Luis Garcia Jr. looks to continue his home run barrage as the Washington Nationals open a three-game home series against the Houston Astros on Monday.
The 26-year-old Nationals first baseman has been on a tear lately with nine homers in his last 12 games. He’s cranked 16 homers since May 25 and is second in the National League with 64 RBIs, but the Nationals are just one game over .500 after losing two of three to the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.
Garcia set a career high with his 19th home run, a two-run shot on Sunday in an 11-5 loss to the Pirates. Garcia credits a swing adjustment for the hot streak.
“We found something special about my swing that we have right now and just trying to put the ball up in the air,” Garcia said after Friday’s 9-5 win in which he went deep twice against Pittsburgh. “That’s probably the success that we’ve seen the last couple of months.”
Washington manager Blake Butera didn’t waste any time Sunday getting rookie reliever Eddy Yean his first taste of big-league action. The right-hander took the roster spot of outfielder Robert Hassell III, who was designated for assignment on Sunday.
Yean made his major league debut when the native of the Dominican Republic entered in the third inning and posted two innings of scoreless relief, walking one and fanning three.
“It has been really good, the strike throwing,” Butera said. “It’s a good fastball, it’s a sinker profile, good velocity, 96-97 mph. He’s had a lot of success this year in Triple-A. Also, (he’s) just a really good person. I’m sure you saw the big smile. He’s excited to be here. His teammates love him, everybody in the organization loves him.”
Yean, who provided depth in the bullpen, was optioned back to Triple-A Rochester after the game.
On Sunday, the Astros offense was held to a pair of solo home runs from Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes, but starter Peter Lambert combined with relievers Steven Okert, Bryan King and Josh Hader for a 2-0, four-hit shutout of the visiting Tampa Bay Rays.
The Astros have won six of their last seven. Lambert said he trusts the relievers to finish games.
“They’ve been nails all year,” Lambert said.
Four-time All-Star Yordan Alvarez leads the majors in RBIs (67), on-base percentage (.429), slugging percentage (.637), OPS (1.065) and total bases (207) and also tops the American League in hits (104) and home runs (29). He’s the Astros’ top hitter with a .320 batting average.
Alvarez, 29, was voted in as the designated hitter for the American League in the July 14 All-Star Game.
“You can make an argument that, in my opinion, he’s the best hitter in the major leagues,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “But I think we should also recognize who he is as an individual. I think that makes it more special for me to come here every day and watch him play.”
Mike Burrows (4-8, 5.58 ERA) is scheduled to start for Houston. He closed June by collecting his first victory of the month in a 6-4 home win against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday. He allowed four runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts over five innings.
The right-hander has one career start against the Nationals. He didn’t factor into the decision and yielded three runs on five hits, walking one and fanning six over 4 1/3 innings in September 2025 while with the Pirates.
After one bullpen appearance on June 19, Burrows returned to the rotation and posted starts of six and five innings.
Washington is set to counter with right-hander Miles Mikolas (2-7, 5.44). In his last outing, Mikolas yielded six runs on nine hits with no walks and three strikeouts in seven innings in a 6-3 road loss to the Boston Red Sox on Monday.
It was his first start since May 12. He’s pitching while appealing a five-game suspension issued after Tuesday’s bench-clearing incident against the Red Sox.
Mikolas has four career starts against the Astros and is 1-1 with a 7.65 ERA. He has walked six and fanned 16 in 20 innings.
–Field Level Media
