Game Thread: Astros vs. Nats in West Palm Beach
Jacob Young and Luis García Jr. make their spring debuts in the lineup, and Miles Mikolas makes his debut on the mound tonight
The Nationals are back home in West Palm Beach following their two-day trip to the other side of the state. They’re actually scheduled to play 12 of their next 14 games in their home ballpark (even though a few of those are technically “road” games against the Astros).
Tonight, the Nats are the designated home team against their complex mates. And they’ll be sending one of their early-spring signees to the mound in Miles Mikolas. The 37-year-old right-hander makes his spring game debut after previously facing live hitters on the back field. How will his stuff fare against another opponent, particularly against quality hitters like Jose Altuve (who is leading off tonight)?
The Nationals lineup will be facing a prominent big-league starter in Lance McCullers Jr., so that makes for a good test for CJ Abrams (who is leading off) and Co. Most noteworthy about tonight’s lineup is the inclusion of two guys who were sidelined until now with minor injuries. Jacob Young, who had a sore wrist after getting hit by a pitch in live BP, is batting second and playing center field. Luis García Jr., who had a sore hamstring, is batting cleanup and playing second base.
No TV coverage of this game. The best you’ll get, unfortunately, is the Astros’ radio feed via the MLB app.
HOUSTON ASTROS vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: MLB.com (Astros feed)
Weather: Chance of rain, 77 degrees, wind 12 mph out to left
ASTROS
2B Jose Altuve
DH Taylor Trammell
C Yainer Diaz
RF Zach Cole
CF Jake Meyers
1B Riley Unroe
LF Joey Loperfido
SS Nick Allen
3B Jax Biggers
RHP Lance McCullers Jr.
NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
CF Jacob Young
RF Dylan Crews
2B Luis García Jr.
C Keibert Ruiz
3B José Tena
LF Joey Wiemer
1B Abimelec Ortiz
DH Matt Mervis
RHP Miles Mikolas
The good and the bad from the Nats' 4-4 tie with the Astros, their second of the spring, leaving them 4-2-2 overall ...
GOOD
* Jacob Young robbed Jose Altuve of a homer on his first defensive chance of the spring
* Luis Garcia Jr. hit a 3-run homer and singled in his first game of the spring
* Dylan Crews recorded his first hit and RBI of the spring (on a slow roller)
* Griff McGarry retired the side with 2 strikeouts in his spring debut
* Shinnosuke Ogasawara tossed 2 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts
BAD
* Miles Mikolas walked three and threw only 24-of-48 pitches for strikes in his spring debut
* Mitchell Parker walked four and threw only 19-of-43 pitches for strikes
* Julian Fernandez walked two and was charged with 2 runs without completing an inning
* Keibert Ruiz was wrong on two ABS challenges, both of them coming early in the game
Jacob Young robs a HR 3 minutes into his first Spring Training game.