will be simulcast on MLB.tv, MLB.com and on the MLB app at 4 p.m. ET. on July 12. 

ST. LOUIS – First things first: Luis García is not Luis García Jr.

The former is the Nationals’ new 38-year-old reliever, signed on Tuesday. The latter is the Nats’ 25-year-old second baseman, the organization’s longest tenured player having signed as a teenager in 2016. Whose father, Luis García, is the 50-year-old former infielder who played eight big league games for the Tigers in 1999.

Got all that? Good. Just remember this particular article is about Luis García, the 38-year-old reliever, and everything will be fine.

Name confusion aside, the Nationals are happy to have this García as part of their bullpen now, hoping the veteran right-hander can help take some burden off the young arms who have been thrown to the wolves this season, a few of them surviving but several of them having been eaten alive.

“It really helps,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “He’s got some experience. We’ve got a lot of young kids, a lot of young pitchers in the bullpen. It’s a good mix to have another veteran out there who can help with the young players.”

ST LOUIS – On day one, Miguel Cairo stayed on course and managed as if he was merely filling in for Davey Martinez. On day two, he decided to veer just a bit into the wild and try something different. And then was rewarded for it.

With a couple of lineup tweaks designed both to get more right-handed hitters into the lineup against an opposing starter with reverse splits and to keep bench players more engaged, Cairo watched his Nationals cruise to an 8-2 victory over the Cardinals, his first as interim manager.

"It was good," Cairo said. "It was good for my friend Davey. This one was for him, because he's the one that put this team together and believed in these players and put the coaching staff together. So this goes to him."

That tweaked lineup, featuring Amed Rosario in the third spot and Alex Call in the sixth spot against St. Louis starter Andre Pallante, jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.

It didn’t hurt, of course, to also have MacKenzie Gore on the mound, the All-Star left-hander turning in another stellar performance to close out his breakthrough first half in style.