⚾️⚾️ The Morning Briefing: Nats bats crush the White Sox

Good Morning Washington Nationals Fan,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, September 21, 2023. My name is Haden Raymer, let’s dive into the news.

Upgrade your subscription to get our new weekly round-up of the biggest Washington Nationals stories over the past week, minor league game notes, and more MLB headlines.

Subscribe now

Leading today’s Morning Briefing: Nationals cruise to 13-3 victory

The Nationals lineup showed out in yesterday’s afternoon game against the White Sox, slugging to a 13-3 victory. Josiah Gray tossed five innings where he allowed one run, striking out four. He lowered his season ERA back down to 4.00.

The story, of course, was the Nationals bats. CJ Abrams went 2-3 with two doubles and two walks. Lane Thomas went 2-2 with a grand slam and two walks. Luis García went 3-4 with two doubles and a walk. Joey Meneses went 3-6 with a home run, making the team 10-1 when he hits a home run. Dominic Smith homered, raising his season total to 11. Keibert Ruiz only got one hit, but at least it was a double.

The Nationals scored early, putting up eight of their runs within the first three innings.

This was a key victory for a Nats team chasing that 70th win of the year. Is it all that different if the team wins 68 games instead of 70? Not really, but the vibes do feel a bit different between the two. Either way, this season has been a success for the team, and if they can squeak out two wins in their next nine which includes seven against the Atlanta Braves and two against the Baltimore Orioles, then even better.

Lane Thomas and his grand slam win the Nats Report Player of the Game. The Nationals will now host the Braves for a four-game series that begins at 7:05 p.m. tonight. Jake Irvin will get the start for the Nationals, with LHP Max Fried (7-1, 2.64 ERA) starting for the Braves

Join the conversation

Over on our site, we have a discussion thread asking who you think was the Washington National’s top prospect this year. Let us know in the thread here.

Down on the Farm: What happened last night with the Nationals Minor League teams

The Rochester Red Wings lost game two of the series against the Indianapolis Indians 14-11. The Red Wings allowed five fewer runs and scored ten more runs than yesterday, so at least there is a positive to draw upon. Seven of those Red Wings runs were scored in the top of the ninth. Jack Dunn and Jeter Downs each had three hits. Jordy Barley added two of his own, as did Richie Martin, who hit a three-run home run in the ninth. Thankfully for the Red Wings pitchers, four of the runs allowed were unearned thanks to back-to-back errors from Barley and Frankie Tostado.

The Harrisburg Senators season is now over.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks season is over.

The FredNats season is over.