After the historic meltdown in San Francisco, the Nats came out flat and the Mariners made them pay. Now they need to prevent things from spiraling out of control. A win today would be a great way to move on from that Giants loss. The Nats need Cade Cavalli to be a stopper.
The Nats are making a few lineup alterations. James Wood is moving to right field, pushing Dylan Crews to center and Daylen Lile to left. Jose Tena will be the DH and Nasim Nunez will be back at second base. Drew Millas will do the catching in this contest to give Keibert Ruiz a breather. As mentioned, Cade Cavalli is starting, and this is one of the biggest starts of his young career.
With Randy Arozarena’s injury, the Mariners have to make a tweak. Old pal Victor Robles is in right field. Besides that, the only change is behind the plate, with veteran Mitch Garver doing the catching. Despite injuries to Cal Raleigh, Brendan Donovan, JP Crawford and now Arozarena, this lineup still has juice. Luis Castillo has had a tumultuous season, but he has been better lately and will be on the hill today.
It would probably be a little too much to call this a must win game, but it is a contest the Nats could really use. They cannot let that Giants disaster fester much longer, and if they keep losing, that game will become a dark cloud. This has been a resilient bunch, but this is a test. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats.