After their first series win in almost a month, the Nats look to keep the momentum going against the best team in baseball, the Detroit Tigers
It certainly didn’t come easy, but the Nationals finally ended their consecutive series losses streak of 7 with a 7-4 victory in Anaheim on Sunday. It looked like their bleak streak was going to continue into the month of July, as they trailed 4-3 entering the 9th, but hope was renewed after Daylen Lile doubled and was brought in to tie the game on a Jacob Young single. The bats then came alive in the 11th, with a Drew Millas double and a CJ Abrams triple giving the Nats a 3-run lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
Drew Millas showed out in his first start of the year for the big league club, going 1-3 with the go-ahead double, a walk, a game-saving block on an errant pitch, and catching a runner stealing in the 9th. He deserves more playing time than he has gotten since his callup, and hopefully earned more with his impressive performance Sunday.
Gritty Tigs
The Nats head home after a long west coast trip to take on the best team in the AL and tied with the Dodgers for the best in baseball, the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers were the best underdog story in baseball last year, hanging out around .500 for a few months before exploding down the stretch and making the playoffs before losing in the ALDS to their division rivals, the Cleveland Guardians. This year, they’re juggernauts, with a record of 53-32 and being up 11.5 games in their division in July, reminiscent of a lot of mid-2010s Nationals clubs who ran through middling NL Easts.
The Nationals will thankfully avoid facing Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, as he obliterated the Twins’ lineup Sunday night, finishing with a line of 7 innings, 13 strikeouts, 0 runs, and 1 hit allowed. The Nats’ arms will have to go up against the strong Tigers lineup, which is likely to have 3, maybe even 4 representatives at the All-Star Game in Atlanta. They’re led by the 24-year-old Riley Greene, who leads the club in OPS and home runs, but they get contributions from almost every spot in their lineup, from the newcomer Gleyber Torres at second base to the resurging Javier Baez in center field.
Team Stats:
Team OPS: .753 (2nd in AL, 5th in MLB)
Team OPS Leader: Riley Greene (.887)
Team HR Leader: Riley Greene (19)
Team ERA: 3.44 (2nd in AL, 3rd in MLB)
Team ERA Leader: Tarik Skubal (2.15)
Game One – Tuesday 6:45pm EDT
DET: Jack Flaherty (5-9) – 84.1 IP, 4.80 ERA, 1.23 WHIP
Flaherty’s 2nd stint with the Tigers isn’t going quite as smoothly as the first one did, as his ERA scrapes 5 and isn’t improving, with a 5.26 ERA in his last 7 starts. He had a disaster start against the Rays in his 2nd-to-last start, giving up 8 runs in 2 1⁄3 innings, but bounced back nicely against the Athletics in his last start with 6 innings of 3-run ball. He’ll now match up with a Nats lineup that has been very hot and cold in the last 10 or so games.
WSH: Trevor Williams (3-9) – 79.2 IP, 5.65 ERA, 1.47 WHIP
Death, taxes, and Trevor Williams giving the Nationals 5 innings of mediocre results every 5 days. It was the same story for him in his last start versus the Padres, going 5 innings and allowing 4 runs in a loss. He’s likely gonna need to prove he’s worth more than that if he doesn’t want to get bounced from the rotation when Cade Cavalli arrives later this month.
Game Two – Wednesday 6:45pm EDT
DET: TBD
While no starter is announced yet, it is likely to be Reese Olson for the Tigers, who will be making his first start since he went on the IL in mid-May. If it turns out Olson isn’t ready, it’ll likely be a bullpen game for the Tigers.
WSH: MacKenzie Gore (3-8) – 99 IP, 3.09 ERA, 1.20 WHIP
Gore bounced back from a rough outing in LA with a stellar performance in San Diego, going 6 innings of 1 run ball, still earning the loss somehow because the Nats’ bats don’t know they’re still allowed to score when he’s pitching. He now gets a chance against a top 5 offense in the league, in one of his last chances to solidify himself as a 2025 all star.
Game Three – Thursday 6:45pm EDT
DET: Dietrich Enns (1-0) – 5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.60 WHIP
The 34-year-old Enns made his first big league appearance in 4 years against the Athletics and showed out, going 5 scoreless innings and allowing just 1 run for the Tigers. Now he gets a chance against the Nationals lineup that has had its struggles against left-handed pitching this season.
WSH: Jake Irvin (6-3) – 99 IP, 4.73 ERA, 1.30 WHIP
It was a rough showing for Irvin in his last start versus the Angels, giving up 8 runs over 4 1⁄3 innings. His ERA over his last 7 starts is 6.05, heavily ballooned by that start in Anaheim, but still a disgustingly bad number. Irvin has flashed dominance in a few starts this season, and hopefully, he can do it again against a top 5 offense in the league in the Tigers.
New Chapter, Or Same Old Story?
The month of June was not kind to the Nationals, but they were able to end it on a positive note and now have a chance to flip the script with some victories against a top-tier contender like the Tigers. If they can, maybe they can start stringing wins together over a few weeks and at least escape the cellar of the NL East.