Game 64: Nats at Diamondbacks

The Nationals are out west for the first time this season, hoping to bounce back from their sweep at home against the Marlins

PHOENIX – Hello from the Valley of the Sun, where the temperature is well over 100 and the dew point is well below 30. When they say “it’s a dry heat,” this is what they mean. The Nationals don’t have to worry about any of that this weekend, because the roof will be closed at Chase Field for all three games against the Diamondbacks. It doesn’t make for a great baseball environment, but that’s a small price to pay for not playing inside an oven.

The Nats head west for the first time this season, and they need a bounce-back performance after getting swept at home by the Marlins. The D-backs present no easy task, but they do come into the series opener having dropped five of their last seven (after previously winning 10 of 11). They’ve got veteran right-hander Merrill Kelly on the mound, and he’s in the midst of a strong stretch (2.36 ERA, 0.990 WHIP his last five starts) after beginning the season in disastrous form (9.95 ERA, 2.316 WHIP his first four starts).

Foster Griffin has been on a nice run himself, with back-to-back strong starts against the Braves and Padres after two uncharacteristically rough outings against the Reds and Mets. This is the first time he’s faced Arizona, so we will once again see if unfamiliarity plays in his favor.

It’s going to be a late night, so hopefully everyone is well-rested and has adequate supplies to make it through the whole game. Given the fact this game likely won’t end until after midnight on the East Coast – and with a quick turnaround to an afternoon game Saturday – I’m going to try something different with my coverage tonight. Instead of posting the Instant Analysis the moment the game ends and then coming back with another article a couple hours later, I’m going to delay publication of an extended Instant Analysis piece until after I’ve completed clubhouse interviews. So the one article you’ll see postgame will have more details and more reaction than typical. Let me know your feedback, and we’ll see if it makes sense to keep doing this for the West Coast night games, or if I should just treat them the same way I do the games in the other time zones.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Where: Chase Field
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
RF James Wood
1B Luis García Jr.
DH José Tena
SS CJ Abrams
LF Daylen Lile
3B Jorbit Vivas
CF Dylan Crews
C Drew Millas
2B Nasim Nuñez

LHP Foster Griffin

DIAMONDBACKS
2B Ketel Marte
LF Ryan Waldschmidt
RF Corbin Carroll
3B Nolan Arenado
1B LuJames Groover
SS Geraldo Perdomo
DH Tommy Troy
C Aramis Garcia
CF Jorge Barrosa

RHP Merrill Kelly