Game 96: Yankees at Nats

PJ Poulin will open for Miles Mikolas as the Nationals try to bounce back from Friday night's loss while simultaneously participating in the MLB Draft

It’s a new day at Nationals Park, and it’s an especially big day. Even if they wanted to dwell over Friday night’s ninth-inning fiasco, the Nationals can’t afford to look backward because they have both another game against the Yankees and the MLB Draft to prep for this afternoon.

The timing isn’t ideal. The draft begins at 1:30 p.m., with the Nats (who hold the 11th selection) expected to make their pick around 2:30 p.m. Then the game starts at 4:05, with rounds 2-4 of the draft simultaneously taking place and likely to wrap up right around the same time one of these two teams is celebrating a win on the field.

I’ll have a draft article published a little while after the Nationals make their first pick, hopefully with quotes from the to-be-determined player himself. I’ll then plan to update that article later this evening with details on the later-round picks and with quotes from Paul Toboni and Justin Horowitz. So if you tend to only read my articles via email, please make a point to go directly to natsjournal.com this evening and look for the updated article.

As for the game, you won’t believe this but the Nats are using an opener again. It’s PJ Poulin this time, which adds fuel to the theory that Blake Butera didn’t use him in the ninth inning Friday night because he was saving the left-hander for today’s first inning. Miles Mikolas is scheduled to pitch in bulk behind Poulin. And if the Nationals hold a lead late … well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the process looks like today.

On top of all that, there is once again a chance of storms late this afternoon and early this evening. Hopefully it doesn’t affect the timing of the game, but we tend not to be that fortunate around here, so mentally prepare yourself now for a delay.

NEW YORK YANKEES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Chance of storms, 88 degrees, 8 mph in from left

YANKEES
3B Amed Rosario
DH Ben Rice
CF Trent Grisham
1B Paul Goldschmidt
LF Cody Bellinger
RF Jasson Dominguez
2B Jazz Chisholm Jr.
SS Anthony Volpe
C Ali Sanchez

RHP Cam Schlittler

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

LHP PJ Poulin