We’re not in California anymore. The Nationals at long last are back home after a nine-game trip west that featured a 4-5 record and a whole lot of beautiful weather days. That’s not the case anymore. It’s disgusting back here in the nation’s capital, with temperatures in the 90s, dew points in the mid-70s and heat indexes well over 100. And now there’s a massive line of storms headed this way, putting tonight’s series opener against the Tigers in serious jeopardy.

We’ll see how that all transpires, but in the meantime let’s assume they play as scheduled. The Nats will look to hold their own against the surprisingly best-in-baseball Tigers. At least they don’t have to face Tarik Skubal, who pitched another gem Sunday night and won’t pitch again until this weekend.

Jack Flaherty is no slouch, though, and the Nationals will need to put together quality at-bats against the 29-year-old, whose bottom-line numbers (5-9, 4.80 ERA) aren’t great but peripherals are much better (1.233 WHIP, 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings).

Trevor Williams, meanwhile, keeps chugging along for the Nats. At this point, you know what you’re going to get from the veteran right-hander. At best, he’s going to keep them in the game for five-ish innings. They just have to hope he keeps Detroit’s lineup to three or fewer runs along the way.

The Nats also made a pregame roster move: Paul DeJong has been activated off the 10-day injured list about 2 1/2 months after getting hit in the face by a fastball. Andrés Chaparro was optioned to Triple-A after he went just 1-for-11 in limited playing time.

James Wood could only chuckle when presented with the news he had just become the first major leaguer to be intentionally walked four times in the same game since Barry Bonds.

“That’s pretty cool,” the Nationals left fielder. “I mean, if you’re getting put in the same sentence as him, that’s pretty cool.”

Bonds, for the record, achieved his four-intentional-walk game in 2004, at age 40, during a season in which he hit 45 homers to go along with an insane slash line of .362/.609/.812. Of his all-time-record 232 walks that year, an astonishing 120 of them were intentional. He had long since established himself as the most feared hitter in baseball by then.

Wood, on the other hand, is 22 years old. Sunday was the 163rd game of his big league career. He is only beginning to establish his place in the sport, and yet the Angels’ actions over the weekend spoke volumes about the respect he already commands.

“It stinks, because I like to watch him hit. But it’s pretty crazy that they’re already taking those measures against him,” teammate Jacob Young said. “But it makes sense. He’s carried our offense for a lot of the year, and he’s special when he’s up there.”

The Nationals today made a historic announcement for the franchise, introducing AARP as the team’s inaugural jersey patch sponsor and an official community impact partner.

With media, members of the Nats front office and executives from AARP gathered in the Terra Club at Nationals Park, franchise legend Ryan Zimmerman helped announce the partnership alongside Nationals vice president of corporate partnerships Matt Lemire and AARP chief digital officer Sami Hassanyeh.

The AARP logo will appear on all team jerseys during the regular season, postseason and spring training, making its on-field debut tomorrow, July 1, when the Nationals start a six-game homestand with an opening matchup against the Tigers at 6:45 p.m. In addition to the jersey patch sponsorship, the partnership also includes community activities and activations at Nationals Park.

“When looking for our inaugural jersey patch sponsor, it was important for us to work with an organization that aligns with our values, one that embraces not just the ‘Next Gen Natitude’ on the field and in the clubhouse, but also brings together all generations of Nationals fans,” chief operating officer of Lerner Sports Group Alan Gottlieb said in a statement. “Whether you remember bringing your kids or grandkids to our inaugural season in 2005, or you’re bringing your family to the ballpark for the first time this year, this partnership is exciting for fans of all ages, and we’re proud to welcome AARP to the Nationals family for years to come.”

“Baseball is more than a game — it’s a tradition that connects us across generations,” AARP CEO Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan said in a statement. “This community-based partnership with the Nationals, and seeing the AARP logo on the Nationals’ jerseys, are powerful reminders of the memories we create with the people we love, from attending a first game with a parent to building a future with the next generation. We’re proud to team up with the Nationals to celebrate those connections here in Washington and on the road in every community across the country.”

Washington Nationals right-handed pitching prospects Travis Sykora and Marquis Grissom Jr. have been selected to represent the organization in the 2025 All-Star Futures Game at Truist Park in Atlanta on Saturday, July 12. Major League Baseball made the announcement Monday on MLB Network. The 26th All-Star Futures Game features the top Minor League prospects competing as part of All-Star Saturday.

Sykora, 21, is the Nationals No. 1 prospect and the No. 46 prospect in all of baseball, according to Baseball America, and the No. 54 overall prospect according to MLBPipeline.com. After making his season-debut on May 3 until his promotion to Double-A on June 26, he led all of Minor League Baseball in opponents’ batting average (.107), WHIP (.0.61), hits per 9.0 innings (3.10), opponents’ slugging percentage (.137) and strikeouts per 9.0 innings (15.49). Sykora also ranked among all qualified Minor League pitchers in ERA (2^nd, 1.09) and strikeouts (T2^nd, 70) during that span.

A third-round pick in the 2023 First-Year Player Draft out of Round Rock High School in Round Rock, Texas, Sykora is 3-1 with a 1.83 ERA in 11 games this season between the Florida Complex League, Single-A Fredericksburg, High-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg. Despite pitching in his first game in May this year, Sykora’s 76 strikeouts rank third in the Nationals Minor League system.

The hard-throwing, 6-foot-6, 232-pound righty was named the Nationals organization’s Pitcher of the Year and the Carolina League Pitcher of the Year in 2024 after he led the Fredericksburg Nationals to the league title.

Grissom Jr., 23, is the No. 21 prospect in the Nationals organization according to MLBPipeline.com. He ranks third in Washington’s Minor League system with six saves this season. His 15 saves over the last two seasons are the most by any current Nationals farmhand.

The Washington Nationals and AARP today announced a multi-year agreement that makes AARP the Club’s inaugural jersey patch sponsor and an official Community Impact Partner. The AARP logo will appear on all team jerseys during the regular season, Postseason and Spring Training, making its on-field debut Tuesday, July 1, when the Nationals face the Detroit Tigers at 6:45 p.m. In addition to the jersey patch sponsorship, the partnership also includes community activities and activations at Nationals Park.

“When looking for our inaugural jersey patch sponsor, it was important for us to work with an organization that aligns with our values, one that embraces not just the ‘Next Gen Natitude’ on the field and in the clubhouse, but also brings together all generations of Nationals fans,” said Alan Gottlieb, Chief Operating Officer, Lerner Sports Group. “Whether you remember bringing your kids or grandkids to our inaugural season in 2005, or you’re bringing your family to the ballpark for the first time this year, this partnership is exciting for fans of all ages, and we’re proud to welcome AARP to the Nationals family for years to come.”

“Baseball is more than a game — it’s a tradition that connects us across generations,” said AARP CEO Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan. “This community-based partnership with the Nationals, and seeing the AARP logo on the Nationals’ jerseys, are powerful reminders of the memories we create with the people we love, from attending a first game with a parent to building a future with the next generation. We’re proud to team up with the Nationals to celebrate those connections here in Washington and on the road in every community across the country.”

Beyond the jersey patch, the collaboration is a symbol of the two Washington, D.C.-based organizations’ shared commitment to community. The partnership amplifies AARP’s key pillars of health, wealth and self through a series of initiatives, including the Nationals’ participation in AARP’s Wish of a Lifetime program. The Club will help fulfill wishes for older adults by granting exclusive access and experiences across our shared community, while also using the partnership to support and educate fans of all ages with fraud prevention tools, brain health resources, special content and more.

Through this multifaceted partnership, a multi-generational Nationals fan base can also look forward to special on-site activations, a dedicated AARP Night at the ballpark, player and mascot appearances and more. On-field and in-park signage, as well as digital and social content, will remind Nationals fans and baseball fans everywhere that AARP is “on your team and in your community,” while AARP members will have the chance to enjoy special benefits like early ballpark access, reserved parking spaces and seat upgrades into the PNC Diamond Club at every home game.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – For eight innings, the Nationals did just enough to keep today's series finale against the Angels close, overcoming missed opportunities, missed calls and missed locations to at least put themselves in position to win.

It was, quite frankly, the kind of game they lost too many times over the last week and a half during a Southern California road trip that featured as many one-run losses as wins of any margin (three apiece).

And then when it really mattered, a Nats team wrapping up a miserable month found a way to deliver and head home finally feeling better about itself for the first time in a long time.

With a ninth-inning rally against future Hall of Fame closer Kenley Jansen, then a three-run rally keyed by several youngsters in the 11th and the first three-inning relief appearance of Kyle Finnegan's career, the Nationals pulled off a rousing, 7-4 victory at Angel Stadium that felt as significant as any other during this disappointing season.

"We haven't done as well as we'd like in the wins department this road trip," Finnegan said. "But I feel like we've played pretty good baseball. So to win a game like this - last game of a long road trip away from home, guys away from their families, grind one out in extra innings - I feel like it's good for our morale."

ANAHEIM, Calif. – As he watched from the bullpen in the bottom of the seventh Saturday night, helpless to do anything about the nightmare inning his teammates were suffering through, Kyle Finnegan tried to think of any good that could come from the situation.

The Nationals’ closer would’ve rather been on the mound himself. But that wasn’t going to happen that early in the game. So he could only watch Zach Brzykcy, Eduardo Salazar and Ryan Loutos combine to give up six runs and turn a one-run lead over the Angels into a five-run deficit, then try to help them have some perspective at the end of the night.

“When you find yourself struggling for whatever reason, watching from the outside, you want to go out there and try to help or tell them what to do,” he said. “But as a young player, I think it’s important to learn on your own. Unfortunately, in this game you learn from mistakes a lot of times. I hope these guys learn from things that have hurt them and always remember the things that have gone well.”

Finnegan has been doing a lot of watching from the bullpen in recent weeks. The Nationals today play the ninth and final game of this extra-long trip through Southern California. Their closer has appeared in only two of those games, each of them coming in San Diego, where he faced only one batter each time, entering in a non-save situation each time.

The Nats have won three games on the trip, one apiece over the Dodgers, Padres and Angels. But in each case, they won by at least four runs. So there hasn’t been a save situation for Finnegan to enter.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Nationals arrived in Southern California way back on July 19, fresh off a walk-off win over the Rockies that finally snapped their losing streak at 11 games. Today, they finally wrap up this nine-game trip through all three major league cities in the region, having lost two of three to both the Dodgers and the Padres and needing a win today against the Angels to avoid the same fate.

The good news: Davey Martinez should have his top bullpen options available to him after not having them Saturday night. So if Mitchell Parker can get the Nats through five or six quality innings, Brad Lord, Jose A. Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan are all raring to go, with Finnegan in particular available for more than one inning given how little he has pitched during this road trip.

The Nats also need to score more than the two runs they scored Saturday, only one of them coming off starter Kyle Hendricks. Today they face right-hander Jack Kochanowicz, who is 3-8 with a 5.49 ERA in 16 starts. The key: He has walked 4.2 batters per nine innings while striking out only 6.5. Patience, patience, patience from a lineup that includes all of the recent regulars with one exception: Drew Millas gets the start behind the plate after Riley Adams caught the majority of five straight games following Keibert Ruiz's head injury.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Where: Angel Stadium
Gametime: 4:07 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 85 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center field

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

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Friday night’s wacky win over the Angels may have seen the Nationals explode for 15 runs, their best offensive output in four years, but it also came at a cost. When Jake Irvin couldn’t contain Los Angeles’ offense, Davey Martinez had to lean hard on two of his few trusted relievers in order to close out an eventual 15-9 win.

Brad Lord and Jose A. Ferrer got the job done, but each was pushed to record more than three outs, with Lord totaling 36 pitches. Which left both guys unavailable tonight when the second game of the series reached the bottom of the seventh with the Nats clinging to a 2-1 lead.

Michael Soroka had already completed six innings for only the fourth time this season. And Martinez wasn’t about to send his starter back out there for the seventh for the first time. So the game fell into the hands of Zach Brzykcy. And when Brzykcy faltered, Eduardo Salazar. And when Salazar faltered, Ryan Loutos.

The end result wasn’t pretty.

The three right-handers combined to allow six runs during a nightmare inning that turned a tight, low-scoring ballgame into an 8-2 rout by the Angels, spoiling the 162nd game of James Wood’s career. With a chance to clinch their first series win in eight tries, the Nats now find themselves needing to win Sunday’s finale in order to pull that off.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Andrew Chafin is facing live hitters again and could be ready to come off the injured list during the Nationals’ upcoming homestand.

Chafin, out since June 8 with a strained right hamstring, threw a simulated game Friday at Angel Stadium and emerged feeling good about himself after the 30-pitch session.

There is a caveat, of course, given the nature of the left-hander’s injury.

“As you know, there’s nothing wrong with his arm,” manager Davey Martinez said. “It was his hamstring. So, he threw the ball well.”

The more important test for Chafin will come as he attempts to simulate running plays off the mound.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Nationals enjoyed their best offensive night in four years to open this series, blasting 15 runs on 19 hits in a slugfest victory over the Angels on Friday night. So, what should we expect tonight?

The way this lineup has operated all season, it feels like they’re more likely to be shut out by Kyle Hendricks than put up big numbers again. Hendricks has long been a master of soft contact, and we know many of the Nats’ regulars struggle with sinkers and changeups down in the zone. They’re going to have to show the kind of patience they haven’t often shown this season to have some success against the crafty veteran.

Michael Soroka, meanwhile, will look to continue what he did last weekend in Los Angeles, and then finish strong. It’s the finishing part that has given the right-hander so much trouble. Soroka’s sixth inning ERA this season is a ridiculous 22.85. His ERA in all other innings is 3.49. Clearly, he has the ability to be good. He just needs to sustain it through the conclusion of his starts.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Where: Angel Stadium
Gametime: 9:38 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 80 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center 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 Riley Adams
CF Jacob Young

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The wildest game of the Nationals’ season was knotted at 9 in the bottom of the sixth Friday night at Angel Stadium. Nobody who had taken the mound for either team had enjoyed any substantive level of success, and now here came Brad Lord out of the bullpen to face Mike Trout with nobody out and a runner in scoring position.

It was arguably the biggest head-to-head matchup Lord has faced yet in his rookie season. The trick for the young right-hander: Don’t think of it that way.

“Coming into any close game like that, you feel the pressure of: ‘I’ve got to shut them down, throw up a zero,’” he said. “I just try to treat it like any other outing. Execute the game plan, and go right after these guys.”

And then he did exactly that. Lord retired Trout on a sharp grounder to second, with Luis García Jr. making a nifty play on the ball hit to his left. He got Taylor Ward to ground out to short, a drawn-in CJ Abrams able to hold the go-ahead runner at third. Then he got Jo Adell to ground out as well and end the inning.

And then he went right back out there in the bottom of the seventh and recorded two more outs before finally departing having thrown 36 total pitches across 1 2/3 scoreless innings. And thanks to his teammates’ best offensive night in four years, Lord emerged from it all the winning pitcher in the Nats’ 15-9 thumping of the Angels.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Nationals may not have played a sloppier game all season. Tonight’s series opener against the Angels included defensive mistakes, baserunning gaffes and poor starting pitching.

So how was it the Nats were the ones celebrating at the center of the diamond at the end of a wacky, 15-9 victory at Angel Stadium? Because on a night in which they did so many things wrong, they also enjoyed their best offensive performance in four years and got just enough quality work from the back of their bullpen to pull off an escape act.

They easily established new season highs in runs (15) and hits (19). They scored in seven of their nine offensive innings, including six straight from the fourth through the ninth. All nine starters delivered at least one hit and at least one RBI. All nine reached base multiple times, with seven players delivering multiple hits.

"We outslugged them," manager Davey Martinez said with a laugh when asked about the rare combination of explosive offense and sloppy defense and baserunning. "Look, we came out victorious. We didn't play all that good the first six innings. It was a little sloppy. But we hung in there, and we hit the ball."

The 15 runs are the most the Nationals have scored in a game since they plated 18 against the Marlins on July 19, 2021, a month that did not end well for a franchise that decided to tear down the remnants of its championship roster and embark on a rebuild that continues four years later.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Keibert Ruiz has been transferred to the seven-day concussion injured list after a recent diagnosis spurred by continued headaches for the Nationals catcher.

Ruiz was watching from the dugout Monday night in San Diego when teammate Josh Bell hit a foul ball that whizzed past several players and then ricocheted back toward Ruiz, striking him on the right side of the head. Initial tests taken that night did not reveal a concussion, so he was placed on the 10-day IL with a head contusion.

Ruiz was still experiencing headaches in the days after the incident, though, so he was examined again by another doctor, who determined he had suffered what manager Davey Martinez referred to as a “mild” concussion.

The Nats made the transaction to move Ruiz to the 7-day concussion IL, which actually makes him eligible to return Tuesday when the team opens a homestand against the Tigers and Red Sox, three days earlier than he would have been eligible to come off the 10-day IL. He’ll still need to be cleared by a doctor before returning.

“If everything continues to go well, he’ll take that another test in seven days, and hopefully he’s OK to play,” Martinez said.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Hello from the Big A and the final leg of this three-city Southern California swing for the Nationals. They lost two of three in Los Angeles. They lost two of three in San Diego. They really hope not to lose two of three here against an Angels team that is playing good baseball and has reached the .500 mark but just learned today manager Ron Washington will miss the remainder of the season while on medical leave. Bench coach Ray Montgomery takes over managerial duties.

The Nationals were shut out Wednesday by the Padres, so they’ll be looking to bounce back offensively against José Soriano. The right-hander has a good ERA (3.39) but so-so peripherals (1.419 WHIP, 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings, 4.2 walks per nine innings). That final number needs to be implanted in the Nats’ brains. They did not draw one walk during Wednesday’s loss. They have to show more patience tonight.

On the mound, Jake Irvin is coming off a really solid start at Dodger Stadium (two runs, seven strikeouts, zero walks) in 5 1/3 innings. He makes his first career start against the Angels, so this will be the first time he ever faces Mike Trout (and vice versa).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at LOS ANGELES ANGELS
Where: Angel Stadium
Gametime: 9:38 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 74 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center 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 Riley Adams
CF Jacob Young

SAN DIEGO – When the Nationals enjoyed their record-setting, 10-run first inning four weeks ago in Arizona, they simultaneously wrapped up a 15-12 record for May, the team’s first winning month since August 2023 and only its second winning month at all since the rebuild began in earnest in July 2021.

It was cause for mild celebration, but it wasn’t the end-all, be-all. It was only the start of something bigger, the Nats believed at the time.

“I would encourage this group to get used to winning,” first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said that night in Phoenix, “because that’s what we strive to do every day. But we’ll take this month and obviously keep going into June and look for another winning month.”

The Nationals won’t finish June with a winning month. They won’t even come close. Even if they sweep the Angels this weekend in Anaheim, they’ll merely improve to 8-18 for the month. That would still be tied for the eighth-worst month in club history. If, god forbid, they get swept, they’ll finish 5-21. That would represent the single worst month in club history.

Suffice it to say, things have taken a decided turn for the worse around here over the last four weeks.

After just six starts following his promotion to High-A Wilmington, Travis Sykora, the top prospect in the Nationals’ farm system, is being promoted to Double-A Harrisburg.

The promotion, confirmed by a source familiar with the move, comes after the 21-year-old right-hander dominated the South Atlantic League by going 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA, 0.674 WHIP, 47 strikeouts and only eight walks over 29 ⅔ innings with the Blue Rocks.

He only surrendered 12 hits (zero home runs) and had a stellar 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings and 5.88 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Sykora earned his first promotion to High-A after only two starts with Single-A Fredericksburg following his return from offseason hip surgery. He held opponents to one hit, one run and one walk while striking out 14 in just five innings with the FredNats before moving up to Wilmington.

The Nats selected Sykora out of high school in the third round of the 2023 MLB Draft, signing him overslot to keep him away from his commitment to the University of Texas. He was named Carolina League Pitcher of the Year in 2024 after going 5-3 with a 2.33 ERA, 0.906 WHIP, 129 strikeouts and 13.7 strikeouts per nine innings across 20 starts.

SAN DIEGO – The Nationals left town following Wednesday afternoon's agonizing 1-0 loss to the Padres and are spending their off-day up the road in Orange County before opening a weekend series Friday against the Angels. Your trusty beat writer chose to remain in San Diego for this off-day, because ... well, do I really have to explain this to you? It's San Diego, for crying out loud!

There will be time to relax later. Before then, it's time to answer your questions about the Nats. It's been quite the eventful few weeks for the team, from the 11-game losing streak to Brady House's debut to the start of a West Coast trip that has included some legitimately big moments but unfortunately has also included four more losses in six games, three of them by one run.

I'll do my best to tackle whatever subjects you propose today (with reason and good taste, of course). And keep in mind the 3-hour time difference, so I may get started a bit later than usual. If you've got something you'd like to ask, just submit it in the comments section below, then check back for my replies ...

SAN DIEGO – MacKenzie Gore has pitched like an ace this season. He leads the National League in strikeouts. His ERA resides in the low-3.00s. Only five major leaguers have totaled more than his 11 quality starts.

So how come Gore now sports a 3-8 record? Because no matter how well he’s pitched, his teammates can’t seem to consistently provide him the kind of support the left-hander needs to emerge victorious.

That troubling trend reached a new low this afternoon at Petco Park, where Gore was good once again and once again got no help from the rest of the Nationals during a disheartening 1-0 loss to the Padres.

"That's on us. That's on the lineup," center fielder Jacob Young said. "He keeps us in almost every game, and we just haven't been able to score the runs, especially in games like this where it's one or two. We haven't been able to scrap them together and get him some more wins. But he's had our back on the mound. Hopefully in the second half of the year, we can have his."

Gore allowed only one run over six innings, rarely surrendering loud contact. But San Diego’s Nick Pivetta allowed zero runs over seven innings, and that was the difference in the game.

SAN DIEGO – As was the case Sunday in Los Angeles, the Nationals have an opportunity today to win a series against a good opponent. They put themselves in that position by thumping the Padres on Monday night before coming up just short Tuesday night. So it will require a victory this afternoon to win the series and improve to 3-3 on the West Coast trip heading into a much-needed day off before the Southern California jaunt concludes this weekend in Anaheim.

The good news: MacKenzie Gore is on the mound, facing the team that drafted and then traded him. Gore has pitched here each of the last two seasons, so this is nothing special for him. The lefty just wants to go out there and do what he’s doing through the majority of the season’s first half: provide length with minimal damage and a lot of strikeouts. The Padres' lineup is no joke, but he’s plenty motivated to deliver for his team today.

At the plate, the Nationals will try to get to Nick Pivetta the way they did to Ryan Hergert on Tuesday night, while perhaps converting a few more times in clutch situations. (They scored three early runs but went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, missing some golden opportunities to extend their lead.) Pivetta, of course, is the long-ago Nats prospect who was traded to the Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon nearly a decade ago. He’s fashioned a solid career since and has been more than solid so far in his first year with the Padres, entering today 7-2 with a 3.64 ERA and 1.083 WHIP in 15 starts.

One important note to consider as the game plays out: Robert Suarez dropped his appeal of the three-game suspension MLB handed down to him last week for intentionally throwing at the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, once the league reduced the sentence to two games. So the Padres will be without their closer this afternoon, should this game be close come the ninth inning.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Petco Park
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 71 degrees, wind 10 mph left field to right field