The Washington Nationals will kick off a three-game series against the New York Mets tonight at Citi Field. This will be the first game at Citi Field this season, and they will send left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore to the mound, who has a 3-5 record and an ERA of 2.87. The Nationals will face RHP Griffin Canning with a 6-2 record and a 2.90 ERA.

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The Washington Nationals struggled again in Sunday’s series finale against the Texas Rangers, leading to their fourth loss in the past six games. Trevor Williams had a passable outing, but the lineup struggled to find their footing at the plate, leading to a 4-2 loss.

Williams took the bump and gave the Nats an amazing effort. After a 1-2-3 first inning, he allowed a single to Marcus Semien to open the second frame.

[Click here for the full-game recap]

On Deck…

Tomorrow, the Nationals will play game two of three against the New York Mets with the scheduled first pitch at 7:10 p.m. EDT. The Nationals are set to send right-handed pitcher Jake Irvin, who has a 5-2 record and an ERA of 4.02, and the Nationals will face southpaw David Peterson, with a 4-2 record and an ERA of 2.80.

Jake Irvin allowed one earned run on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk in 7.1 innings against the Mets on April 25. Irvin pitched more than 7.0 innings in 3 of his five career starts against the Mets.

In the hole…

On Thursday, the Nationals will conclude their three-game series against the New York Mets with the first pitch at 1:10 p.m. EDT. They are scheduled to send right-handed pitcher Michael Soroka, who is coming off his best start of the season on June 6th against the Texas Rangers. Soroka pitched 6.0 innings, giving up only two hits and striking out seven. Soroka will face the New York Mets for the first time since August 3, 2020. The Nationals are scheduled to face right-handed pitcher Kodai Senga, who has a 6-3 record and an ERA of 1.59.

Alex Call is on a hot streak, going 7-for-22 (.318) with a triple, two home runs, three walks, just two strikeouts, and four runs scored over his last nine games. During this stretch, he boasts a .464 on-base percentage and a .682 slugging percentage. After going homerless all season, Call has now hit two home runs in his past three games. Since July 29, 2024, he’s slashing .308/.401/.473—the .401 OBP ranks fifth in MLB, and his .308 average is eighth-best over that span.

José Tena’s career-best 15-game on-base streak ended on Saturday. During the streak, he went 15-for-50 (.300) with a .390 on-base percentage (eight walks, ten strikeouts) and a .500 slugging percentage, collecting eight doubles and a triple. Tena also drew walks in five consecutive games, which was tied for the longest active streak in MLB at the time. Since May 14, his eight doubles are tied for the fourth most in the National League.

Washington’s starting rotation has been outstanding over its last five games, posting a 1.91 ERA (6 earned runs in 28.1 innings) with a .213 opponents’ batting average, 24 strikeouts, and just four walks. Since May 23, the group ranks among the National League leaders in several categories: second in opponents’ on-base percentage (.269), fourth in opponents’ OPS (.625), fifth in opponents’ average (.225), sixth in opponents’ slugging (.356), and sixth in ERA (3.40).

Reliever Highlights:

MacKenzie Gore currently leads all of Major League Baseball with 12.90 strikeouts per nine innings and ranks second overall—and first in the National League—with 108 strikeouts. He is also sixth in the NL in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.91) and ninth in ERA at 2.87.

vs. New York Mets

MacKenzie Gore has made six regular-season appearances against the New York Mets, pitching a total of 29.2 innings. During these outings, he has posted a 1-3 win-loss record with a 4.55 ERA. Gore has struck out 29 batters while issuing 16 walks in those games, and has not recorded a save.

On Sunday, the Mets defeated the Rockies 13-5. New York has now won three straight games, four of their last five, eight of their last ten, and twelve of their last fifteen. They recently wrapped up a 10-game stretch with an 8-2 record. Tonight, the Mets begin a six-game homestand at Citi Field, facing the Nationals for three games followed by three against the Rays.

The Mets have opened the season with a 24-7 record at home, marking the best home start in franchise history. The last MLB team to reach as many home wins through their first 31 games was the 2023 Tampa Bay Rays, who went 25-6 over that stretch. The Mets’ 2.57 ERA at Citi Field is the lowest in the National League, and their .774 home winning percentage leads all of Major League Baseball. They have also won three straight at home and seven of their last eight games at Citi Field.

Juan Soto has reached base safely in 11 consecutive games, hitting .324 (12-for-37) with 12 runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, six RBIs, and 14 walks, resulting in a .519 on-base percentage and a .622 slugging percentage. He has collected three hits in two of his last three games. Soto leads the majors with 55 walks, the most ever by a player through the Mets’ first 66 games in franchise history. The single-season franchise record is 125 walks, set by John Olerud in 1999. Impressively, Soto has already reached at least 125 walks in a season four times in his career (145 in 2021, 135 in 2022, 132 in 2023, and 129 in 2024)

Right-handed pitcher Griffin Canning enters tonight’s game for the New York Mets with a 6-2 record and an ERA of 2.90 over his 12 games started so far this season. Canning has thrown 59.0 innings, striking out 57, giving up six home runs, 21 runs, 52 hits, and issuing 26 walks, and has faced 251 batters. Over his last five appearances, Canning has a 3-2 record.

At Citi Field, he has made seven career starts, going 2-1 with a 2.94 ERA (11 earned runs in 33.2 innings) and tallying 37 strikeouts. He is one of just 26 pitchers to record a sub-3.00 ERA in their first seven starts at Citi Field, and the first to do so since teammate Jose Butto posted a 2.52 ERA in his first seven starts at the ballpark (from April 25, 2023, to May 1, 2024). He has allowed one earned run or fewer in five of his seven starts at Citi Field.

vs. the Washington Nationals

In three career starts against the Nationals, he has a 1-0 record with a 3.18 ERA (6 earned runs over 17 innings) and has recorded nine strikeouts. His most recent outing against Washington came on April 28, when he earned the win by throwing five scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and striking out five. This season, he has faced NL East opponents twice, posting a 0.90 ERA (1 earned run in 10 innings). Overall, in eight career starts against the division, he owns a 4.15 ERA (20 earned runs in 43.1 innings), giving up two runs or fewer in five of those games.