The Washington Nationals got blown-out last night by the Yankees, even though the 10-5 final score made it look a little closer than it felt for eight innings. It felt like the Yankees were always a step ahead of the Nationals in their advanced scouting. Starter Brad Lord had his worst game of the season, and that changed the tone back in NatsTown.
For tonight’s game, the Nats go with MacKenzie Gore and the Yankees have RHP Luis Gil on the mound for this one. The Nationals will go with a near-identical lineup except for Brady House at third base. Daylen Lile is out for the fourth day with a stomach ailment. He was replaced in the lineup by Jacob Young who cranked a line drive grand slam to the opposite field at 393 feet. It was the most impressive hit of Young’s career. He did not take advantage of the short porches in Yankee Stadium like the New York hitters did as he went to the deep part of the ballpark.
After today’s game, there are just 30-games remaining in this season. After this series, the Nats only have two more series against teams with winning records: The Cubs and the Mets. Coincidentally, the Nats open their 2026 season against the Cubs, and their final series against the Mets.
❝ That’s what we’ve been preaching. To beat teams like this, you cannot give outs away, but our team has been playing good. It’s just one of those days. So far, I’m proud of how we’ve been doing. Playing hard. It’s just one of those days. ❞
— Interim manager Miguel Cairo said after yesterday’s game
The bullpen usage looks like this:
Here are your Nats’ WAR leaders with James Wood at +3.2, CJ Abrams at +3.0, MacKenzie Gore at +2.7. Add those up, and you get a total of +8.9 WAR. The issue is the large gap between those players and the next tier, and of course the negative tier after them of which many of those players are off the roster.
On defense, the OAA stats showed some improvement with a good defensive game yesterday. Jacob Young leads the team at +13, and CJ Abrams is on the opposite end at -9. That is actually quite the improvement over last year’s -18 for Abrams who is on pace to finish at -10.
These are your stats leaders on BBRef. There are certainly some surprises on there — good and not so good. The issue is the consistency on this team.
❝ “We always, in our mind, we’re going to get good at-bats and we always got a chance to come back. All these last three games, it’s been like that. Against the Phillies, we make a comeback. We played good against the Mets, and so it’s just one of those days. It happens, and we gotta move on and tomorrow we come and get him.” ❞
— Miguel Cairo said after yesterday’s game
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 5.16 and that places the starters at 2nd from last in MLB. The reliever’s ERA sits at a 5.60 and now the worst in baseball in ERA.
Here is how the starters rank by ERA:
No. 5 Starter: Cade Cavalli 2.82
No. 4 Starter: Mitchell Parker 6.03
No. 3 Starter: Brad Lord 3.84 (starting/relieving)
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 5.40
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.04
Washington Nationals vs. New York Yankees
Stadium: Yankee Stadium
1st Pitch: 7:05 PM EDT
TV: MASN2
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app; In Spanish on DC 87.7 FM and La Pantera 100.7 FM/1220 AM. On Sirius/XM, tune to Channel 178 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
