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| 1:05 PM PT2:05 PM MT3:05 PM CT4:05 PM ET16:05 ET20:05 GMT4:05 1:05 PM MST3:05 PM EST3:35 PM VEN0:05 UAE (+1)2:05 PM CT, May 25, 2023 Nationals Park, Washington, District of Columbia Attendance: 17,524 |
Blake Snell, Padres look to bounce back in Washington
San Diego Padres at Washington Nationals
- The Padres won each of the last three series in Washington (2-1 in 2019, 2021 and 2022). They have not won a series against the Nationals in San Diego since 2010.
- The Padres are 2-9 in their last 11 games and their only wins were shutout victories (4-0 vs. Royals on May 15, 7-0 vs. Red Sox on Sunday). San Diego has a .177 team batting average during this stretch, averaging 5.5 hits per game.
- Fernando Tatis Jr. has a .291 average, 88 home runs and 209 RBI in the 300 career games. Since 1920, when RBIs became an official statistic, the only player to match or better each of those totals in his first 300 MLB games is Ryan Howard (.295 BA, 91 HR, 247 RBI).
- Yu Darvish has 1841 strikeouts in his 250 regular-season starts in the majors. That's the fifth highest strikeout total by a pitcher in his first 250 MLB starts (since 1901). The top four are Pedro Martinez (2028), Chris Sale (1997), Randy Johnson (1941) and Nolan Ryan (1931).
- The Nationals had 18 hits in their 6-4 win over the Tigers on Sunday, tying their season high for one game (18 in a 10-5 win at Colorado on April 7). Washington did not draw a walk in Sunday's game. It was the first time the Expos/Nationals had 18 or more hits and no walks in a game since July 30, 1993, when Montreal had 18 hits in an 11-1 win against the Marlins.
- MacKenzie Gore is averaging 11.27 strikeouts per nine innings this year (58 SO in 46.1 IP), which would rank fifth in MLB if he was not 0.2 IP short of being an ERA qualifier. Gore averaged 9.26 strikeouts per nine innings as a rookie with the Padres last season.
Blake Snell hopes to bounce back from his worst outing of the season when the San Diego Padres visit the Washington Nationals in the rubber match of a three-game series on Thursday.
After going 1-3 with a 3.54 ERA over a stretch of five starts, Snell (1-6, 5.40 ERA) gave up six runs on five hits in four innings of a 6-1 home loss to the Boston Red Sox on Friday.
"I didn't help them by putting them in a hole," Snell said of his teammates.
The 30-year-old left-hander is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in four career starts vs. the Nationals.
Right-hander Jake Irvin (1-2, 5.50 ERA) will makes his fifth major league start for the Nationals. The 26-year-old tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants on May 8, but in his past two starts, he allowed a total of 12 runs (10 earned) in 7 1/3 innings. In his most recent outing, Irvin gave up six runs, four earned, on five hits and four walks in 2 2/3 innings against the Detroit Tigers on Friday.
"Just making worse pitches," Irvin said of his problems in the game. "It was one of those days where off-speed is not landing as often and it's disappointing. ... I wanted to set a tone."
On Wednesday, Alex Call had two hits and two RBIs as the Nationals took the middle game of the series 5-3.
Trevor Williams pitched into the sixth inning and Dominic Smith had two hits for the Nationals, who have won three of their past four games and are 11-11 in May. The Nationals are 9-5 at home since April 30 after going 2-11 at home to start the season.
Call's two-run double was the key hit in a four-run second inning.
"We've got a lot of confidence in our pitchers, so whenever we can take the pressure off them and give them some run support, I think it gives them a little freedom to not have to be perfect," Call said. "It's big for everybody. Takes the pressure off. Just makes you feel loose."
With his fourth-inning RBI double, Lane Thomas extended his on-base streak to a career-high 20 straight games.
Washington relievers worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings to complete the win. Hunter Harvey came in to retire Fernando Tatis, Jr. with two outs and a runner on base in the seventh, and Kyle Finnegan pitched the ninth for his 10th save.
Rougned Odor and Ha-Seong Kim homered for the Padres, who had won their previous two games. The problem for San Diego was that it collected only four hits overall in the game.
Starter Ryan Weathers gave up five runs, four earned, in six innings for San Diego.
"He gave us six innings. I thought he pitched fairly well," Padres manager Bob Melvin said of Weathers. "When you get four hits, it's tough to win a game."
After collecting three hits against his former team on Tuesday in San Diego's 7-4 win, Juan Soto went 0-for-2 with two walks and a run.
The slumping Padres will look to avoid losing their sixth straight series.
San Diego got some good new off the field on Wednesday. Third baseman Manny Machado took ground balls for the first time since going on the 10-day injured list last week with a fractured left hand. He is eligible to return on Friday.
--Field Level Media
Updated May 25, 2023
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