Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, July 9.

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Welcome to the Morning Briefing! Richard, Hayden isn’t feeling well, so I am writing today’s briefing. The Nationals lost the series finale yesterday and now travel to New York to face the New York Mets.

Leading this Morning's Briefing: Now you’re in New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, the lights will inspire you, lets hear it for New York, New York, New York.

Well, the Washington Nationals closed out the final homestand of the first half of the season with a 3-5 record with their loss yesterday against the St. Louis Cardinals. [Read the game recap here].

Today, the Nationals will kick off their final road trip of the first half with a series against the New York Mets. The Nationals will send RHP Jake Irvin to the mound and face LHP Jose Quintana from the Mets.

This pitching matchup will repeat the July 4th matchup in Washington, D.C., where the Nationals won 1-0 thanks to a Jesse Winker home run in the bottom of the eighth.

The Nationals will send RHP Jake Irvin (7-6, 2.80 ERA) to the mound to face the New York Mets.

Jake Irvin is coming off a career-high 8.0 shutout innings, in which he allowed just one hit on July 4 vs. the Mets at Nationals Park. Irvin is 4-1 with a 1.70 ERA (7 ER / 37.0 IP) in his last five games.

LHP Jose Quintana (3-5, 4.22) will take the mound for the New York Mets. Jose Quintana last took the mound on July 4th in Washington, D.C. Quintana threw 7.0 shutout innings, allowed only four hits, three walks, and struck out one, but didn’t receive a decision in the game. Over the last four stats, Quintana has pitched to a 1.16 ERA (3 ER/23.1 IP) with nine walks and 22 strikeouts, and he is 2-0 in that span, and the Mets are 3-1. Quintana made five starts in June and went 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA (9 ER/24.0 IP) with 11 walks and 26 strikeouts. The Mets went 4-1 in those starts.

Down on the Farm

This week, we will spotlight what's happening with the Fredericksburg Nationals all week! Stay tuned for our in-depth coverage of what is happening in Fredericksburg this week.

Meanwhile….

Rochester Red Wings will kick off a series against the Worcester Red Sox tonight and will send LHP Andrew Alvarez to the mound with a record of 1-2 and an ERA of 6.52. Worcester Red Sox will send RHP Jason Alexander, with a record of 4-4 with an ERA of 4.01, to the mound to face the Red Wings in the first game of the series. We will see Brady House make his Rochester Red Wing debut tonight.

The Harrisburg Senators will visit Richmond this week to face the Richmond Flying Squirrels. The Senators will send RHP Michael Cuevas (2-8; 5.70 ERA) and will face RHP Dylan Cumming (3-3; 2.55 ERA).

The Wilimington Blue Rocks will kick off a homestand against the Brooklyn Cyclones tonight, with the first pitch at 6:35 p.m. Making his Blue Rock debut will be RHP Jarlin Susana.

The Fredericksburg Nationals will kick off a homestand against the Carolina Mud Cats tonight, with the first pitch at 7:05 p.m. The Fredericksburg Nationals will send RHP Travis Sykora (1-3; 3.12 ERA) to the mound tonight.

Featured Story of the Day

• A 17-year-old caught James Wood’s first HR ball; His story about what happened next! Via Talk Nats

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