Good Morning, Washington Nationals Fans,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, April 22.

Welcome to the Morning Briefing! Haden here. Let’s talk about this weekend's slate of games.

Leading this Morning’s Briefing: Nats win series against the Astros, at home!

The Nationals did it! They beat the Houston Astros at home. MacKenzie Gore got BABIP’d to knock him out of the game early, as he gave up seven hits in four innings. He still struck out four and walked one. The lineup could not muster enough runs to overcome the early three-run lead Gore allowed. Riley Adams scored most of the runs after going 2-3 with a home run and a double.

Washington Nationals' late-game comeback ties series with Houston Astros

Richard • Apr 21, 2024

Washington, D.C. - After losing the first game of the three-game series against the Houston Astros last night, the Washington Nationals aimed to even up their weekend series with a win this afternoon. Thanks to some late-game heroics from Jesse Winker

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On Saturday, the Nationals squeaked out a 5-4 win. Trevor Williams threw six innings of one-run ball, striking out four. Robert Garcia allowed two runs, and many fans have been calling for his head. But Garcia has the third-highest batting average on balls in play in the majors among pitchers with as many innings. Among that same group, he has the tenth-highest ground ball percentage. Sure, the walks are high, but the infield defense is failing him.

But the Nationals still won. CJ Abrams hit a leadoff home run. Jesse Winker knocked in two, and even Joey Gallo had a good game. Joey Meneses went 3-5 with all singles.

Yesterday, Mitchell Parker dominated the Astros, going seven innings with eight punchouts and allowing just three hits. The Nationals' pitching continues to cement themselves as one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. They rank third in fWAR, behind the Red Sox and Phillies. While they are middle of the pack in ERA, they have the second-highest BABIP in baseball. The team’s Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) of 3.28 is the second lowest in baseball.

When the team pitches like this, who cares if four members of the starting lineup have an OPS below .600.

The Nationals have an off day today and will host the Dodgers tomorrow afternoon.

Down in the Minors

Red Wings 4, Mud Hens 1; Mud Hens 9, Red Wings 5; Mud Hens 8, Red Wings 7: James Wood went 2—14 with six strikeouts this weekend. Travis Blankenhorn had the Muds Hens number, hitting four home runs. DJ Herz struck out five over five innings, allowing just one hit, a home run.

Senators 4, Flying Squirrels 0; Flying Squirrels 6, Senators 1; Flying Squirrels 7, Senators 4: Stone Garrett notched four hits in three games this weekend. Cole Henry threw three scoreless innings in the Senators win on Friday, striking out three. Israel Pineda and Paul Witt got the only extra-base hits of the weekend, both in Friday’s game.

Blue Rocks 5, Drive 3; Blue Rocks 6, Drive 4; Blue Rocks 5, Drive 4: Kevin Made stays hot with three hits this weekend, including two doubles. Daylen Lile had two extra-base hits, a triple and a double. Luke Young continues to be one of the big stories out of Wilmington, this time with a six-scoreless inning, eight-strikeout performance on Friday.

Nationals 6, Woodpeckers 2; Woodpeckers 5; Nationals 1; Nationals 5, Woodpecker 2: The “old men” in Fredericksburg crushed the Woodpeckers this weekend. Brandon Pimentel, Phillip Glasser, and Gavin Dugas, all 23 or older, went a combined 11-20 this weekend with an additional four walks. Two of those hits were home runs, both on Sunday. Hopefully, they can get some reps at a higher affiliate soon, as I’m not sure how beneficial this will be for their development.

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