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After breaking an 11-game losing streak yesterday, the Washington Nationals will kick off a nine-game, 10-day West Coast road trip tonight with a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Nationals will play three games against the Dodgers, followed by the Padres, and then finish the road trip with three games next weekend against the Los Angeles Angels. The Nationals are 11-9 in it’s last 20 games on the road since May 1, 2025, and tonight’s game is the tenth game in a stretch of 16 games in 16 days for the team.

The Washington Nationals will send left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore to the mound with a 3-6 record and a 2.89 ERA.

The Nationals will face LHP Clayton Kershaw with a 2-0 record and a 3.25 ERA entering tonight’s matchup.

The Washington Nationals snapped their 11-game losing streak yesterday at Nationals Park, thanks to a dramatic extra-inning walk-off home run by James Wood. Down to their final out, the Nationals avoided a sweep by the Colorado Rockies, who currently hold the worst record in Major League Baseball.

Entering today’s game, Washington was mired in a franchise-record 11-game skid, having already been swept by both the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins, and facing the prospect of another sweep at the hands of Colorado.

James Wood delivered the decisive blow in the bottom of the 11th, launching a two-run homer—his first career walk-off—off a Rockies reliever. The Nationals, who had failed to score the winning run from third base with one out in the tenth, were just one out away from a 12th straight loss after allowing a run in the top of the 11th.

Wood’s heroics capped a standout day at the plate. He also hit his 19th home run earlier in the game, bringing his season total to 20. According to Sarah Langs of MLB, Wood is now the first Nationals player to record two home runs with exit velocities exceeding 110 mph in a single game during the Statcast era.

On Deck…

After tonight’s game, the Nationals will continue their three-game series against the Dodgers with another late-night game starting at 10:10 p.m. Eastern time. The Nationals are scheduled to send right-handed pitcher Jake Irvin to the mound, who has a record of 5-3 with an ERA of 4.23. Jake Irvin delivered six shutout innings in his most recent start at Dodger Stadium on April 17, 2024. He currently ranks fourth in the National League with 89.1 innings pitched. The Nationals are scheduled to face right-handed pitcher Dustin May, who has a 4-4 record with an ERA of 4.46.

In the hole.

The Washington Nationals will conclude their three-game series against the Dodgers on Sunday afternoon. They will face right-handed pitcher Shohei Ohtani, who will make his second start for the Dodgers on the mound. The Nationals are scheduled to send right-handed pitcher Michael Soroka with a 3-5 record and an ERA of 5.06. Michael Soroka takes the mound at Dodger Stadium for the first time in his career. He previously faced the Dodgers twice—once as a member of the Atlanta Braves and once with the Chicago White Sox—with both outings coming at his home ballpark.

James Wood has quickly established himself as one of the premier outfielders in the National League, leading all NL outfielders in several major offensive categories. He tops the league in OPS (.944), wOBA (.403), Win Probability Added (2.8), OPS+ (166), and wRC+ (161), and is tied for the NL lead with 20 home runs. Wood also ranks second in slugging percentage (.564), hard-hit rate (57.1%), RBI (56), and extra-base hits (39), while placing third in both walks (44) and fWAR (3.3), and fourth in on-base percentage (.380).

His recent stretch has been particularly impressive. Over his last 10 games, Wood is hitting .368 (14-for-38) with three doubles, four home runs, 11 RBI, seven walks, and seven runs scored, reaching base safely in nine games. In the past 30 games, he’s batting .309 with nine home runs and 31 RBI, highlighted by a two-homer performance that included his first career walk-off home run—an 11th-inning blast that secured a 4-3 win for Washington. This marked his first career walk-off homer, second career walk-off hit, and third career multi-homer game.

With his 20th home run, Wood joined Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, and Ryan Zimmerman as the only Nationals to reach that mark before turning 23. At just 22, he is the fourth-youngest player since Statcast began to record two home runs with exit velocities over 110 mph in a single game, and the first Nationals player to do so. Wood’s power has been especially notable to the opposite field, where he ranks third in MLB—and first among left-handed hitters—with a .982 slugging percentage, tallying 10 doubles and six home runs to the opposite field this season. He also ranks second in MLB with 47 batted balls over 108 mph, trailing only Aaron Judge..

CJ Abrams continues to stand out as one of the top shortstops in the National League. Over his last 10 games, Abrams is hitting .359 (14-for-39) with three doubles, a home run, three RBI, five walks, two hit-by-pitches, four stolen bases, and 10 runs scored.

On Wednesday night, Abrams recorded his 100th career stolen base, with 99 of those coming as a member of the Washington Nationals. With just one more steal, he will join Trea Turner (192) and Ian Desmond (122) as the only players in Nationals history (since 2005) to reach at least 100 stolen bases in a Nationals uniform.

Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams have formed one of the most effective catching tandems in Major League Baseball this season, throwing out a combined 19 would-be base stealers, tied for the second-most in the league. Ruiz leads all MLB catchers with 15 runners caught stealing, already surpassing his 2024 season total of 13 and now closing in on his career-best mark of 18 set in 2022.

Adams has contributed by throwing out four of 17 attempted base stealers, including a memorable game-ending caught stealing earlier this season. Their strong arms and quick releases have significantly impacted the Nationals’ defense, consistently deterring opponents from taking extra bases.

Left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore enters tonight’s game leading all of Major League Baseball with 119 strikeouts and a league-best 12.26 strikeouts per nine innings. He has not pitched at Dodger Stadium since July 3, 2022, when he was with the Padres, throwing 5.2 innings and allowing five hits, one earned run, four walks, and striking out three.

Recently, Gore has been in strong form, posting a 1.45 ERA with 35 strikeouts over 31.0 innings in his last five starts, and has allowed more than two runs just once in his last eight outings since May 4. Dating back to August 23, 2024, he’s recorded a 2.46 ERA, 11.53 strikeouts per nine innings, and a .220 opponents’ batting average over his last 22 starts.

Last start

In his last outing on June 15 against the Miami Marlins, MacKenzie Gore took the loss despite delivering 6.0 innings of two-run baseball with five strikeouts. It marked his 12th start of at least six innings this season, tying him for the third-most such outings in Major League Baseball.

vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

MacKenzie Gore has made four regular-season appearances against the Los Angeles Dodgers, pitching 21.2 innings. Over those outings, he has posted a 1-1 win-loss record with a 3.32 ERA. Gore has struck out 18 batters while issuing nine walks and has not recorded a save in those matchups.

Clayton Kershaw continues to demonstrate his dominance in his 18th Major League season. In his most recent outing against the Giants on June 14, the veteran left-hander delivered seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out five to earn the win.

He now stands just 12 strikeouts away from reaching the 3,000 mark, further solidifying his status as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. Over his illustrious career, Kershaw has compiled a 214-94 record with a 2.51 ERA across 438 games (435 starts), striking out 2,988 batters and walking 688.

vs. Washington Nationals

Kershaw holds an impressive 13-3 career record with a 2.27 ERA in 19 appearances against the Washington Nationals, last facing them on July 3, 2021, at Nationals Park.