The Washington Nationals (5-7) squeaked out a 3-2 win to avoid a sweep at home against the Philadelphia Phillies and began a nine-game West Coast road trip earlier this week. The Nats earned themselves a road series win at San Francisco after stealing the first two games in the Bay. They were not able to fester a sweep, but a series win has them feeling good, with two more cities slated for action.
Series Recap Against the San Francisco Giants
Game One – Nationals 8 Giants 1
The West Coast road trip began in San Fransisco with Blake Snell making his first start of the season for the Giants. The 2023 Cy Young Award winner did not look sharp and only managed to get through three innings over 72 pitches (39 strikes). He gave up three earned runs, walked two, and struck out five. Trevor Williams looked solid in his second start, going five innings and giving up one earned run with three walks and two strikeouts. The Nats jumped all over Snell early on, scoring three in the second. Trey Lipscomb and Luis Garcia Jr. both singled, scoring a pair of runs and again, Lipscomb scored by stealing home. Lipscomb became the first Nationals rookie to record a three-hit, three-stolen base game. Lane Thomas notched his first home run of the year to break things open to a 5-1 lead in the fifth and drove in insurance runs in the ninth, leading to a Curly W.
WIN: T. Williams (2-0) LOSS: B. Snell (0-1)
Game Two – Nationals 5 Giants 3
In his season debut, Joan Adon pitched and allowed one run in four innings; the right-hander was recalled from Triple-A Rochester to start for Josiah Gray, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain in his right arm. Kyle Harrison started for the Giants, who had eight strikeouts, allowing three runs over six innings. CJ Abrams unloaded a 423-foot two-run home run, gave the Nats a 2-1 lead in the second inning, then later added another RBI, giving the Nats a 3-1 lead. The Giants tied it in the sixth with a Nick Ahmed single to right on a throwing error from Lane Thomas. The Nats again took the lead on a sac-fly from rookie Trey Lipscomb, and more insurance was provided with catcher Riley Adams doubling to a 5-3 advantage. After going 0-for-10 with RISB on Monday, San Fransisco left 11 runners on base and went 1-for-6 with RISB. The Giants loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Finnegan retired Michael Conforto and got Matt Chapman to hit into a game-ending double play.
WIN: J. Weems (1-0) LOSS: R. Walker (1-1) SAVE: K. Finnegan (4)
Game Three – Giants 7 Nationals 1
Nick Ahmed and Tyler Fitzgerald had three hits apiece, and Jordan Hicks allowed one run in six innings as the San Francisco Giants avoided a three-game series sweep with a win Wednesday afternoon. San Francisco laid out 12 hits and went 6-for-8 with runners in scoring position after going 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position in the first two games of the series. Patrick Corbin got the start for the Nats, pitching across 5.2 innings, letting up 11 hits while striking out two and giving up seven earned runs. The bats were never really there for the road team all afternoon. Hicks continued his dominance as a starter as it looked like the Giants may have figured something out for him to be a main rotation piece for them this season. The only offense was seen from a Joey Gallo (3) home run to right, but they only managed to get four hits as a team.
WIN: J. Hicks (2-0) LOSS: P. Corbin (0-2)
Probable Starters Against Oakland Athletics
The first of a three-game set begins tomorrow night against the Oakland Athletics (5-8). The Athletics are coming off a road series win, picking up two of three against the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers.
Friday 4/12 6:40 P.M. EST: Jake Irvin (0-1) 5.73 ERA vs. Paul Blackburn (1-0) 0.00 ERA
Saturday 4/13 1:07 P.M. EST: MacKenzie Gore (1-0) 4.09 ERA vs. Joe Boyle (1-1) 8.22 ERA
Sunday 4/14 1:07 P.M. EST: Trevor Williams (2-0) 2.61 ERA vs. Alex Wood (0-1) 8.03 ERA
