⚾️⚾️ The Morning Briefing: Nationals take 2 of 3 to start road trip
The Washington Nationals won two out of their three matchups against the San Diego Padres this weekend.
Good Morning Washington Nationals Fan,
Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, June 26, 2023. My name is Haden Raymer and this is your morning briefing. Today’s top story is the Nationals take a series win over the San Diego Padres.
Be sure to follow The Nats Report on Twitter for all the latest headlines and more.
Leading today’s Morning Briefing: Nats take two out of three against Padres
The Nationals fell in game one 13-3. Patrick Vorbin and Chad Kuhl gave up 11 runs combined over six innings. Kuhl was later designated for assignment, with Paolo Espino called up in his place. Hopefully, this will allow Josiah Gray and MacKenzie Gore to skip a start before the All-Star break.
The Nats shut out the Friars game two in a 2-0 victory. The only runs came from Jeimer Candelario and Lane Thomas home runs. The Padres had Matt Waldon on the bump for his debut. He was advertised on social media as a knuckleballer, but he was more of a guy who threw a knuckleball, only throwing it 21 percent of the time in that outing. Josiah Gray walked four but struck out six in five and third innings. Mason Thompson, Kyle Finnegan, and Hunter Harvey teased us at what a good Nationals bullpen is, getting strikeouts in six of the eleven batters they faced.
Yesterday the Nats offense got hot, tagging Seth Lugo and Tim Hill for eight runs (though five were unearned thanks to a Hill throwing error). Candelario homered and doubled, CJ Abrams and Luis García each got two hits, and Joey Meneses doubled and singled. Gore struck out nine, including Juan Soto three times. Tommy La Sorsa struck out a batter with bases loaded and two outs. Espino made his season debut. It was just a solid game for everyone.
Your Nats Report Player of the Game is Jeimer Candelario. He has been very good at baseball this year and continued to impress this series. Tonight the Nationals take on the Seatle Mariners on MASN2 at 9:40 p.m. ET.
Down on the Farm
The Rochester Red Wings lost 7-3 to the Omaha Storm Chasers. Jake Alu went 2-4. Alex Call and Blake Rutherford continue their hot streaks, with Rutherford hitting a double and a homer in the game. Sean Doolittle pitched a scoreless outing. Drew Millas went 1-3 with a walk.
The Harrisburg Senators lost 4-3 to the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Jack Dunn got the lone extra-base hit, a double. Relievers Malvin Pena, Tim Cate, and Joel Peguero pitched three scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
The Wilmington Blue Rocks lost 5-2 to the Aberdeen IronBirds. Only Will Frizzell, Leandro Emiliani, and Geraldi Giaz recorded hits.
The FredNats lost 7-6 to the Columbia Fireflies. Daylen Lile went 2-5 and Armando Cruz went 2-4 with a triple. Jeremy De La Cruz got a pinch-hit single. 25-year-old catcher Wilmer Perez went 3-5.
Links around the league
New MLB Top 100 Prospects list
The Orioles are calling up a top prospect
The Angels won a game 25-1
