Game 75: Royals at Nats

The Nationals have already won this series against Kansas City. Can they finally pull off their first three-game sweep since April?

Though their current position in the standings – in sole possession of a wild-card berth – is quite unfamiliar, the Nationals actually find themselves in an all-too-familiar position today: Going for a sweep.

It’s already the seventh time this season the Nats have won the first two games of a series. They pulled off the three-game sweep in Milwaukee way back in April. Since then, they’ve lost five straight such series finales, the most recent one coming one week ago today in San Francisco via an all-time collapse. To their immense credit, they’ve bounced back from that to win four straight and improve to four games over .500. Can they take that all-important next step this afternoon and finish off the Royals?

It’ll be Zack Littell on the mound, not an opener. The veteran right-hander is coming off his worst start in a while, in which the Mariners got to him for five runs and knocked him out in the second inning. Littell knows his command needs to be more precise today, and that he can’t afford to let the Royals rack up foul balls that make his pitch count soar.

The Nationals need some length from their starter, because the bullpen is probably down at least a couple of arms: Brad Lord (who threw 48 pitches Monday) and Gus Varland (who pitched back-to-back days). It’s also possible Blake Butera will want to avoid Clayton Beeter (who would be pitching for the third time in four days). To be blunt about it: There’s a decent chance Mitchell Parker appears at some point today, especially if Littell doesn’t go deep.

Butera will hope his lineup continues to rake, with pretty much all the regulars in there once again, even with the quick turnaround from Tuesday night’s rousing win. Today they face Kansas City right-hander Luinder Avila, who has surrendered a whopping 10.1 hits and 6.2 walks per nine innings across an admittedly minimal workload so far this season (32 innings).

KANSAS CITY ROYALS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Partly cloudy, 85 degrees, wind 10 mph out to left

ROYALS
C Carter Jensen
SS Bobby Witt Jr.
1B Jac Caglianone
CF Lane Thomas
2B Michael Massey
DH Salvador Perez
RF John Rave
3B Nick Loftin
LF Isaac Collins

RHP Luinder Avila

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

RHP Zack Littell