The Washington Nationals will kick off a three-game series against the Athletics tonight at Nationals Park. The Nationals are scheduled to send all-star left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore, who has a 4-11 record with a 3.80 ERA, to the mound, and the Athletics are scheduled to send right-handed pitcher Luis Severino to the mound with a 5-11 record and a 4.83 ERA.

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The Milwaukee Brewers once again defeated the Washington Nationals 14-3 on Sunday afternoon. Being swept by the National League’s top team, the Nationals were outscored 38-14 over the series. Moreover, the Nationals didn’t just lose the weekend series to the Brewers—they were also swept in the season series, being outscored 60-23 across six games.

Right-handed pitcher Brad Lord started the game for the Nationals and struggled in this start, lasting only 4.2 innings while giving up three earned runs on six hits, striking out six, walking two, and allowing one home run. He faced 21 batters, threw 92 pitches, with 58 of them being strikes. Lord now has a record of 2-6 with an ERA of 3.42.

On Deck…

On Wednesday, the Washington Nationals will continue their three-game series against the Athletics, and the Nationals have yet to announce who they will be sending to the mound. The Athletics are scheduled to send left-handed pitcher Jeffrey Springs, who has a 10-7 record and an ERA of 4.00.

In the hole…

On Thursday, the Nationals will finish up their three-game series against the Athletics with the scheduled first pitch at 12:05 p.m. EDT. The Nationals are scheduled to send left-handed pitcher Mitchell Parker to the mound, who has a 7-11 record and an ERA of 5.35. The Nationals are scheduled to face left-handed pitcher Jacob Lopez, who has a 4-6 record and an ERA of 3.99

CJ Abrams is currently fifth in the National League with 26 stolen bases this season. He has been caught stealing only three times overall and just once in 69 games since May 7. From that date until July 29, he stole 17 bases consecutively, matching the longest streak in Major League Baseball this year.

Additionally, Abrams is among five MLB players to have stolen more than 25 bases in each of the past three seasons, alongside Jose Caballero, Elly De La Cruz, José Ramírez, and Bobby Witt Jr.

Daylen Lile has recorded a .526 slugging percentage with four doubles, three triples, and one home run, alongside an .860 OPS while batting .298 (17-for-57) over his last 16 games. His eight extra-base hits during this span are tied for the most among National League rookies since July 12. Since that date, Lile leads all NL rookies in slugging percentage (.526), triples (3), and extra-base hits (8), while ranking second in OPS (.860) and tied for second in RBIs (10).

Over his last five games, Lile has hit .412 (7-for-17) with two doubles, a triple, four RBIs, one hit by pitch, one walk, and four runs scored. He has safely reached base in all five games and recorded hits in four of them.

Josh Bell is hitting .296/.392/.444 over his last 40 games, with eight doubles, four home runs, 17 RBIs, 21 walks, and 18 runs scored. On June 12, his season batting line was .176/.271/.337, which has improved to .226/.322/.381 overall.

In his last 23 games, Bell has been even more productive, batting .325/.435/.468 with five doubles, two homers, eight RBIs, 14 walks, one hit by pitch, and 11 runs scored. Since May 25, Bell’s strikeout rate has dropped to 13.0% (27 strikeouts in 207 plate appearances), compared to 23.7% from Opening Day to May 24.

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MacKenzie Gore took the loss on July 30 at Houston, allowing six earned runs on eight hits with four strikeouts over 5.1 innings. He faces the Athletics for only the second time in his career, having previously struck out 11 batters in five scoreless innings at the Oakland Coliseum on April 13, 2024. Gore ranks fifth in the National League (ninth in MLB) with 148 strikeouts this season and ranks third in the NL in strikeouts per nine innings pitched (10.83).

His strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.29 ranks 13th in the National League. According to Baseball Savant, his curveball generates a 38.4% whiff rate, the 10th best in MLB, with opposing hitters batting .211 against it, including limited extra-base hits. Gore was also selected to represent the Washington Nationals in the 2025 All-Star Game in Atlanta, where he pitched a scoreless 1-2-3 fifth inning in the National League’s victory.

The Athletics have lost two consecutive games after winning seven of their prior eight. Since the All-Star break, they hold an 8-8 record. They began the season 22-20 but then suffered a severe slump, losing 20 of 21 games from May 14 to June 4. Since then, they have a near .500 record at 26-25. Overall, the Athletics stand at 49-65 (.430), which is the fifth-lowest winning percentage in Major League Baseball. They have been in last place alone in the American League West every day since May 20 and have spent a total of 96 days either in last place or tied for it.

Regarding home runs, the Athletics have allowed 165 this season, the most in the majors and just four shy of their entire total from last year (169). They are on pace to surpass the franchise single-season record of 220 home runs allowed set by the 1964 Kansas City Athletics. Offensively, the team has hit 18 home runs in their last nine games and 153 overall, ranking seventh in the majors. Nearly half (48.9%, 241 of 493) of their total runs have come via home runs, the second-highest percentage in MLB; they led the majors in this category last year with 49.0%. The Athletics have a strong correlation between home runs and winning, going 29-7 when they out-homer opponents, but struggling to 5-35 when out-homered.

Luis Severino (5-11, 4.83 ERA) is set to make his team-leading 24th start this season. He has won each of his last three starts, marking his first winning streak of the year. During these three starts, Severino is 3-0 with a 2.65 ERA and a .550 opponent OPS, a significant improvement following a 0-5 stretch with a 7.94 ERA and .965 opponent OPS in his previous five outings. He recorded his first home victory of the season in his last start, a 6-1 win over Seattle, pitching five innings with five hits, one earned run, two walks, and six strikeouts. Severino’s home record this year stands at 1-9 with a 6.34 ERA and .814 opponent OPS in 13 starts, contrasting with a 4-2 record, 3.03 ERA, and .605 OPS in 10 road starts.

Notably, he is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three career starts against Washington and holds a 5-2 record with a 2.47 ERA in his last 10 starts versus National League East teams dating back to June 5, 2024. His only loss to an NL East team this year came on April 13 against the Mets, where he allowed just one run over 5.2 innings.

Day: 15-22 | Night: 34-43 | Home Record: 23-34 | Road Record: 26-31

Road Series: 7-10-1 | First Game of the Series: 16-20 | Current Month: 1-1