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The Washington Nationals needed an ace performance from Trevor Williams to bring them the 70th win — and he delivered — again. In the process, Williams lowered his ERA to 2.03 — a Nats’ record, and the Nats were 10-3 in his starts.

Today, MacKenzie Gore takes the mound, and hopefully as MacK the knife. The shark needs to show his teeth to cut through the Phillies and finish his season with more promise.

The Washington Nationals had the Scrappy Nats back yesterday until Kyle Finnegan imploded on the mound and gave up 3-runs to take the loss. The Nats are in a long losing streak and looking for Trevor Williams to bring them the 70th win. We will see if Mother Nature and the Baseball Gods cooperate.

The Washington Nationals just cannot score runs. The offensive slump is now at three consecutive shutouts. Their scoreless streak is at 31 innings. At the same time, the Nats’ starting pitching has allowed only one-run to the Royals in this series.

Today’s starter, Patrick Corbin, is set to make his final start for the Washington Nationals in this salvage game of this series. What better way to go out for Corbin than with an opportunity to pitch a gem for a Nats’ win. Corbin signed a six-year deal with the Nationals before the 2019 season, and along with Tanner Rainey, they are the only two remaining players from the Nats’ 2019 World Series team.

Including today’s game and the postseason, Corbin will start his 173rd game today in a Nats’ uni. But it was his relief appearance in Game 7 of the World Series that earned him a win that Nats’ fans will remember most. Those 3.0 scoreless innings in an early relief of Max Scherzer to hold the deficit at 2-0 until Howie Kendrick‘s heroics was the difference. Corbin’s checkered record in a Nats’ uniform can be viewed through multiple lenses — but the Nats don’t win a World Series without Corbin. That $140 million contract is probably money the Nats were happy to pay for the front-end of it. Always a Nats’ World Series champ.

The Washington Nationals had starter, Mitchell Parker, on the mound for his final start of 2024 — and for him, another chance to show that he deserves a roster spot for 2025. Parker’s night started with a Trey Lipscomb error that Parker had to pitch-around — and the lefty went 5.0 innings of scoreless baseball to better his ERA to 4.29. Before the season started, we etched the line of demarcation at 4.20ish for the average of success. Parker might have sealed a No. 5 spot on the 2025 roster. Tonight is DJ Herz‘s final start of 2024 (weather permitting). Parker just moved ahead of Herz by 0.01 in team ERA. Herz was looking like the ace of the staff until his blowup start last week. So yes, you want Herz to pitch well tonight and finish strong. That is the goal for all of the Nats starters.

The Washington Nationals have the Kansas City Royals in Nats Park at a time that the Royals are fighting for a playoff spot. This also is the final time for players like today’s starter, Mitchell Parker, to show that he deserves a roster spot for 2025.