Game Details

• Texas Rangers (29-34) vs. Washington Nationals (29-33)

• Pitching Matchup: LHP Patrick Corbin (3-4, 3.71 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Soroka (2-3, 5.81 ERA)

• Date: Friday, June 6, 2025 | 6:45 p.m. EDT | Game: # 63 | Home Game: # 31

• Location: Nationals Park | Washington, D.C.

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Game storylines and notes

The Washington Nationals will kick off a three-game weekend series against the visiting Texas Rangers tonight. The Nationals will face former Nationals left-handed pitcher Patrick Corbin. This will be Corbin’s first time back to Nationals Park since signing with the Texas Rangers. [More on that later in today’s Game Notes]. Corbin enters tonight’s game with a 3-4 record and a 3.71 ERA.

The Nationals will send right-handed pitcher Michael Soroka to the mound with a 2-3 record and a 5.81 ERA entering tonight’s game.

The current Texas Rangers franchise began on October 26, 1960, when the American League awarded an expansion team to Washington, D.C. This move came after the original Washington Senators franchise relocated to Minnesota and became the Twins. The new Senators played in Washington from 1961 through 1971, struggling for most of their 11 seasons before moving to Arlington, Texas, where they became the Rangers starting in 1972.

The Rangers and Nationals franchises first faced each other on June 6, 2003, when the Montreal Expos (the Nationals’ predecessor) defeated Texas 13-10 at Estadio Hiram Bithorn in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Notably, 16 of the 24 games between Texas and Washington have taken place in June.

Powerful WOOD

James Wood is among the top hitters in the National League this season. He is tied for third in Major League Baseball with 35 batted balls hit at 108 MPH or harder, trailing only Aaron Judge (39) and Pete Alonso (36), and tied with Shohei Ohtani (35). Additionally, Wood owns a .980 slugging percentage to the opposite field, which is the best in the National League and third-highest in MLB.

That’s a lot of RUNS and a Roster Move.

The Washington Nationals are averaging 5.00 runs per game, which ranks fourth in the National League. Since May 14, the team has posted a .426 slugging percentage—fourth best in Major League Baseball during this period—with 45 doubles, the most in MLB, along with four triples and 19 home runs.

The Nationals have reinstated outfielder Jacob Young from the 10-day injured list after a 14-game absence due to a left shoulder AC sprain, and have optioned outfielder Daylen Lile to Triple-A Rochester in a corresponding move. Young completed a three-game rehab assignment with Double-A Harrisburg, where he went 3-for-11 (.273) with a double, one RBI, one stolen base, and two runs scored.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it…

Since May 12, Luis García Jr. has led all National League hitters with a .354 batting average, while also ranking tied for second in doubles (9), tied for eighth in extra-base hits (11), and ninth in slugging percentage (.585). Over 17 games in this span, he is 23-for-65 with nine doubles, two home runs, 14 RBIs, two walks, one stolen base, and 10 runs scored.

Since May 23, García Jr. has struck out just twice in his last 43 plate appearances—a 4.7% strikeout rate that ranks fifth-best in Major League Baseball during that stretch. Notably, he went 32 consecutive plate appearances without a strikeout from May 23 to May 31, which was the third-longest active streak in MLB at the time.

On the mound for the Washington Nationals
Michael Soroka

Right-handed pitcher Michael Soroka will take the mound for the Washington Nationals tonight as they kick off their three-game series against the Texas Rangers. Soroka enters tonight’s game with a record of 2-3 with an ERA of 5.81. In his last start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 31, Soroka earned his second win after pitching 5.1 innings of four-run baseball. Soroka was given a nice 11-run lead after the first two innings, which helped secure the Nationals’ fourth straight road trip win.

Across his last six starts, Soroka has just issued six walks in 31.0 innings of work, which is tied for the fourth fewest in Major League baseball. Additionally, he ranks ninth in the National League (min 30.0 IP pitched) with a 1.74 walks per 9.0 innings, an improvement from 2024.

vs. Texas Rangers

Tonight will mark his first career start against the Texas Rangers.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS BY THE NUMBERS

The Washington Nationals have the following records.

• Day: 11-16 | Night: 18-17 | Home Record: 14-16 | Road Record: 15-17

• Month Record: 1-3 | Current Streak: L1 | Previous Month Record: 15-12

• A.L. Teams: 8-7 | N.L. Teams: 21-16 | A.L. West: 2-1

• vs. LHSP: 7-9 | vs. RHSP: 22-24

• Series Opener: 9-11 | Series Opener at Home: 5-5 | By Series: 9-10-1

• White Script Nationals: 3-5 | Red Curly W: 2-1 | City Connect: 4-6 | Blue Jersey: 11-10 | Road Gray: 8-11 | 42: 1-0 

Opposition Research 
Texas Rangers

The Rangers lost to the Rays in a 4-3 walk-off defeat last night, dropping to 0-3 on their current nine-game road trip. Texas is 4-6 over its last 10 games, having alternated wins and losses before this current three-game skid—their first set of consecutive losses since a season-high six-game losing streak from May 18-24.

Since a season-best six-game winning streak from May 10-15, the Rangers have lost 12 of their last 16 and 13 of their last 18 games. Overall, Texas has dropped 23 of its last 37 contests and holds a 21-32 record over its past 53 games dating back to April 7, following an 8-2 start. The team’s .396 winning percentage since April 7 ranks third-lowest in the American League and sixth-lowest in MLB. At 29-34 (.460), the Rangers are 11th in the AL by win percentage and 22nd in the majors, and they are now a season-high five games below .500 for the first time since finishing the 2024 season at 78-84.

ON THE MOUND FOR THE VISITORS
LHP Patrick Corbin

Patrick Corbin, 35, is set to make his 11th start of the season tonight as Texas opens a three-game series against Washington at Nationals Park. The former National (2019-24) has limited opponents to three earned runs or fewer in each of his 10 starts this year, marking the longest such streak of his career (previous best: nine games, three times, last from August 10 to September 23, 2019). Over his last four outings (21.2 innings), Corbin has allowed 11 earned runs, which has raised his season ERA from 3.13 to 3.71.

Tonight marks Corbin’s sixth career start against Washington and his first time facing his former team since leaving the Nationals after six seasons. His previous five starts versus Washington all came as a member of the Diamondbacks between 2012 and 2018, during which he went 1-1 with a 5.00 ERA (15 earned runs in 27.0 innings). Corbin last pitched against the Nationals on April 28, 2018, earning a no-decision after allowing three earned runs over 6.2 innings in a 4-3 Arizona win. This will also be his 88th career start at Nationals Park.