Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, June 18.

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Welcome to the Morning Briefing! Jeremy Lapidus here. The Nationals fall in a 3 game series against the Diamondbacks, let’s talk about it.

Leading This Morning’s Briefing: Nationals Finish Strong Homestand With a Whimper.

The Nationals finished a short homestand with a series loss to the reigning NL champs where the bats couldn’t get going.

The Nationals mustered just 5 runs on 14 hits in the series against a pitching staff ranked 26th in the league by ERA.

Patrick Corbin had arguably his best start of the season in what could be hist last, going five innings of one-run baseball while striking out 7 and walking 3.

Lane Thomas and Jessie Winker continue to power the offense with Winker hitting home runs in back to back contents, and Thomas going deep in 4 of 6 games this homestand.

The Nationals look to bounce back, kicking off a long 9-game road trip starting with the Rockies with DJ Herz (1-1, 3.77) on the bump tonight coming off a 13-strikeout performance at 8:40 EST.

Down in The Minors:

The Rochester Red Wings look to avoid a sweep against the Syracuse Mets tonight. Dylan Crews started off his AAA career with a bang, as his first hit went yard.

The Harrisburg Senators have dropped their last two games by one run. They continue their series vs the Hartford Yard Goats with Andy Lara on the mound who has at least 5 K’s in five of his last 6 starts.

The Willmington Blue Rocks are starting Cade Cavalli for his second start at the High-A level, and first since May 30th as he continues his rehab.

The Fredricksburg Nats have won two straight and look to continue their success on the back half of the series vs the Down East Wood Ducks.

Featured Story of the Day:

MLB at Rickwood Field via USA Today

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