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The Washington Nationals will finish their three-game series against the San Diego Padres this afternoon. The Nationals are scheduled to send All-Star left-handed pitcher MacKeznie Gore, who has a record of 4-8 with an ERA of 3.02, to the mound while the San Diego Padres will send right-handed pitcher Nick Pivetta, who has a 9-2 record and an ERA of 2.88. The Nationals are looking to secure their first series win over the Padres since June 23-25 at San Diego with a won this afternoon.

On Deck…

Tomorrow, the Nationals will welcome the Cincinnati Reds for a three-game series with the first pitch being at 6:45 p.m. EDT at Nationals Park. The Nationals are scheduled to send right-handed pitcher Jake Irvin, with a 7-5 record and an ERA of 4.58, and will face right-handed pitcher Brady Singer, who has a 7-7 record and an ERA of 4.32.

In the hole…

On Tuesday, the Nationals are scheduled to send right-handed pitcher Brad Lord, who is making his return to the starting rotation since May 6 vs. Cleveland. Before returning to the rotation, Lord pitched to a 2.70 ERA with a .209 opponent average in 26 relief outings. Lord currently has a 2-5 record with an ERA of 3.46. The Nationals are scheduled to face right-handed pitcher Chase Burns, who has a 0-1 record and an ERA of 6.19.

Over his last 30 games, Josh Bell is batting .304/.379/.431, collecting seven doubles, two home runs, 13 RBIs, 12 walks, and 10 runs scored. He has recorded a hit in 21 of his 26 starts during this stretch. In his most recent 13 games, Bell is 16-for-44 (.364) with four doubles, four RBIs, five walks, one hit-by-pitch, and three runs scored, reaching base safely in 10 of those 13 games.

CJ Abrams continues to stand out as one of the premier shortstops in the National League. He is riding a seven-game hitting streak and has recorded hits in 15 of his last 16 outings. During this period, he’s batting .303 (20-for-66) with four doubles, two triples, two home runs, a .515 slugging percentage, and an .844 OPS.

Over his last 32 games, Abrams is slashing .328/.386/.542, tallying nine doubles, two triples, five home runs, 16 RBIs, 11 walks, two hit-by-pitches, nine stolen bases, and 27 runs scored. His .328 batting average ranks fifth among National League hitters since June 10, and his .542 slugging percentage places him 12th in that period.

Abrams also ranks eighth in the league with 20 stolen bases and has been caught just twice, with the last instance occurring on May 6 against Cleveland. Since that date, he has been a perfect 11-for-11 on stolen base attempts.

Brady House has been on a strong run at the plate, collecting hits in eight of his last nine games. During this stretch, he's gone 12-for-35 (.343) with two doubles, two home runs, five RBIs, one walk, and five runs scored. Last Saturday in Milwaukee, House launched his first Major League home run in the fourth inning and added a two-run shot in the eighth, marking both his first career multi-homer game and his second three-hit performance.

MacKenzie Gore has established himself as one of the top pitchers in the National League this season, currently ranking fourth in the NL and sixth in all of Major League Baseball with 138 strikeouts. His strikeout rate of 11.26 per nine innings is the third-best in the league, while his 3.02 ERA and 3.94 strikeout-to-walk ratio both rank ninth among qualified National League pitchers. Gore’s strong performance also earned him a spot on the 2025 NL All-Star team, where he pitched a perfect fifth inning during the league’s victory.

Most Recent Performance MacKenzie Gore delivered a strong outing in his last start, earning the win after working six innings of one-run baseball while scattering five hits and striking out seven against St. Louis on July 9. Since May 16, he has allowed more than two runs just once across his last 10 starts, producing a 2.50 ERA during that stretch, with only 16 earned runs over 57.2 innings.

Track Record vs. San Diego Gore is set to make his fifth career start and his second this season against the Padres. In four previous matchups, he holds a 1-2 record with a 4.35 ERA (10 earned runs in 20.2 innings) and has punched out 21 batters. Notably, in his most recent meeting with San Diego at Petco Park on June 25, Gore turned in a quality effort, allowing just one run in six innings while striking out six, though he took a hard-luck loss.

Recent Dominance Over his last nine outings, Gore has maintained a 2.33 ERA, striking out 54 over 54 innings. Dating back to late August 2024, he ranks third in MLB in strikeouts per nine (10.91) and is fourth in total strikeouts (176 across 25 starts).

Curveball Effectiveness According to Baseball Savant data, Gore’s curveball has generated a 41.2% whiff rate, ranking ninth-best in all of baseball. Opponents have hit just .194 (20-for-103) with a .200 slugging percentage (including four doubles and two home runs) against his curve, underscoring it as one of the most effective breaking pitches in the league.

Day: 13-29 | Night: 26-30 | Home Record: 19-29 | Road Record: 20-30

Month Record: 4-10 | Current Streak: W1 | Previous Month Record: 7-19

A.L. Teams: 13-14 | N.L. Teams: 26-45 | N.L. West: 13-14rrrr

vs. LHSP: 9-17 | vs. RHSP: 30-42

Series Opener: 12-20 | Series Opener at Home: 6-10 | By Series: 11-19-1 | Rubber Games: 5-8

White Script Nationals: 4-8 | Red Curly W: 3-4 | City Connect: 6-11 | Blue Jersey: 12-14 | Road Gray: 13-22 | 42: 1-0

The Padres have excelled in high-pressure matchups this season, winning 9 out of 13 rubber games for a .692 winning percentage. In day games, the team holds a 22-14 record (.611), which ranks fifth in Major League Baseball and second in the National League. Their pitching and defense have also shined in these contests, with the Padres posting the second-lowest opponents’ batting average at .220 and the third-best ERA at 3.27.

Against NL East competition, San Diego has gone 14-7 (.667) across 21 matchups, a rate that ties for the second-highest win percentage behind only Houston (5-1, .833) and places them alongside the leaders for most wins against the division.

The Padres have been particularly dominant against the Nationals since the start of 2024, compiling a 9-2 record (.818) over that span. This is tied for the third-best mark versus Washington among all MLB teams and stands as the seventh-best winning percentage in the National League against a single opponent during this stretch (minimum ten games played).

Individually, Luis Arraez has notched at least one hit in all 10 of his career games at Nationals Park, matching Matt Olson for the longest active streak at the venue (spanning September 24, 2023, to May 22, 2025).

32-year-old Nick Pivetta takes the mound for his 20th start of the season tonight, his 9th on the road and the 12th start of his career (15th app.) vs. WSH, where he owns a 2-7 record, 8.10 ERA, and .314 career BA against. Back on June 25 this season vs. the Nats at home, Pivetta twirled one of his four 7.0-shutout performances of the season in SD's 8-2 victory, striking out a season-high-tying 10 (April 11 vs. COL). Before the All-Star break from 2017-24, Pivetta owned a 4.63 ERA, a .244 batting average against, and a .754 OPS. Before the All-Star break in '25, he posted a 2.88 ERA, a .205 batting average against, and a .594 OPS.

This season, in games when Pivetta throws 6.0+ innings, he owns a perfect 8-0 record with a 1.51 ERA (13 ER, 77.2 IP) while holding opponents to a .159 clip (43-for-270) and a 0.71 WHIP. Pivetta has reached double-digit quality starts (11) for the 3rd time in his career (also: 12 in '22 and 11 in '24 w/ BOS)...he leads SD's staff with 11 quality starts, while the rest of the rotation has combined for 18 quality starts. Pivetta has five outings completing 7.0 frames, while the rest of the Padres' starters have gone 7.0 innings 5 times altogether. He's allowed 3 ER-or-fewer in 15 of his 19 starts, including 2 ER-or-fewer in 13 of the 19 and 1 ER-or-fewer in 10 of the 19. 7.0

Pivetta's four 7.0-inning shutouts this season tie with STL's Sonny Gray for 2nd-most in the Majors, 2 behind DET's Tarik Skubal's 6 for most in the Majors. Since 2021, Pivetta is tied with Tarik Skubal for the 2nd-most starts (11) allowing three hits-or-fewer across at least 7.0 shutout frames, trailing only Corbin Burnes' 12. Rotation-mate Dylan Cease is tied with 3 others for the 3rd-most such starts (10) since '21

Day: 22-14 | Night: 31-31 | Home Record: 31-18 | Road Record: 22-27

Current Streak: L1 | Last Five: 3-2 | Last Ten: 6-4 | Current Month: 8-6

A.L. Teams: 14-19 | N.L. Teams: 39-26 | N.L. East: 14-7