Off to a strong start on the road, the Washington Nationals will attempt to complete a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday.
The Nationals, an impressive 15-9 away from Washington, can improve to .500 overall with a victory after rallying from a 5-0 first-inning deficit for an 8-7, 10-inning win on Wednesday.
The finale offers a strong pitching matchup. Washington sends out its top starter to date, left-hander Foster Griffin (4-1, 2.12 ERA), to face Cincinnati’s best, right-hander Chase Burns (4-1, 2.11).
Griffin, signed as a free agent in the offseason, has allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of his eight starts, and one or zero earned runs in each of his past three outings. On Friday, he gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits over seven innings of a road win over the Miami Marlins. He struck out a career-high nine while walking one and giving up a solo home run.
“Foster settled in after the first (inning), and getting us seven was huge,” manager Blake Butera said. “It’s just the consistency of him continuing to do it every time out. He’s definitely earned our trust as a staff and all his teammates’ trust.”
Griffin has never faced the Reds.
Burns has been stellar, allowing two runs or fewer in seven of eight starts. After tossing seven-plus scoreless innings in a no-decision against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 3, he allowed one run in six innings to beat the Astros 3-1 on Saturday. He scattered four hits and three walks while striking out a season-low-tying two vs. Houston.
“Maybe didn’t have the swing-and-miss stuff that I wanted, but really just dialed in and hitting spots,” Burns said. “I think that was the biggest thing today. The game plan was not to get beat by one guy and let them put the ball in play and get themselves out.”
Burns yielded six runs (five earned) in 5 2/3 innings last July 22 while losing his only start against Washington.
The Nationals got another key contribution on Wednesday from Daylen Lile, who hit a two-run homer in the top of the 10th before Washington held on in the bottom half. Lile, a Louisville native, hit two homers in his first game at Great American Ball Park on Monday.
On Wednesday, Keibert Ruiz also homered in a four-run second inning and CJ Abrams had two doubles and two runs for the Nationals.
After starter Jake Irvin gave up six runs (five earned) over three innings, the Washington bullpen allowed just one run, which was unearned, over seven innings.
“I mean, going down 5-0 early is never easy,” Butera said. “It’d be a lot easier to say, ‘We’ll get ’em tomorrow,’ but these guys answering the next inning the way they did and finding a way to come back and tie it up … and the bullpen doing what they did tonight, unbelievable.”
Tyler Stephenson hit a grand slam and Elly De La Cruz produced his fifth straight multi-hit game for the Reds, who have lost 10 of their past 12 games.
Reliever Tony Santillan (1-2) gave up Lile’s home run. He has allowed nine runs (eight earned) in his past five appearances as his ERA has climbed from 1.98 to 5.82.
“You go through periods where you make mistakes and you pay,” Cincinnati manager Terry Francona said. “Just too much plate, and we’ve got to get him going because he’s so important to what we do. Can’t run from it. We’ve got to get him going.”
–Field Level Media
