Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.
Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, July 11.
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Welcome to the Morning Briefing!
Leading this Morning's Briefing: Nats win a Rutledge spot start
Jesse Winker returned to Milwaukee for the first time since he signed with the Nats and reminded Brewers fans of what they (mostly) didn’t get from the not healthy version of him last year, homering and hitting an RBI double. Jackson Rutledge had a strong start and would have been in line for the win, but CJ Abrams let a grounder go through his legs to load the bases, triggering Davey Martinez to pull Rutledge after 4 2/3 innings. Fortunately for the Nats, Robert Garcia came in and left the bases loaded by striking out Christian Yelich, and then he, Derek Law, Hunter Harvey, and Kyle Finnegan held the Brew Crew scoreless over the final four innings. Read Richard’s game notes here.
The Nationals have two games left before the All-Star break, and there is also the matter of the Futures Game (with Dylan Crews playing in the game and Brady House participating in the skills competition) and the amateur draft this weekend. Our friends at TalkNats reported that the Nationals are planning on taking a position player with their first pick at #10 overall. Although this is not as highly regarded a draft class as last year, the consensus is that the top tier of players is ten deep, so the Nats should have at least one left to choose from (you never quite know what the Angels or Rockies or White Sox - all of whom pick ahead of the Nats - are going to do with their selections). Focusing on position players indicates that the Nats are expecting the top two pitchers (Chase Burns and Hagen Smith) to be off the board, and that they are perhaps not interested in the third, Trey Yesavage.
Last Game out
Parker Takes the Mound Today
Southpaw Mitchell Parker will aim to keep the Nats winning as he makes his final start before the break. Although his last outing ended in a loss, Parker pitched well, and has remarkably not had a “blowup” start since he was promoted to the majors in April to take over for the injured Josiah Gray. Hopefully he can keep that train rolling. Parker has been a little homer-prone of late, and American Family Field is a place where the ball can fly, so watch out for that.
Down on the Farm
Because Jackson Rutledge was in Milwaukee, the Rochester Red Wings had a bullpen game against the Worcester WooSox (without Crews or House in the lineup because they were traveling to Texas for the Futures Game), and it did not go well, as they lost 12-5. Darren Baker stole his 30th base, and Orlando Ribalta continued to pitch himself into the Nats’ plans with another scoreless inning.
AA Harrisburg was rained out and will play a double-header in Richmond today. Rodney Theophile and Andry Lara are the likely starters for the Senators in that twin bill.
High-A Wilmington catcher Max Romero hit a walk-off single to give the Blue Rocks a 3-2 win over Brooklyn last night. T.J. White homered again as he continues to swing a hot bat, and Luke Young pitched well.
Low-A Fredericksburg was also rained out last night and will host a doubleheader today against the Carolina Mudcats, with Travis Sthele and Bryan Polanco as the listed starters.
At the rookie level, all three of the big hitters in the DSL lineup (Dashyll Tejeda, Victor Hurtado, and Ángel Feliz) collected hits as the Nats eked out a win over the White Sox.
Featured Baseball Story of the Day
The Yankees and Orioles had a benches-clearing fracas after Clay Holmes drilled Heston Kjerstad in the head, per ESPN.
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