Washington Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin managed to figure his way around the mound in Los Angeles once and will be out for a repeat result when he faces the Dodgers on Saturday night in the middle game of a three-game series.
On April 17, 2024, Irvin went six scoreless innings with six strikeouts in the Dodgers’ home ballpark while starting the Nationals toward a 2-0 victory. It was his first of a career-high 10 wins last season.
Irvin (5-3, 4.23 ERA) is back this weekend, set to make his 16th start of 2025, and will look to regain the form he showed when delivering eight scoreless innings in a win against the San Francisco Giants on May 24. Since that outing, he is 1-2 with a 6.86 ERA in four starts.
Irvin is 1-2 with a 4.88 ERA in five lifetime starts against the Dodgers.
A strong outing by Irvin also could boost a sagging Nationals team that has lost 12 of its past 13 games, including 6-5 loss the Dodgers in the series opener on Friday. The Nationals received home runs from Amed Rosario, Riley Adams and CJ Abrams but fell just short.
A day after hitting two home runs, including the game-ending shot in the 11th inning against the Colorado Rockies, Washington’s James Wood went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts on Friday. He hit three home runs in the three-game series between the teams in April when Washington won two of three.
“Every time he gets up there, I really feel like he’s got a chance to hit a ball 100 miles an hour or plus,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “What I love, though, is that he’s taking his walks, which is great. If he continues to do that, then sky’s the limit for him. He’s gotta accept his walks, and when he does and gets the ball in the zone, he hits it hard.”
The Dodgers, who have won six of their past seven games, will send right-hander Dustin May (4-4, 4.46 ERA) to the mound Saturday. May won for the first time in three starts when he allowed three runs on six hits and four walks over six hits in six innings of a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.
May’s only career appearance against the Nationals was a start in April at Washington when he gave up three runs (one earned) in six innings and still was charged with a loss in the 6-4 defeat.
May will count on help from his powerful offense on Saturday. Andy Pages had a two-homer game Tuesday against the San Diego Padres and now has 15 home runs, surpassing his 13 from his rookie season in 2024.
Pages had two hits and an RBI Friday, while Enrique Hernandez had two hits with two runs and Miguel Rojas hit a two-run home run. Hernandez got a rare start at first base in place of Freddie Freeman, while Rojas spelled Max Muncy at third for the night.
Freeman and Muncy are slated to return to the starting lineup Saturday.
“I know it’s a long season, and you’re going to receive more opportunities to contribute,” Rojas said. “It’s nice to finally get one game like this where you feel part of it, and not just defensively or anything like that, but doing what you’re supposed to do against left-handed pitching.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is set to return Saturday after serving a one-game suspension for his actions during a benches-clearing incident against the Padres on Thursday. San Diego manager Mike Shildt also was suspended for one game.
–Field Level Media
