Good morning, Washington Nationals fans.

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, July 4. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday.

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Welcome to the Morning Briefing! Haden here. The Nationals won a game! Let’s talk about it.

Leading this Morning's Briefing:

Luis García Jr. hit two home runs last night. The team desperately needed his four RBIs in last night’s 7-5 victory, and García desperately needed them too.

After two great months that showcased why so many were high on him entering the season, García struggled in June. He hit .237/.253/.340 in the month as he returned to his high contact and aggressive approach.

But two home runs to start the month of June certainly helps García’s season. He is well on his way onto a career year, and if he can maintain this momentum into 2025, the Nationals have a bulk of their 2025 roster already in the majors.

Today the Nationals play in an extremely early 4th of July game. First pitch is at 11:05 a.m. ET and the game will be televised on MASN. Jake Irvin takes the mound against veteran LHP Jose Quintana (3-5, 4.57 ERA).

Nats swap Adams for Millas

Despite Keibert Ruiz missing multiple weeks with the flu, he has appeared in 62 of the Nats’ 86 games.

That leaves little room for a backup catcher to have much success, nor does it really matter who it is in the grand scheme of things.

Either way, the insistence on running Ruiz out there as much as they do is confusing. Ruiz has shown that he plays better the more off days he gets (see second half of last year) and Drew Millas is the perfect player to catch three games a week.

Down in the Minors

The Red Wings beat the Buffalo Bison 3-1. Carter Kieboom and Trey Lipscomb homered.

The Senators dropped their game to the Altoona Curve. Only Andrew Pinckney and catcher Onix Vega got a hit.

The Blue Rocks lost 8-4 to the Jersey Shore Blue Claws. Only two of those runs allowed were earned as Wilmington had four errors on the night.

The FredNats won 4-3 over the Delmarva ShoreBirds. Jarlin Susana struck out eight over five innings. Cristhian Vaquero homered for the third time this season.

Featured Story of the Day

All-Star Starters are Announced via MLB.com

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