Game 71: Mariners at Nats

The Nationals need to bounce back to avoid falling below .500. They've got another lefty in their bullpen after recalling PJ Poulin

Eleven innings ago, the Nationals were on the cusp of sweeping the Giants on the road, improving to three games over .500 for the first time in seven years and holding their wild-card position in the National League. Since then, they’ve been outscored 20-3 and fallen back to the .500 mark. So, yeah, it hasn’t been a great few days for the boys.

They’ll hope to get back on track this afternoon, looking to beat a Mariners team that clobbered them from the get-go last night. It starts with Cade Cavalli, who needs to provide some length after Zack Littell didn’t make it through the second inning in the series opener. Cavalli was victimized by a couple of home runs during his last start in Arizona, though he also saw a flurry of softly hit balls land for singles. The most surprising stat from that outing: He struck out only two batters in five innings.

The Nats would love to come out swinging today and take an early lead as they did through much of the West Coast trip. Luis Castillo’s season numbers (2-5, 5.16 ERA) don’t look great, but the veteran right-hander has been great his last three appearances (1.23 ERA over 14 2/3 innings).

The long-anticipated change to the Nationals bullpen is now official: PJ Poulin was recalled from Triple-A Rochester today, taking the spot held by Riley Cornelio, who was optioned back down after his long relief outing last night. So, Blake Butera now has two matchup lefties (Poulin and Richard Lovelady) in addition to a long man (Mitchell Parker) at his disposal.

I’m not at the game today; spending some time with my family. Enjoy the conversation among yourselves, and I’ll be back to work Sunday for the series finale.

SEATTLE MARINERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Partly cloudy, 89 degrees, wind 8 mph out to right

MARINERS
2B Cole Young
CF Julio Rodriguez
1B Josh Naylor
LF Luke Raley
DH Dominic Canzone
RF Victor Robles
3B Miles Mastrobuoni
C Mitch Garver
SS Colt Emerson

RHP Luis Castillo

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

RHP Cade Cavalli