Game 100: Nats at A's

A wild, back-and-forth series in Sacramento concludes this afternoon with Foster Griffin on the mound for the Nationals

It’s been a strange series to open the second half, to say the least. One of the most-lopsided blowout wins in Nationals history Friday night. Then one of the most-lopsided blowout losses in Nationals history Saturday night. The end result of all that: an aggregate score of Nats 24, A’s 19 heading into this afternoon’s finale.

You’d like to believe the Athletics are going to have a much harder time scoring runs today against Foster Griffin than they did against Zack Littell. The All-Star left-hander enters this one having allowed zero or one run in each of his last seven starts, a stretch that also includes 44 strikeouts and only five walks. And would you believe Griffin today will be attempting to become the Nationals’ first 11-game winner since 2019? Yeah, they had four of them that season (Stephen Strasburg, 18; Patrick Corbin, 14, Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez, 11) and haven’t had any since.

At the plate, the Nats will be thrilled to face anybody other than J.T. Ginn after the Athletics right-hander no-hit them into the seventh inning Saturday night. And given how well they did Friday night against Gage Jump, today’s matchup against fellow left-hander Jacob Lopez might just be an advantageous one for Blake Butera’s lineup.

There are several roster moves by the Nationals prior to the game, most notably the placement of PJ Poulin on the 15-day IL with a left flexor strain (retroactive to July 16), which is not an encouraging development. The team has re-signed left-hander Matt Krook and added him to today’s roster and has transferred Richard Lovelady to the 60-day IL to create a spot on the 40-man roster.

I am going to be preoccupied this afternoon, so there won’t be any Instant Analysis immediately following the game. If anything really significant occurs, I’ll try to jump in at some point and share my thoughts to it. If not, I’ll talk to you all Monday from Colorado ...

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at (DON’T CALL THEM SACRAMENTO) ATHLETICS
Where: Sutter Health Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Partly cloudy, 84 degrees, wind 4 mph out to center

NATIONALS
DH James Wood
3B Curtis Mead
1B Andrés Chaparro
SS CJ Abrams
RF Dylan Crews
C Harry Ford
LF Daylen Lile
CF Jacob Young
2B Nasim Nuñez

LHP Foster Griffin

ATHLETICS
SS Jacob Wilson
LF Tyler Soderstrom
DH Shea Langeliers
C Jonah Heim
3B Joshua Kuroda-Grauer
RF Colby Thomas
1B Tommy White
CF Lawrence Butler
2B Alika Williams

LHP Jacob Lopez