Game 57: Nats at Guardians

The Nationals wrap up an already-impressive stretch of 16 games in 16 days looking for a series sweep in Cleveland

The Nationals conclude what looked like a difficult stretch of the schedule – 16 games in 16 days – this afternoon in Cleveland. They’ve already gone 10-5 in this stretch, and one more win today would make them 11-5 with a sweep of what only days ago was one of the hottest teams in baseball. Pretty remarkable.

They’ve managed to win four out of five so far on this road trip behind outstanding pitching, with only 11 total runs allowed in those five games. And for the third time on the trip, Blake Butera will send an opener to the mound in the bottom of the first. PJ Poulin gets the assignment again, just as he did Friday night when he held the Guardians to one run over two inning before handing the ball to Zack Littell.

Today, Poulin will be handing it over to Miles Mikolas, who has quietly turned his season around. The veteran right-hander sported a ghastly 11.49 ERA and 2.170 WHIP through his first four games. In seven appearances since, he’s dropped those numbers to 3.48 and 1.000. By keeping the ball down in the zone to avoid loud contact, and by reducing his walk rate, Mikolas has become an effective pitcher again, one who has completed at least five innings in three of his last four games.

At the plate, the Nationals will look to do to Gavin Williams what they did to Cleveland’s previous two starts and jump out to an early lead behind their explosive power. Butera is going with a lefty-heavy lineup against the right-hander Williams, with one notable exception: Curtis Mead. The red-hot third baseman gets his fourth straight start, further proving himself as more than a platoon player.

As you know by now, I haven’t been in Cleveland this week. But I do plan to share my thoughts along the way in the comments section here, and I’ll have a new article up postgame as well, so please do check back for that.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CLEVELAND GUARDIANS
Where: Progressive Field
Gametime: 1:10 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Partly cloudy, 71 degrees, wind 7 mph left to right

NATIONALS
RF James Wood
1B Luis García Jr.
3B Curtis Mead
SS CJ Abrams
LF Daylen Lile
DH José Tena
2B Jorbit Vivas
C Drew Millas
CF Jacob Young

LHP PJ Poulin

GUARDIANS
2B Travis Bazzana
DH José Ramírez
RF Chase DeLauter
1B Kyle Manzardo
LF Angel Martínez
3B Daniel Schneemann
CF Steven Kwan
C Austin Hedges
SS Brayan Rocchio

RHP Gavin Williams