The Washington Nationals kick off a six-game, two-city road trip before the All-Star break. Tonight, tomorrow, and Thursday’s games will be in St. Louis before the team travels to Milwaukee for a weekend set against the Brewers. Getting the start for the Washington Nationals is going to be Jake Irvin. He has a win-loss record of 7-3 and an ERA of 4.71.

The Nationals will face Sonny Gray from the St. Louis Cardinals, who has a record of 8-3 and an ERA of 3.51.

Tonight will mark the start of a new era of Nationals baseball, as interim general manager Mike DeBartolo and interim skipper Miguel Cairo will oversee a ballgame together for the first time. The question now becomes what, if anything, will change for this ball club performance-wise as a result of Sunday’s firings.

The Nationals fell to the Boston Red Sox 6–4 on a hot Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park, completing a three-game sweep. Boston struck early with a four-run first inning that included an RBI single by Roman Anthony, a Rob Refsnyder double, and a go‑ahead two-run shot from Trevor Story, all off rookie left-hander Shinnosuke Ogasawara in his MLB debut. Washington had some fight in them, however, as Paul DeJong doubled in a run, and Brady House connected for his first career three-hit game and drove in another with an RBI single.

Boston added an insurance run in the seventh via a sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded walk, then tacked on a Ceddanne Rafaela solo homer off of Andrew Chafin in the ninth. The Nationals also answered in that inning with a Daylen Lile RBI single to make it interesting (as “the boys battled” one last time), but closer Jordan Hicks shut the door to get the Sox a 6–4 win. Garrett Crochet showcased his dominance with seven strikeouts, while Ogasawara allowed four runs in 2⅔ innings in his debut.

On Deck…

The Washington Nationals will send left-handed All-Star MacKenzie Gore (3-8, 3.11 ERA) to the mound at 7:45 PM to face off against Andre Pallante (5-4, 4.10) and the Cardinals. Gore has struggled to get run support from his offense this season, but time will tell if new energy in the dugout will fix that for all pitchers.

In the hole…

On Thursday, the Nationals’ starter will be Michael Soroka (3-6, 5.40), who will be opposed by veteran Miles Mikolas (4-6, 5.26). There was a trend this season of Dave Martinez pushing Soroka too long into his outings, leading to an inflated ERA. It will be interesting to see if Miguel Cairo makes similar mistakes, or if he will be able to read those situations better.