Quick Notes: Washington Nationals look to take game two of the series against the San Diego Padres

he Washington Nationals look to take game two of the series against the San Diego Padres on Friday night. The Washington Nationals opened this road trip with a hard-fought 3–1 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night

by Richard Wachtel

Updated August 19, 2022

San Diego, CA - Tthe Washington Nationals look to take game two of the series against the San Diego Padres on Friday night. The Washington Nationals opened this road trip with a hard-fought 3–1 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night. With the game tied at 1–1 heading into the top of the ninth inning, Washington plated two runs thanks to a bases-loaded walk by Nelson Cruz and a sacrifice fly by Keibert Ruiz.

Thursday night, Nationals pitchers combined to allow just three hits — matching a season-low. The Nationals' offense was led by third baseman Ildemaro Vargas, who went 2-for-3 with a home run, RBI and one run scored. This series against the Padres caps off two weeks of games against only the Chicago Cubs (Aug. 8–10; Aug. 15–17) and San Diego Padres (Aug. 12–14; Aug. 18–21).

Welcome to the game... Ildemaro Vargas had his contract selected from Triple-A Rochester on Aug. 1, and since joining the club, he is hitting .341 (15-for-44) with a double, homer, four RBI, two walks, and four runs scored. Vargas has hit safely in 10 of the 13 games.

In 14 games since making his Major League debut on Aug. 2, Joey Meneses is 17-for-53 (.321) with a double, five home runs, seven RBI, three walks, and nine runs scored.

Right-hander Paolo Espino returns to the Nationals organization in 2022 after a 5-5 record last season and spending the two seasons before that at the Alternate Training Site (2020) and Triple-A Fresno (2019). It was also in Washington’s system farm system. 2014-16. Espino appeared in 12 Major League games (two starts) between Milwaukee and Texas in 2017. Paolo Espino allowed four runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks in a season-high 5.2 innings of work on Aug. 14 vs. San Diego. Paolo Espino faces the Padres for the second time in as many starts with the Nationals. Tonight marks his first career start in San Diego.