Game 55: Nats at Guardians

For the Nationals to climb above the .500 mark, they'll have to beat a red-hot Cleveland squad that has won eight of nine

It was a long weekend, capped off by a long Sunday, for the Nationals in Atlanta. And there’s no rest for the weary, because they’re right back at it this evening in Cleveland for the opener of a three-game interleague series.

The Guardians are red-hot, having won eight of their last nine to open up a 4 1/2-game lead in the AL Central. They’ve done so with absolutely elite pitching; they haven’t allowed more than three runs in any of their last eight games. Tonight’s starter, Tanner Bibee, strangely has an 0-6 record but has a 2.59 ERA over his last seven outings and most recently went eight innings against the Tigers.

It’s Zack Littell’s turn in the Nationals rotation, but Blake Butera once again is going to use an opener in front of the veteran. It’ll be PJ Poulin, who was just recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Sunday to take Jake Irvin’s roster spot, taking the mound for the bottom of the first. Butera likely won’t have a couple of other lefties available to him out of the bullpen (Andrew Alvarez, Richard Lovelady) due to their usage over the weekend.

Programming note: I was originally scheduled to be in Cleveland for this series, but I had to come home instead to attend a funeral on Tuesday. I’ll still be watching tonight’s game on TV and will try to share my thoughts along the way.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CLEVELAND GUARDIANS
Where: Progressive Field
Gametime: 6:10 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Partly cloudy, 63 degrees, wind 7 mph in from left

NATIONALS
DH James Wood
1B Luis García Jr.
3B Curtis Mead
SS CJ Abrams
RF Dylan Crews
LF Daylen Lile
CF Jacob Young
C Drew Millas
2B Nasim Nuñez

LHP PJ Poulin

GUARDIANS
2B Travis Bazzana
3B José Ramírez
RF Chase DeLauter
DH Rhys Hoskins
1B Kyle Manzardo
LF Angel Martínez
CF Steven Kwan
C Patrick Bailey
SS Brayan Rocchio

RHP Tanner Bibee