Game Details

• Washington Nationals (17-26) vs. Atlanta Braves (21-21)

• Pitching Matchup: LHP Mitchell Parker (3-3, 3.97) vs. RHP Bryce Elder (2-2, 4.97)

• Date: Wednesday, May 14th, 2025 | 7:15 p.m. EDT | Game: #44 | Road Game: #22

• Location: Truist Park | Atlanta, GA

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Game storylines and notes

The Washington Nationals are currently on a seven-game losing streak. Tonight, they play game three of their four-game series against the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta. The Nationals will look to LHP Mitchell Parker (3-3, 3.97) to snap their seven-game losing streak and face RHP Bryce Elder (2-2, 4.97) from the Atlanta Braves.

Game Recap
LAST GAME RECAP

CJ Abrams homered on a high fastball on the first pitch of the game and the Nationals’ bats mostly went silent from there in an eventual 5-2 loss that also featured plenty of bad defense (not the kind that showed up as errors in the scorebook, but bad defense nonetheless), running the current losing streak to seven. Yet again the Nats allowed an opposing starter to cruise deep into the game, as Spencer Schwellenbach completed seven innings on 97 pitches, only having to do any real work in the fourth inning when he threw 28 of those.

Washington managed only four hits after the CJ bomb - all singles, and had a potential ninth inning rally snuffed out by a pretty egregious called third strike by plate ump Austin Jones on Dylan Crews. Nats starter Michael Soroka, meanwhile, hit a massive wall in the fourth inning after a 31-pitch frame of his own drove his total north of 80, tied the game for Atlanta, and got him an early shower. Brad Lord was then victimized by poor infield defense in consecutive innings (Amed Rosario can fake it well enough at second base but has absolutely no business ever playing third - he is just a brutal watch over there), giving up a run in each inning and getting stuck with the loss.

Washington Nationals Schedule
Up Next…

On Deck…

Tomorrow, the Nationals will finish their four-game series against the Atlanta Braves with the scheduled pitch at 12:15 p.m. The Nationals will send RHP Trevor Williams to the mound with a record of 2-4 and an ERA of 5.88, and will face RHP AJ Smith-Shawver, who has a 2-2 record with an ERA of 2.76. Trevor Williams has allowed three runs or fewer in all 11 games (seven starts) against Atlanta (3-1, 3.26 ERA).

In the hole…

After the Nationals finish their four-game series, they will head to Baltimore to face the Orioles for a three-game weekend series.

From the Tippy Top

CJ Abrams currently leads all Major League shortstops (minimum 130 plate appearances) with a .521 slugging percentage, ranks third in OPS at .880, and sits fifth in batting average at .303. On Tuesday night, he hit his third leadoff home run of the season, tying him for the third-most leadoff homers in the majors this year. With 10 career leadoff home runs, Abrams now holds the second-highest total in Nationals history since 2005.

Over his last six games, Abrams is hitting .407 (11-for-27) with two doubles, a home run, two RBIs, a stolen base, and two runs scored. He has reached base safely in 17 of his last 18 games, posting a robust slash line of .351/.415/.514 during this stretch.

Behind the Plate

Keibert Ruiz is among the top MLB catchers this season, ranking second in hits (40), third in batting average (.290), and fifth in on-base percentage (.338). His .290 average also places him fourth among all Major League switch hitters, and his .367 average with runners in scoring position ranks eighth in the National League.

Riley Adams has recorded a hit in five of his last six games, with the Nationals posting a 4-3 record in his starts. Together, Ruiz and Adams have thrown out 12 attempted base stealers-fourth-most among all MLB catching tandems. Ruiz is tied for second in the majors with eight caught stealings, while Adams has thrown out three runners in his last two starts, plus one in his first start of the season.

I want to report a stolen base, please…

The Washington Nationals rank fifth in the National League with 44 stolen bases this season and hold a sixth-place position with an 80% stolen base success rate, going 44-for-55 on steal attempts. Since April 20, the team has recorded 23 stolen bases while being caught only four times in 23 games, improving their success rate to 85.2% (23-for-27).

Dylan Crews leads the Nationals with 10 stolen bases, tying him for sixth place in the National League. He has been caught stealing just once this season, on April 5 against Arizona, and has successfully stolen nine bases consecutively since then.

On the mound for the Washington Nationals
LHP Mitchell Parker

LHP Mitchell Parker has delivered a steady presence in the Washington Nationals’ rotation, posting a 3-3 record with a 3.97 ERA over eight starts this season. The left-hander has logged 45.1 innings, recording 26 strikeouts while maintaining a 1.30 WHIP, which places him in the middle of the pack among MLB starters.

Last game out on May 9th against the St. Louis Cardinals, Paer pitched 4.0 innings, giving up four earned runs on four hits, striking out five batters, and throwing 96 pitches with 59 being strikes.

During May, Parker is 0-2 with an ERA of 10.13 with 8.0 innings pitched, giving up nine earned runs, on 11 hits, striking out six batters, and throwing 179 pitches with 107 being strikes.

vs. Atlanta Braves

Mitchell Parker has made two regular-season appearances against the Atlanta Braves, pitching 13.1 innings with a 1-0 record and a 3.38 ERA. Notably, he has not issued a single walk in these outings, showcasing exceptional control while striking out 8 batters.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS BY THE NUMBERS

The Washington Nationals have the following records.

• Day: 8-13 | Night: 9-13 | Home Record: 10-12 | Road Record: 7-14

• A.L. Teams: 3-6 | N.L. Teams: 14-20 | N.L. East: 5-10

• Month Record: 4-8 | Current Streak: L7 | Previous Month Record: 12-15

• vs. LHSP: 4-7 | vs. RHSP: 13-19

• White Script Nationals: | White Pullover: | City Connect: | Blue Jersey: | Road Gray: | 42:

Opposition Research 
Atlanta Braves

No team defeated the Braves more often last season than the Nationals, who went 8-5 against Atlanta in 2024. This marked the most games the Braves have lost to Washington in a single season since 2019, when Atlanta finished 11-8 against the Nationals. The Braves had not dropped a season series to Washington since 2017, when they went 9-10, but had won the season set each year from 2018 through 2023, a period that coincided with Atlanta’s streak of division titles. During that six-year span, the Braves compiled a 63-36 record against the Nationals.

At Truist Park last season, Atlanta went just 3-4 against Washington, the first time the Braves lost the home season series to the Nationals since the ballpark opened in 2017. Including tonight’s game, the Braves are 37-32 all-time versus the Nationals at Truist Park, with Washington’s .464 winning percentage there being the best among National League East teams.

ON THE MOUND FOR THE HOME TEAM
Bryce Elder

Right-hander Bryce Elder will take the mound for the Atlanta Braves with a 2-2 record, an ERA of 4.97 over 38.0 innings pitched over seven games. Elder has struck out 30 batters so far this season. In his last game appearance against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 9th, Elder pitched 6.0 innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits, striking out eight, throwing 99 pitches with 64 of them being strikes.

Elder has an ERA of 4.09 in May with a 1-1 record over 11.0 innings pitched. Edler has struck out 14 batters, giving up five earned runs, two home runs, nine hits, and throwing a total of 185 pitches with 117 of them being strikes.

vs. Washington Nationals

Right-handed pitcher Bryce Elder has faced the Washington Nationals four times in the regular season, compiling a 2-1 record with a 3.16 ERA over 25.2 innings pitched. Elder has struck out 17 batters in those outings while issuing just four walks, demonstrating solid command against the Nationals’ lineup. His performances have ranged from a complete-game shutout in September 2022 to a tougher outing in June 2023. Still, Elder has effectively limited Washington’s offense, allowing only nine earned runs and 24 hits across those appearances.