Game Notes: April 19, 2021 (St. Louis Cardinals v. Washington Nationals)

Game Details

St. Louis Cardinals (7-8) v. Washington Nationals (5-8)

RHP Jack Flaherty (2-0, 4.11 ERA) v. RHP Joe Ross (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Monday, April 19, 2021 | 7:05 pm EDT | Game #14 | Home Game #8

Nationals Park, Washington D.C.

TV: MASN

Radio:  106.7 The fan

Sirius XM Radio: 898

Today's Nationals History Moment:

April 19 (4-9) 2016 – Jayson Werth clubbed his 200th career home run with a solo shot with one out in the seventh that clanked off the Marlins’ home run sculpture in center field, lodged behind a light in the piece of art, broke the scoreless tie and added Werth’s name to the 200-homer club. That seventh inning saw the Nationals club four home runs, the first time in Nationals history (2005-pres.) the club had hit four.

Washington Nationals Game Story Line: Nationals finish homestand with three-game series against Cardinals

A day after the Washington Nationals announced that right-hand pitcher Stephen Strasburg was placed on the 10 IL list, the Washington Nationals welcome the St. Louis Cardinals for a three-game set. The Nationals just played the Cardinals in St. Louis, where the Nationals got their first series win of the 2021 season.

Today’s GameNotes

Pitching Matchup

Today, the Washington Nationals will send right-hander Joe Ross to the mound to face the Cardinals for the second time this season. Last Wednesday, Ross threw six scoreless innings and gave up four hits, and had five strikeouts in St. Louis.  Today's game will mark his fifth career start against St. Louis (7th career outing) and is Is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA (5 ER/21.1 IP) in those four starts.

The Cardinals will send 2-0 right-hander Jack Flaherty to face the Nationals. Over his last 11 innings, Flaherty has given up only one run, four hits, and 12 strikeouts. Flaherty currently has an ERA of 4.11. Flaherty, just needs two strikeouts to amass 500 for his career, becoming the 43rd Cardinal to achieve 500 strikeouts in franchise history. If he surpasses 500 strikeouts in one of his next 21 appearances, would move past Lance Lynn (101 games) to be the fastest Cardinal to that mark.

Lucky #7

On Sunday afternoon, Trea Turner recorded his sixth career multi-home run game, and Turner's six multi-homer games are tied with Jayson Werth for seventh-most in Nationals history (2005-pres.)

Turner is 9-for-21 (.429) with two doubles, two home runs, three RBI, two walks, two stolen bases and three runs scored across the last five games.

Since returning to the leadoff spot on Wednesday afternoon Turner is hitting .429/.478/.810.

The Good Castro...

Starlin Castro recorded his second multi-hit effort in as many games, going 2-for-4 on Sunday afternoon.

Castro has hit safely in five straight games, going 7-for-19 (.368) with one homer, three RBI, one walk and two runs scored.

Castro has hit safely in eight of his last nine games...He is hitting .314 (11-for-35) with two doubles, one homer, six RBI, one walk and two runs scored across the nine games.

The Hits Keep on Coming

The Washington Nationals have outhit their opponents in nine of the 13 games this season.

The Nationals are 5-4 in those nine games and the team has matched Atlanta with nine hits on April 7.

Washington's .267 team batting average leads the National League and ranks second in Major League Baseball behind the Boston Red Sox (.277).

We're still not Joshing....

Josh Harrison recorded multi-hit efforts in four consecutive games from April 13-16, matching a career-high.

Harrison went 9-for-14 (.643) with a double, homer, five RBI, two walks, and two runs scored and has reached base safely in 11 of 16 plate appearances (.688 OBP) during the streak.

Harrison has not recorded a strikeout this season, with his last one coming on Sept. 26, 2020, vs. New York (NL). His 28 consecutive at-bats without a strikeout are the second-longest active streak in the Majors, behind Chicago White Sox’s Nick Madrigal (39 AB).

Series Notes for the Washington Nationals

• In a pre-game press conference, Washington Nationals Davey Martinez says the Nationals haven't reached the 85% vaccination threshold as an organization. Still, more players plan to get theirs, and he believes they'll hit the mark soon. Martinez also mentioned that he got his 2nd dose of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier this week.
• Roster News: pitcher Luis Avilán has decided to have Tommy John surgery. Davey Martinez says his spirits are up, and the veteran lefty is determined to come back to pitch next season.

Series Notes for the St. Louis Cardinals

• The Cardinals are returning to Nationals Park for the first time since the 2019 National League Championship Series in which the Nationals swept the Cardinals in four-game en route to their first World Championship. The Cardinals won 3-of-4 against the Nationals in their last regular-season road trip in April 2019.
• The Cardinals are heading down from Philadelphia, where they lost two of the three-game set. The Cardinals are currently in third place in the NL Central with a 7-8 record and just 2.0 games back from the leading Reds.
• The Cardinals are averaging 7.42 runs per game, and when the Cardinals lose, they average 2.38 runs.
• Entering today, the St. Louis Cardinals are the only team in Major League Baseball who have not played a one-run game, through 15 regular-season games to start their season. In fact, the other 29 teams in MLB have played at least two one-run games this season with the Atlanta Braves leading the pack with eight one-run thrillers. Courtesy Elias Sports Bureau

Game Lineups (Subject To Change without Notice)

Washington Nationals

Trea Turner - SS
Juan Soto - LF
Josh Bell - 1B
Kyle Schwarber - RF
Josh Harrison - 2B
Starlin Castro - 3B
Yan Gomes - C
Victor Robles - CF
Joe Ross - P

St. Louis Cardinals

T. Edman - RF    
P. Goldschmidt - 1B    
N. Arenado - 3B    
Y. Molina - C    
D. Carlson - CF    
P. DeJong- SS    
M. Carpenter- 2B    
J. Williams- LF    
J. Flaherty - P