⚾⚾ The Morning Briefing: Nationals fall to the Dodgers in game one of series
Last night, the Washington Nationals lost 6-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The good news? All the runs were unearned runs in the fifth inning. The bad news? CJ Abrams committed his ninth error, tied for the highest in the major leagues.
Good Morning Washington Nationals Fan,
Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, May 30, 2023. My name is Haden Raymer, and we are back with the morning briefing. Today’s top story is the Nationals’ game last night so let’s dive into it.
Be sure to follow The Nats Report on Twitter for all the latest headlines and more.
Leading today’s Morning Briefing: Nationals fall to LA Dodgers 6-1
Last night, the Washington Nationals lost 6-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The good news? All the runs were unearned runs in the fifth inning. The bad news? CJ Abrams committed his ninth error, tied for the highest in the major leagues.
Here is CJ Abrams's error last night. There is still work to do to improve that infield defense.
— Haden (@thehadenraymer)
May 30, 2023
Trevor Williams threw five innings, struck out three, and allowed six hits. Despite technically allowing six runs to score, since they are all unearned, Williams's ERA improved to 3.93.
Abrams got an RBI single. Corey Dickerson and Dominic Smith both hit doubles. The bullpen went scoreless again, this time Thad Ward and Erasmo Ramírez.
It’s a tough loss. At the end of the day, it’s a young team that still hasn’t had many of the prospects that have been acquired since the rebuild started. They still went toe-to-toe with the Dodgers, and that’s pretty good for the 23-31 team.
The series continues tonight at 10:10 p.m. on MASN2, so make sure to get a nap in.
Doolittle returns to game action
I hid it in the news in yesterday’s briefing, but Sean Doolittle has returned to game action after joining the club this offseason on a minor league deal. He threw a scoreless inning for the Wilmington Blue Rocks on Saturday.
As he continues his rehab he should make it back to the big leagues because the Nationals desperately need a left-handed relief option.
Down on the Farm
The Rochester Red Wings took on the Syracuse Mets last night and won 10-8. Anthony Banda threw three scoreless innings of relief. The Red Wings only had two runs on the board after the seventh inning, but veteran catcher Luis Torrens hit a two-run homer in the eighth, and a Travis Blankenhorn three-run home run in the ninth sent it to extras. Matt Adams hit a walk-off two-run blast in the 11th inning.
The Harrisburg Senators had Monday off and will begin a road series against the Orioles Double-A Bowie Baysox tonight.
The Wilmington Blue Rocks also had the day off, and begin a road trip tonight, taking on the Asheville Tourists, the Houston Astros High-A affiliate.
The Fredricksburg Nationals also had the day off, but have a makeup game doubleheader tonight at home against the Delmarva Shorebirds, the Orioles A ball affiliate.
Around the League News and Links
TalkNats did a profile on potential top-five pick Paul Skenes
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel put out his latest mock draft ($)
Jeff Passan on the return of Liam Hendriks, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma this offseason
