Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, May 27.

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Welcome to the Morning Briefing!  I hope you are enjoying your Memorial Day Weekend. The Nationals won the first two games of the series against the Mariners, but Ty France and Julio Rodriguez could not bear a sweep.

Leading this Morning’s Briefing: Nats miss out on a sweep thanks to bullpen

Nationals kept the Mariners to one run in each of the first two games. In game one, MacKenzie Gore threw seven innings of one-run ball, striking out eight. The one run came off a leadoff home run from J.P. Crawford. The Nats got three home runs of their own from Luis García Jr., Keibert Ruiz, and Eddie Rosario. Ruiz and CJ Abrams each got two hits as well. Hunter Harvey and Dylan Floro threw scoreless innings and the Nats won 6-1.

Trevor Williams tied his career high in strikeouts with eight over five innings on Saturday. Ruiz stayed hot, going 2-2 with a double. Robert Garcia, Dylan Floro, Hunter Harvey, and Kyle Finnegan prevented any extra runs from crossing the plate as the Nationals earned a narrow 3-1 victory.

The Mariners could not stomach another loss as Ty France and Julio Rodriguez combined for seven RBIs in the Mariners’ 9-5 victory. Patrick Corbin allowed four runs (three earned) over six innings. He allowed home runs to the aforementioned France and Rodriguez. Joey Gallo and CJ Abrams both homered in what were crucial moments, but the Nationals could not come up with the victory. The Nationals got a scoreless inning from Jacob Barnes but turned to Floro for the third day in a row. Floro could not get out of the eighth inning, allowing two runs on three hits. Jordan Weems came in to replace Floro and allowed three earned runs on three hits, a walk, and a hit by pitch. At least he struck out two.

While I understand not wanting to go to Rainey in that inning, why not go to Derek Law, who has not thrown in a game since last Monday? In general, throwing a reliever a third day in a row in a game in May just does not make sense to me, no matter the situation. And it sucks that this is how Floro’s 22-scoreless inning streak ends.

Onto the present. Lane Thomas is supposed to be activated today. As I mentioned last week, Joey Meneses (can be optioned) and Victor Robles (would have to be DFA’d) are the likeliest candidates to be the corresponding move. Personally, I’d option Meneses as Robles offers more defensive versatility and is a faster base runner. I also think offensively, this is essentially what Joey Meneses is, while Robles has been unlucky in his limited at-bats. While Robles is hitting .120 right now, his .281 OBP is higher than Rosario, Gallo, and Thomas. That average will come up, and as soon as Robles starts hitting for power his season will start to take off. In general, he also makes a sensible platoon partner with Eddie Rosario.

Either way though, this should mark the end of everyday Joey Meneses at-bats, which I think we can all be thankful for.

The Nationals will take a trip down to Atlanta to take on the Ronald Acuña Jr.less Braves. The Nationals will face RHP Charlie Morton (3-1, 3.35 ERA) as the Nationals send Mitchell Parker (3-2, 3.32) to the mound. First pitch is at 4:10 pm ET and will be televised on MASN2.

Down in the Minors

Here is what happened in last night’s minor league games. If you want to keep up with the minor leagues, make sure you are following us on Twitter/X.

Featured Story of the Day

• Ronald Acuña Jr. Suffers Torn ACL, Will Miss Rest of 2024 Season via MLB Trade Rumors
• Cristian Day-To-Day With Forearm Discomfort via MLB Trade Rumors
• Garrett Whitlock to Miss Rest of Season via MLB Trade Rumors

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