Nats Chat Mark Zuckerman & Al Galdi, Blue Wire

The Nats blanked the Dodgers 2-0 on Wednesday afternoon to finish their road trip out West with a winning record. Mark (From LA) & Al recap Jake Irvin's excellent outing as he tossed six shutout frames in the victory. One lingering question after his start though was should he have returned for the 7th, given that he only threw 73 pitches?
(10:00) Three members of the bullpen combined to preserve the shutout. Kyle Finnegan notched his 7th save of the season while throwing a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th and he is tied for the MLB lead in the saves category.
(14:00) CJ Abrams led the game off with his 5th homer of the season while facing a pitcher making his MLB debut (Landon Lack). More than half of Abrams' hits so far this season are extra base ones ( 10 out of 18).
(22:00) The victory gave Davey Martinez his 400th win as Nationals manager.
(25:00) Brian Dozier told "The Sports Junkies" on 106.7 The Fan that he believes Stephen Strasburg will be in attendance for this weekend's 5th World Series anniversary festivities. Does Dozier have the scoop or is he mistaken?
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The Nats lost 6-2 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium as Mookie Betts went 5 for 5 against Patrick Corbin and the bullpen. Mark (From LA) & Al discuss Corbin starting the season at 0-3 as he gave up nine hits and five runs in 6.1 IP. This leads to a discussion on the chances of Corbin losing his rotation spot at some point during the season.
(10:30) The only runs Washington scored came off of Jesse Winker's 2 run HR. Winker is currently 3rd in the NL in OPS, only trailing Betts and Atlanta's Marcell Ozuna. He also leads all of MLB in On Base Percentage (.500). Winker has struggled the past few seasons, but in 2021 he hit .305 /w a OPS of .949.
(18:45) Joey Meneses was not in the lineup for another day. Meneses has struggled so far this season as he is hitting .204 w/ an OPS of .522.
(20:30) Jacob Young started again and stole a base. He is a startling 19 for 19 on stolen bases to begin his career.
(27:00) The Nationals announced on Tuesday the members of the 2019 World Series roster who will be part of the festivities at this weekend's 5th Anniversary celebration with the Astros in town. The hosts react to Stephen Strasburg not being listed among the attendees despite his recent official retirement.
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The Nats bounced back with a 6-4 series opening victory on Monday night at Dodger Stadium on Jackie Robinson Day. Mark (From LA) & Al begin with praise for Mitchell Parker, who won his MLB debut while facing the loaded Dodgers lineup. It is shockingly the first Nationals pitcher to win his debut since Stephen Strasburg back in 2010. Mark runs through the laundry list of past pitchers who could not pull off the feat in the past 14 years.
(09:00) Four bullpen arms were used and no walks were issued. Kyle Finnegan threw a clean bottom of the 9th to notch his 6th save of the season.
(14:00) CJ Abrams went deep and he is blossoming into a star. His OPS currently stands at 1.004 and he has nine extra base hits so far this season.
(17:30) Luis Garcia Jr. hit a crucial three run HR to extend the Nats lead to 6-2 in the victory. So far this year he is hitting .318 and his strong offensive production has been one of the pleasant 2024 surprises thus far.
(23:30) There were a flurry of roster moves before the game and it included the reinstatement of Nick Senzel and Trey Lipscomb being sent down to AAA. Mark points all the factors that led to the roster crunch that resulted in Lipscomb returning to Rochester.
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The Nats led 6-1 in Oakland but it all fell apart in the 6th inning and they ultimately lost 7-6. Mark (Live from the Oakland Coliseum) & Al recap the disappointing series finale.
(04:36) Derek Law gave up four runs despite retiring the first batter he faced in the bottom of the 6th. This blighted Trevor Williams' final line as two of the three runs he ceded came with Law on the mound. This was another game with many bullpen arms used, as the team sent out 13 relievers collectively over the weekend.
(12:00) Riley Adams caught every game this series as Keibert Ruiz remains out to illness. This hosts note that it turned out to be a mistake in not keeping Drew Millas on the roster as his replacement Amos Willingham never took the mound.
(17:20) The lineup was shuffled and Lane Thomas came through by homering, part of his 3 hits and 3 RBIs on the afternoon while hitting 5th. Jacob Young occupied the lead off spot and delivered with a pair of hits. This leads to Mark giving an update on Victor Robles and hamstring strain.
(23:00) Mitchell Parker will make his MLB debut on the mound on Monday night at Dodger Stadium. Parker was a 5th round pick from the 2020 Draft. He has made one start this year for Rochester and was promoted to AAA in mid September in last season.
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The Nats beat the Athletics 3-1 in California on Saturday afternoon as MacKenzie Gore tied a career high with 11 strikeouts. Mark (Live from Oakland Coliseum) & Al discuss the southpaw's sterling outing that saw five shutout innings on 90 pitches.
(08:45) CJ Abrams had a pair of hits including a RBI triple and Al notes that it seems like the team's success is directly correlated to Abrams' performance. The triple scored Jacob Young and Mark points out how just how lighting quick both of them are when running the bases.
(13:40) Luis Garcia Jr. also had two hits, one of which was a RBI double to give Washington a 2-0 lead and also flashed leather in the bottom of the 9th. Garcia is hitting .333 so far on the young season and it is to his benefit as Nick Senzel might return to the roster in the near future.
(16:05) Riley Adams had the rare assignment of catching a day game after a night affair as Keibert Ruiz remains out of the lineup due to illness. If Ruiz is sick, why is he in the clubhouse and dugout around the team as opposed to his hotel room?
(21:00) Five relievers combined to give up just one run in four frames and they totaled seven strikeouts. Robert Garcia led the way with a trio of Ks in one inning of work.
(25:30) Who will start on Monday night at Dodger Stadium in place of Josiah Gray?
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The Nats lost 2-1 in Oakland on Friday evening in 10 innings of play. Mark (Live from Oakland Coliseum) & Al begin by noting that this is the final season in this particular stadium as the team will temporarily relocate to Sacramento next year, before ultimately settling in Las Vegas.
(04:40) Jake Irvin only allowed a solo homer in 6 IP on just 74 pitches for his best start of the season thus far.
(08:00) Jesse Winker went 4 for 4 and was the lone source of offense as he clubbed a solo homer to tie up the game in the top of the 9th. Winker was signed to a minor league deal, but so far has been the team's best outfielder.
(15:00) Trey Lipscomb made a base running error to begin the top of the 10th thus nullifying the ghost runner.
(21:30) Keibert Ruiz missed another game due to illness (flu like symptoms) as Riley Adams starting behind the plate on Friday night. Drew Millas was called up on for Wednesday in San Francisco, but was sent back down afterwards because it was originally thought that Ruiz would be ready for the opener in Oakland.
(24:00) Prior to the game Davey Martinez gave an update on Josiah Gray, that he has full range of motion and will start rehabbing soon. Mark adds who who might possibly take Gray's spot in the rotation when the Nationals play at Dodger Stadium in a few days.
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