The Washington Nationals kick off a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals tonight with the first pitch scheduled to be at 7:40 p.m. EDT. The Nationals are scheduled to send RHP Cade Cavalli and will face LHP Bailey Falter (7-6, 4.14 ERA) in tonight’s game.

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After struggling in his previous four starts, Nationals left-hander MacKenzie Gore bounced back dominantly against the San Francisco Giants, throwing six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in Washington’s 8–0 victory. The win secured a series victory and marked Gore’s first double-digit strikeout game since April. He relied on a mix of pitches — primarily his four-seam fastball, curveball, and slider — while limiting the Giants to just three hard-hit balls.

The Nationals’ offense backed him up by tagging Giants starter Justin Verlander for 11 hits and five runs in the first four innings, with all runs coming with two outs. James Wood and CJ Abrams led the way offensively, with Wood going 5-for-14 over the weekend with four doubles, a homer, and six RBIs, and Abrams hitting a two-run homer. Veterans Paul DeJong and Josh Bell also had strong series, emphasizing leadership and helping set the tone for the team.

The Nationals have now won four straight series at Oracle Park (dating back to 2021), with interim manager Miguel Cairo stressing “doing the little things” and resilience despite a challenging season and trade deadline uncertainty. Both Bell and DeJong expressed relief at staying with the team and a desire to finish 2025 strong while helping younger players develop.

On Deck…

Up next, the Washington Nationals will continue their three-game series against the Royals with the first pitch at 7:40 p.m. EDT. The Nationals are scheduled to send left-handed pitcher Mitchell Parker, who has a 7-12 record and an ERA of 5.43. The Nationals are scheduled to face right-handed pitcher Michael Wacha with a 6-9 record and an ERA of 3.36.

In the hole…

On Wednesday, the Washington Nationals will play their final game of this road trip and their three-game series against the Kansas City Royals with a scheduled first pitch of 2:10 p.m. EDT. The Nationals are scheduled to send right-handed pitcher Jake Irvin, who has a record of 8-7 and an ERA of 4.90. The Kansas City Royals will send right-handed pitcher Seth Lugo, who has a record of 8-6 and a 3.46 ERA.

Over the last five games, the Nationals’ bullpen has been dominant, posting a 2.60 ERA (5 earned runs over 17.1 innings) with 20 strikeouts, just six walks, and holding opponents to a .213 batting average (13-for-61, one double, two home runs).

José A. Ferrer earned a five-out save on Saturday in San Francisco — his first of the season and the second of his career — and has delivered six scoreless outings in his last seven appearances, allowing no baserunners in four of those games. Konnor Pilkington has been a steady force since joining the club on July 22, working seven scoreless appearances in his first nine games as a National and keeping hitters to a .167 average (5-for-30). Jackson Rutledge has put together back-to-back scoreless appearances since August 5, striking out five over 2.1 innings. Cole Henry has also been sharp, producing 10 scoreless outings in his last 12 games while striking out 10 batters in 9.1 innings during that stretch.

CJ Abrams enters play tied for fifth in the National League with 26 stolen bases this season, having been caught just three times — and only once in 72 games since May 7. Between that date and July 29, he swiped 17 consecutive bases, matching the longest stolen-base streak in Major League Baseball this year. Abrams is also one of just five players in the Majors to record 25 or more steals in each of the last three seasons, joining José Caballero, Elly De La Cruz, José Ramírez, and Bobby Witt Jr..

In yesterday’s game against the San Francisco Giants, Paul DeJong went 3-for-5 with two RBI. He’s been locked in on the current road trip, going 5-for-10 with a home run, three RBI, and a run scored. DeJong showed his power last season as well, hitting 24 home runs in 139 games split between Chicago and Kansas City.

This year, he’s found his rhythm at the plate, recording hits in 11 of his last 14 games — batting .288 (15-for-52) with two doubles, three home runs, 10 RBI, two walks, and a run scored — and has reached base in 16 of his last 18 contests.

On August 6 against the Athletics, Cade Cavalli delivered an impressive performance in his first Major League start since his debut on August 26, 2022. The right-hander struck out six and allowed just three hits over 4.1 scoreless innings, retiring the first eight batters he faced — four of them via strikeout. His strong outing set the tone for the Nationals’ 2-1 victory.

Earlier this season, Cavalli made 17 Minor League appearances across Triple-A Rochester, Double-A Harrisburg, and Low-A Fredericksburg. He went 4-7 with a 5.35 ERA, racking up 79 strikeouts against 30 walks in 74.0 innings of work.

Since the All-Star break, the Royals have gone 11-10 over 21 games, and they’re 19-14 in 33 games since July 1 — the fifth-best record in the American League during that span, trailing only the Red Sox (23-10), Blue Jays (23-12), Mariners (22-13), and Guardians (21-14). Overall, Kansas City sits just two games under .500 at 58-60, currently 4.0 games back of New York (62-56) for the final Wild Card spot. Cleveland (61-56) and Texas (60-59) also stand between the Royals and that playoff position, with 44 games left in the regular season.

Royals Thrive in Interleague Play, Struggle Within AL

The Royals have excelled in Interleague play this season, going 23-19 (.548) over 42 games while averaging 4.57 runs per game and posting a .264 team batting average — tied for the fifth-best mark in MLB in such matchups. However, against American League opponents, the results have been far less favorable. In 76 games versus AL teams, Kansas City is just 35-41 (.461) and has averaged only 3.18 runs per game with a .232 team batting average.

Royals vs. Nationals

The Royals are hosting the Nationals this week for just the fourth time ever and the first since May 26–28, 2023. Kansas City holds a 9-15 (.375) record against the Nationals/Expos franchise — their lowest winning percentage against any opponent. However, the Royals have had recent success in the matchup, sweeping the Nationals in Washington last September (Sept. 24–26) for their first-ever series win over them. Dating back to the Nationals’ last visit to Kauffman Stadium in 2023, Kansas City has now won four straight games in the head-to-head series.

Bailey Falter is set to make his 83rd career start (112th appearance) and second outing as a Royal when he takes the mound tonight in the series opener against Washington at Kauffman Stadium.

The left-hander debuted for Kansas City last Monday in Boston, taking the loss—his sixth of the season—after allowing a season-high-tying seven runs on eight hits (one HR) and two walks with two strikeouts over 4.0 innings. Five of those runs came in the first inning, highlighted by a two-run single from Rob Refsnyder and a two-out, two-strike, three-run homer by Jarren Duran. Falter bounced back with a perfect second inning before giving up run-scoring singles to Ceddanne Rafaela in the third and Alex Bregman in the fourth.

Falter has dominated the Nationals in his career, going 5-0 with a 2.23 ERA (9 ER in 36.1 IP) over nine appearances (six starts), including six quality starts. His most recent outing against them came on April 16 with Pittsburgh, when he tossed 7.0 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk with two strikeouts. Tuesday’s start will be his 10th career appearance vs. Washington, tying his most against any opponent (also 10 vs. Cincinnati and San Francisco).

At home, Falter owns a lifetime record of 15-11 with a 4.37 ERA (98 ER in 201.2 IP) across 39 starts, but he has been particularly strong this season in home outings, going 6-2 with a 3.39 ERA (24 ER in 63.2 IP) in 12 games. Tomorrow will mark his second career start at Kauffman Stadium—and his first there as a Royal—after allowing three runs over 4.2 innings with the Pirates on July 9.

Day: 26-23 | Night: 32-37 | Home Record: 28-28 | Road Record: 30-32

Current Streak: L1 | vs RHP: 45-51 | vs. LHP: 13-9

A.L. Teams: 35-41 | N.L. Teams: 23-19 | Series Opener: 18-19