The Washington Nationals kick off a a six-day, seven-game home stand tonight with the first of three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight at Nationals Park. The Nationals are scheduled to send right-handed pitcher Brad Lord to the mound who has a 5-8 record and an 4.20 ERA. The Nationals are scheduled to face right-handed pitcher Mitch Keller who has a 6-14 record and an 4.16 ERA from.

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Washington fell 5-0 in last night’s series finale in Miami. MacKenzie Gore made his return to the mound after missing 13 games with shoulder inflammation, working 5.0 innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts.

On Deck…

The Washington Nationals will play game two of three tomorrow afternoon at Nationals Park with the first pitch scheduled to be at 4:05 p.m. EDT. The Nationals are scheduled to send LHP Andrew Alvarez (1-0, 1.86) to the mound who will be making his second career start at Nationals Park. The Nationals are scheduled to face RHP Bubba Chandler (2-1, 7.36) from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In the hole…

On Sunday, the Nationals will finish up their three game series against the Pirates with a scheduled first pitch at 11:35 a.m. EDT. The Nationals are scheduled to send RHP Cade Cavalli (3-1, 4.67) to the mound. Cavalli has a 2-0 record with a 1.10 ERA (2 ER/16.1 IP) with 17 strikeouts and just two walks in three home starts at Nationals Park this season. The Nationals are scheduled to face RHP Mike Burrows (2-4, 3.99)

Washington’s offense has made a habit of coming through in big moments this season, especially late in games. No team across Major League Baseball has been more productive in the ninth inning, as the Nationals lead the league with 79 runs scored and 132 hits in the frame. The only team in franchise history to score more ninth-inning runs was the 2019 squad, which plated 87 during its championship season.

Clutch hitting has also been a steady theme. With runners in scoring position, the Nationals have posted a .270 batting average — the fourth-best mark in the National League. On the base paths, they’ve remained aggressive and effective, swiping 122 stolen bases to rank fourth in the league.

Josh Bell has been on a tear at the plate, delivering a dominant stretch of offense over the past week. In his last five games, he’s gone 8-for-16, hitting .500 with four home runs, 13 RBI, and six runs scored to power the Nationals’ lineup.

Since August 8, Bell has been one of the club’s most consistent bats, producing a .527 slugging percentage and an .867 OPS across 29 games. Over that span, he’s added three doubles, seven homers, 18 RBI, and 11 walks while striking out just eight times in 106 plate appearances — a remarkably low 7.5% strikeout rate.

His plate discipline has been especially sharp recently. Dating back to September 2 against Miami, Bell has struck out only once in 31 trips to the plate, a testament to both his approach and confidence at the dish.

Daylen Lile has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball, riding an 11-game hitting streak that stands as the second-longest active run in the Majors, trailing only Boston’s Romy Gonzalez (12 games). During this surge, Lile is 19-for-45 (.422) with a double, five triples, two homers, eight RBI, and 12 runs scored, adding two walks and a stolen base. He’s logged eight multi-hit games along the way, showcasing both consistency and extra-base power.

Since July 21, Lile has been a steady force in the Nationals’ lineup, slashing .336/.373/.550 over 40 games. In that span, he’s collected seven doubles, eight triples, three home runs, 22 RBI, seven walks, five steals, and 27 runs scored. His numbers stack up impressively among National League rookies, where he leads in batting average and slugging percentage (minimum 275 plate appearances) and ranks second in OPS.

Altogether, Lile’s nine triples pace all Major League rookies, underscoring not just his ability to hit for average but his knack for creating instant scoring opportunities with speed and gap-to-gap power.

Brad Lord has steadily made his mark during his rookie campaign, highlighted by a strong return to the win column in his most recent outing. On September 6 at Wrigley Field, the right-hander held the Cubs to one run on two hits over 5.2 innings, striking out a career-high seven while working around four walks in Washington’s 2-1 victory. The highlight of the night came when Lord struck out six consecutive batters across the third and fourth innings, a dominant stretch that showcased his swing-and-miss potential.

He’ll now face the Pittsburgh Pirates for the second time in his career. His first meeting with them came back on April 14 in Pittsburgh, when he allowed four earned runs on six hits across 4.1 innings in just his second career start and first on the road.

Lord has also spent significant time in the bullpen this season, where he proved to be a valuable piece of Washington’s relief corps from May 11 to July 12. In 29 appearances during that stretch, he went 1-1 with a 2.79 ERA, holding opponents to a .217 average while striking out 35 and walking 14.

The Nationals’ rookie has compiled a memorable list of firsts during his debut season. He made his Major League debut against Philadelphia on March 30 at Nationals Park, then delivered a strong first career start on April 8 with 3.0 scoreless innings against the Dodgers — including a milestone first strikeout of Shohei Ohtani, whom he fanned twice in the outing. Lord picked up his first career win on May 1 at Citizens Bank Park, logging 5.0 innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts against the Phillies.

The Pittsburgh Pirates enter tonight’s game mired in a six-game losing streak dating back to September 5 against Milwaukee. That skid follows a strong stretch when they won 12 of 16 from August 18 to September 4. Since the All-Star break, Pittsburgh has played to a .500 mark (25-25), and overall, they are 52-57 under manager Don Kelly, who took over on May 9 against Atlanta.

One of the bright spots has been their consistency in generating extra-base hits. The Pirates have recorded at least one in 46 straight games dating back to July 22 against Detroit, the second-longest active streak in Major League Baseball behind Oakland’s 64-game run, and their longest single-season streak since 2019, when they strung together 64 consecutive games.

They have also been no strangers to tight finishes. Pittsburgh has played a Major League-high 55 one-run games this season, their most in any year since 2014, when they appeared in 60.

Bryan Reynolds delivered a strong series the last time the Pirates visited Nationals Park, going 4-for-12 with two doubles, four RBI, and three walks from April 1–4, 2024. He has consistently produced in Washington, hitting safely in 10 of his 12 career games at Nationals Park. Over that span, Reynolds is 18-for-45 (.400) with seven doubles, three homers, 14 RBI, seven walks, seven runs scored, and an impressive 1.227 OPS. Notably, his only career three-homer game came in this ballpark during Pittsburgh’s 8-7 win on June 29, 2022.

Mitch Keller takes the mound tonight in the series opener at Nationals Park, making his 30th start of the season. This marks the third consecutive year the right-hander has reached at least 30 starts, underscoring his durability atop Pittsburgh’s rotation.

Since the beginning of the 2023 season, Keller has made 92 starts — tied with Arizona’s Zac Gallen and Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta for the third-most in the National League during that span. Only San Francisco’s Logan Webb (96) and St. Louis’ Miles Mikolas (95) have started more.

Mitch Keller owns a 1-3 record with a 4.91 ERA (33.0 IP/18 ER) across six career starts against Washington. Earlier this season, he took the loss at PNC Park on April 15, allowing three runs over 6.0 innings in a 3-0 defeat.

Nationals Park has been a more difficult setting for him. In two career starts in D.C., Keller has posted an 8.68 ERA (9.1 IP/9 ER). He gave up five runs across 4.0 innings in an eventual no-decision during Pittsburgh’s 8-7 win on June 29, 2022. Most recently, on April 3, 2024, he was tagged for five runs (four earned) in 5.1 innings, taking the loss in a 5-3 Nationals victory.