Game 106: Diamondbacks at Nats

Brady House rejoins the Nationals for the finale of a big weekend series, with a shot to move to within one game of a wild-card berth

The Nationals take the field this afternoon for an important game, the rubber game of their weekend series with the Diamondbacks. If they win, they’re one game out in the wild-card race (and they win the season series with Arizona, potentially important for tiebreaker purposes). If they lose, they’re three games out. And they’ve got a significant change at a prominent position in the field.

With Curtis Mead now headed to Boston as part of Saturday’s late-night trade for left-hander Connelly Early, the Nats have officially recalled Brady House from Triple-A Rochester. And House will start at third base this afternoon against D-backs left-hander Kohl Drake. House put up good numbers in 50 games at Rochester (.301/.342/.500) and he was slugging .603 this month. But he does continue to hit lefties (1.090 OPS) much better than righties (.652 OPS). So don’t be surprised if House actually ends up in a platoon situation with Jorbit Vivas.

Miles Mikolas, meanwhile, gets the start the Nationals. No opener, as it turns out. It’ll be up to the veteran right-hander to limit damage and provide as much length as possible before Blake Butera turns to his bullpen. I would expect a short leash, given how much Butera has openly said he’s treating these as playoff games.

I’ll have plenty more reaction to the trade and House’s promotion, with Paul Toboni scheduled to meet with reporters pregame. So please keep an eye out for another article before first pitch this afternoon!

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 5 mph out to left

DIAMONDBACKS
RF Corbin Carroll
SS Geraldo Perdomo
C Gabriel Moreno
2B Ketel Marte
LF Max Kepler
3B Nolan Arenado
DH Adrian Del Castillo
1B Tyler Locklear
CF Tim Tawa

LHP Kohl Drake

NATIONALS
RF James Wood
DH Andrés Chaparro
LF Dylan Crews
SS CJ Abrams
3B Brady House
CF Jacob Young
C Harry Ford
1B Luis García Jr.
2B Nasim Nuñez

RHP Miles Mikolas