Game 67: Nats at Giants
The Nationals look to stay hot on the road, even as the temperature drops 45 degrees from Phoenix to San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO – Hello from beautiful Oracle Park along the banks of McCovey Cove. It’s literally 45 degrees colder here than it was in Arizona on Sunday, quite the contrast.
The Nationals arrive here having taken two of three against the Diamondbacks to complete their fourth consecutive road series win. And now they look to win another series against a Giants club that has severely underachieved under rookie manager Tony Vitello and arrived home late after playing Sunday Night Baseball in Chicago. Then again, this team took two of three at Nationals Park in April, so who really knows?
Blake Butera has opted to use an opener again tonight, so it’ll be Richard Lovelady on the mound for the bottom of the first before Miles Mikolas enters at some point for bulk work. The Nats did this last time against the Giants, with PJ Poulin retiring two of the game’s first three batters before Mikolas entered and tossed four scoreless innings. So why mess with perfection, right?
The Nationals also had success in April against Logan Webb, scoring four runs in six innings off the Giants ace. That included a Daylen Lile homer to center field, and Lile is of course in tonight’s lineup, batting sixth. James Wood, as he always does, bats leadoff but he also returns to the outfield after spending the last two days as DH.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: Oracle Park
Gametime: 9:45 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 60 degrees, wind 14 mph out to center
NATIONALS
RF James Wood
DH Luis García Jr.
1B Curtis Mead
SS CJ Abrams
CF Dylan Crews
LF Daylen Lile
C Keibert Ruiz
3B Jorbit Vivas
2B Nasim Nuñez
LHP Richard Lovelady
GIANTS
LF Casey Schmitt
DH Rafael Devers
2B Luis Arraez
SS Willy Adames
RF Jung Hoo Lee
1B Bryce Eldridge
3B Matt Chapman
C Eric Haase
CF Drew Gilbert
RHP Logan Webb
We just saw another example of the Nationals sticking with a pre-planned pitching decision, no matter what was happening on the field. Mikolas threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings on 54 pitches. He had two outs and nobody on in the sixth. But because two left-handed batters were due up, Butera removed his bulk guy and signaled for Mitchell Parker, who has rarely succeeded in these kind of high-leverage situations. And then Parker gave up three straight two-out singles to give up a 1-0 lead.
James Wood hits a 114-mph rocket back up the middle for a 2-out single. Then he steals second. Then he scores on Luis Garcia Jr.'s single to right, barely touching the plate with his fingertips as he tumbles to the ground. Nats up 1-0 in the 6th.