Pittsburgh Pirates manager Don Kelly wants rookie starting pitcher Bubba Chandler to be authentic when he takes the mound against the Texas Rangers on Thursday in Arlington, Texas.

“I want Bubba to be Bubba and sometimes that means him showing emotion,” Kelly said. “I think it’s a fine line for him to learn what that is and how he can control that as he goes through a start.”

After the Pirates rallied for an 8-4 win on Wednesday, highlighted by Oneil Cruz’s prodigious three-run home run off the top of the right field foul pole in the ninth inning, they’ll turn to Chandler in the rubber game of the three-game series.

In his most recent start, Chandler (1-1, 3.15 ERA) earned the 5-1 win against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays last Friday as he gave up one run on three hits and struck out three in six innings.

Opponents are hitting .183 off Chandler in four starts this season. It will mark Chandler’s first career appearance against the Rangers.

As the rookie right-hander works his way through his first full major-league season, Kelly said Chandler will learn how to make in-game adjustments. In Kelly’s nine-year career as a utility man, he made note of the things former teammate Justin Verlander did to get back on track during a game.

“I look at pitchers in general,” Kelly said. “I played behind Verlander. When he would lose his fastball command, it was the curveball he would go to and re-establish his release point. That helped him get his fastball back in the zone.

“I think sometimes throughout a start, if you are feeling off, there may be something you can do. Sometimes that’s with a pitch, sometimes that’s with a slide step to speed yourself up to get back in the zone and find a way to re-establish that release point. Bubba is an extreme athlete and is very competitive.”

Texas is scheduled to start right-hander Jacob deGrom (1-0, 2.29 ERA). In nine career starts against the Pirates, the two-time Cy Young Award winner is 3-3 with a 2.45 ERA and 69 strikeouts.

In his most recent start, deGrom didn’t factor into the decision but pitched four scoreless innings. He racked up 88 pitches, gave up four hits, walked two and struck out three in the Rangers’ 5-0 road win over the Seattle Mariners last Friday.

Josh Jung launched his third home run of the season on Wednesday. The third baseman has three hits, two runs and three RBIs in the series. Jung leads the Rangers in batting average (.303), doubles (eight), slugging percentage (.526) and OPS (.883).

Consistency is what Jung said has allowed him to get into a groove on offense.

“Coming in we create an approach and a plan and stick to it no matter what,” Jung said. “I think that’s what’s helping me right now. Everyday we come in and put a game plan together and execute no matter what.”

The Rangers will be without Wyatt Langford, who was placed on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with a Grade 1 flexor strain. In 20 games this season, Langford has a .238 batting average, three doubles, two triples, one home run and four RBIs.

–Field Level Media

-Field Level Media

The New York Mets spent most of the last three weeks learning they didn’t like life without Juan Soto.

Now the team hopes it won’t find out about life without Francisco Lindor.

With their 12-game losing streak finally over, the Mets likely will learn Lindor’s status on Thursday before they host the Minnesota Twins in the finale of a three-game interleague series.

Christian Scott is expected to make his season debut for the Mets against fellow right-hander Joe Ryan (2-2, 3.29 ERA).

The Mets snapped their long skid Wednesday night after Mark Vientos delivered a tie-breaking bloop RBI single in the eighth inning of a 3-2 victory.

But the win may have been costly for New York, which lost Lindor due to left calf tightness in the fourth inning.

He did not appear to be running at full speed as he circled the bases and scored on Francisco Alvarez’s double. The 32-year-old Lindor grimaced while rounding third and remained on the ground for a few seconds after sliding in ahead of Victor Caratini’s tag to give the Mets a 2-1 lead.

The Lindor injury was similar to the one sustained by Soto, who returned Wednesday after missing the last 15 games with a strained right calf. Soto suffered his injury while running from first to third on Bo Bichette’s single on April 3.

Soto went 1-for-3 with a walk Wednesday but was picked off first base following his single in the eighth inning.

Lindor is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Thursday. He has missed just 15 games during the last four full seasons.

“We lost Soto and we had a hard time,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday night. “Now we potentially (could) be dealing with losing another really good player. We’ve got to figure it out. We’ve got to find a way.”

On the positive side, Luke Weaver (2-0) recorded the final four outs Wednesday as the Mets won for the first time since April 7 and ended their longest losing streak since 2002.

“It’s a sigh of relief,” Weaver said. “There’s a lot more games to play. Today was a great step in the right direction, and it was gonna take a game like that to get us going.”

The loss was the fifth in the last six games for the Twins, whose bullpen struggled to throw strikes after left-hander Connor Prielipp gave up two runs over four innings in his big-league debut.

Kendry Rojas, who also made his big-league debut, relieved Prielipp and walked three in two scoreless innings. Eric Orze threw a perfect seventh inning before losing pitcher Taylor Rogers and Justin Topa issued two-out walks to Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez following Soto’s pickoff. Vientos followed with his go-ahead hit to score Baty.

“We gave away free passes late,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said Wednesday night. “We can’t walk guys, and the walks ended up turning into runs that scored late in the game.”

Scott was 0-2 with a 5.27 ERA in three starts at Triple-A Syracuse, where he collected 17 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings. The 26-year-old hasn’t pitched in the majors since July 21, 2024. He went on the injured list with a sprained UCL in his right elbow two days later and underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2024.

Ryan took the loss Friday in his most recent start, when he allowed two runs (one earned) over six innings as the Twins fell 2-1 to the Cincinnati Reds. He didn’t factor into the decision in his lone previous appearance against the Mets on April 14, 2025, when he gave up one run over five innings in New York’s 5-1 victory.

Scott has never opposed the Twins.

–Field Level Media

Massachusetts native Cam Schlittler takes the Fenway Park mound for the first time in his major league career as the New York Yankees aim to complete a three-game series sweep of the Boston Red Sox and extend their season-long win streak to six on Thursday night.

Schlittler (2-1, 1.95 ERA), who hails from Walpole and attended college less than a mile away from Fenway at Northeastern University, enjoyed a memorable rivalry debut last October. He ended Boston’s season by striking out 12 across eight shutout innings in the deciding third game of the American League wild-card round.

After saying that he received death threats and harassment from Red Sox fans via social media over the weekend, Schlittler sang a more excitable tune as he prepared for his dream-come-true back in Boston.

“Being here last year, we got a good feel of how intense it is,” he said before Tuesday’s 4-0, series-opening win. “I think it’s going to be loud, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Schlittler allowed just one unearned run on three hits while striking out six in his Friday no-decision against the Kansas City Royals. The 25-year-old won back-to-back scoreless starts to begin the season, and has now given up zero earned runs in three of his first five outings.

“He’s someone that walks out there with a lot of confidence,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

The Yankees have dominated the first two games of the series, with Luis Gil (6 1/3 innings) and Max Fried (eight innings) dealing back-to-back scoreless starts. Amed Rosario delivered the biggest swing of Wednesday’s 4-1 triumph, crushing a three-run homer in the first inning.

Only Jarren Duran’s two-out single in the ninth inning stood between New York and its third consecutive shutout for the first time since 1962.

“Starting pitching sets the tone for everything,” Boone said. “To get two really good ones to start this series and hand the ball off to (Schlittler) and hopefully have another one (is important). … It’s always good (winning at Fenway). We know how tough this place is to play.”

The Red Sox have been held to one run or fewer on six occasions, including five of their last eight games.

On Wednesday, three of their five hits belonged to Duran.

“Everybody here believes we have a good team. Good teams have to find a way to score runs against good pitching,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “The beauty of this game is that you’ve got to show up tomorrow and prepare and be ready. It’s not going to get any easier.”

The only way out of the rut is to stay consistent and stay together.

“I think that we’re just trying to do too much,” Duran said. “We’re trying to dig ourselves out of a hole. But at the end of the day, I mean, we’re not really in a hole. It’s still early. We still have so much time to just play baseball. And I feel like when we’re at our best is when we’re just playing.”

Following Wednesday’s game, Cora had yet to determine his next starter. Brayan Bello (1-2, 6.75) had his next outing pushed back to Friday’s opener of a six-game road trip against the Baltimore Orioles.

According to MLB.com, left-hander Payton Tolle will be recalled from Triple-A Worcester to make his first start with Boston since last postseason.

Another potential option was Eduardo Rivera, but the 22-year-old fellow southpaw arrived from Worcester — though he has not pitched above Double-A Portland — and threw 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in his MLB debut.

Additionally, Cora expected to have 21-year-old outfielder Roman Anthony available after a sore back sidelined him on Wednesday.

–Field Level Media

San Francisco will look for a reconfigured rotation to continue its magic Thursday afternoon when the Giants vie for a three-game sweep of the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers.

In the series finale, the Giants hope right-hander Logan Webb (2-2, 5.40 ERA) can duplicate the efforts of Landen Roupp and Tyler Mahle.

The two-time defending champion Dodgers are expected to counter with right-hander Tyler Glasnow (2-0, 3.24) on Thursday.

Looking to get his team off on a winning note to a six-game homestand, first-year Giants manager Tony Vitello elected to push struggling Tyler Mahle back a day and give Roupp the ball for Tuesday’s start.

Not only did Roupp come through, allowing one run on one hit in five innings of a 3-1 win, but Mahle responded with his best effort as a member of the Giants. He scattered three hits over seven scoreless innings in Wednesday’s 3-0 victory.

That set the stage for staff ace Webb, who last week got bumped up a day, moving ahead of Adrian Hauser.

Webb came through last Friday in Washington, helping the Giants win the second game of what has become five victories in their last six games.

The 29-year-old will make his 21st career start against the Dodgers, having gone 6-8 with a 4.47 ERA in the first 20.

Webb will pitch for a team that, according to Vitello, celebrated Wednesday’s win like no other this season. Struggling catcher Patrick Bailey played the hero with a three-run homer that produced the game’s only runs.

“He’s had big moments late in games here against some pretty good arms,” Vitello told reporters when asked if he considered pinch-hitting for his catcher with two runners in scoring position in a scoreless game in the seventh inning.

“That’s probably the loudest cheer I’ve heard out of that locker room. They knew it was coming for him.”

Led by Roupp and Mahle, Giants pitchers have served up just seven hits to the Dodgers in the first 18 innings of the series. Teoscar Hernandez stroked Los Angeles’ only extra-base hit of the two losses, a double in Tuesday’s defeat.

Hoping for better support will be Glasnow, who has started four straight Dodgers wins, allowing a total of nine runs in 25 innings with 29 strikeouts.

His last outing was his best of the young campaign, allowing the Colorado Rockies just one run and two hits over seven innings on Friday in a 7-1 win at Coors Field.

The 32-year-old California native has never lost in San Francisco, going 3-0 with a 2.91 ERA in four career starts. Overall, he’s seen the Giants eight times, seven times in starts, with a 5-1 record and a 3.63 ERA.

While the Giants haven’t lit up the Oracle Park scoreboard in the series, they did just enough to grab a lead over Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Tuesday, then outlasted Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday when the dual threat reached his limit of six innings on the mound. He left a 0-0 tie.

Ohtani told reporters he understands the conservative approach and assures he’s on the same page with team management.

“Just because I want to try to win the Cy Young and throw more innings,” he said, “that’s not necessarily the priority over winning a championship.”

–Field Level Media

The San Diego Padres probably almost forgot just what a loss felt like.

Their 8-3 loss at the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday was their third in the past 17 games and the first in six games against Colorado. The Padres will look to flip back into the win column in the finale of a three-game series at the Rockies on Thursday.

The Padres will send Matt Waldron (0-1, 14.73 ERA) to the mound while Colorado counters with Ryan Feltner (1-1, 6.00).

San Diego entered the night’s action on a three-game winning streak and having won 11 of their past 12 games.

This is the second time this season that Feltner will face San Diego. He took the loss in the Padres’ 9-5 home win on April 11 when he allowed six runs on seven hits over four innings. In six career starts against San Diego, he has an 0-1 record with a 5.20 ERA.

If the Rockies beat the Padres, they will win the series and finish the homestand 4-3 against two of the top teams in the majors. Colorado split a four-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers before hosting San Diego.

The Rockies, who had the worst record in the majors last season, are 10-15 on the season. They did not win their 10th game on 2025 until June 2.

The two wins over Los Angeles were a confidence boost for the young team, and Jordan Beck’s 3-for-4 night Monday was needed for the struggling outfielder. He started slowly last season, hitting .150 before being optioned to the minors for 13 days, and he was batting .122 before Monday night.

“I feel like I’ve had some balls I should have hit better, and I’ve had some stuff I probably shouldn’t have swung at, too,” Beck said. “Part of that is just baseball, and part of it is a lack of being productive.”

San Diego hasn’t been scoring a lot of runs, ranking 19th in the majors in that category with 100 runs through 25 games. But the pitching has been stingy, with an ERA of 3.43 — seventh in the majors.

The wins have piled up despite a slew of injuries to the rotation, along with several ineffective starts. Waldron had one of those tough outings when he allowed six runs on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings in an 8-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels in his season debut last Friday.

Waldron was on the injured list while recovering from hemorrhoid surgery, then tossed 12 scoreless innings in three minor league starts.

“I couldn’t have been more prepared. I couldn’t have been in a better mindset,” Waldron said after the loss. “I couldn’t have done anything except for make fewer mistakes.”

Waldron is 2-1 with a 4.67 ERA in three career starts against the Rockies.

San Diego bolstered its rotation before the Wednesday game when it signed free agent Lucas Giolito to a one-year deal. With Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta expected to remain out a few more weeks or longer, the Padres needed more arms.

“We’ve got a young starting pitcher that we’ve brought into the fold, hopefully in his prime,” manager Craig Stammen said of Giolioto, 31. “We’ll get him built up and get him back out here, and hopefully he can help us win.”

-Field Level Media

Searching for a four-game sweep of the reeling Philadelphia Phillies, the host Chicago Cubs will have an opportunity to extend their winning streak to nine games on Thursday afternoon.

Should that be the case, the Cubs will have their longest such run since they won 11 in a row from July 31-Aug. 12, 2016.

Manager Craig Counsell’s club hasn’t allowed more than four runs in any of the eight wins, and the offense has recorded back-to-back seven-run outputs. Pete Crow-Armstrong had three hits in Wednesday’s 7-2 victory to increase his batting average 22 points to .247, while Michael Busch connected on his first home run after going deep 34 times a season ago.

“I think that’s what makes you a good offense,” Counsell said. “You’re never going to have all nine guys rolling at the same time. If you have enough good hitters in there, you expect a group of them to be seeing it well and swinging it well at one time. Some of the guys that are off to a little bit of a slower start had big nights (on Wednesday). That’s how I think a good offense should work.”

Hoping to finish the homestand at 7-0, right-hander Edward Cabrera (2-0, 2.38 ERA) will look to continue to make a good impression in his fifth start with Chicago. After a January trade from the Miami Marlins, Cabrera has allowed just six earned runs in 22 2/3 innings for his new club.

Cabrera went six innings last time out, surrendering three runs on eight hits in a 12-4 victory over the New York Mets. Cabrera has leaned on his changeup as a go-to pitch, throwing it 36.6% of the time through four starts.

“The changeup has to start in the zone for him,” Counsell said of Cabrera. “It doesn’t have to finish in the zone, but it’s got to start in the zone. That’s when he’s really good. It’s not always a strike, but getting that changeup over the plate is important, because he’s going to get swings out of the zone on it.”

Cabrera is 2-2 with a 3.57 ERA in eight career starts against the Phillies.

Philadelphia, which has been outscored 19-7 in the series, saw its losing skid extend to eight games on Wednesday, It’s the Phillies’ longest such streak since 2018.

Despite sharing a spot with the New York Mets (8-16) for the worst record in the National League, the Phillies are far from ready to throw in the towel.

“Baseball is a long season and we’ve got a long way to go,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I think there’s a lot of frustration here, but at the same time, these guys know we have a talented group. We just have to stay after it and keep fighting. This is a talented group.”

Left-hander Cristopher Sanchez (2-2, 1.59) will make the start for Philadelphia, bringing the NL’s third best ERA and second most strikeouts (39) into action.

Despite a dazzling start to his sixth big-league campaign, Sanchez suffered his second loss in his past three appearances against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday. Sanchez allowed three unearned runs in six innings in a 3-1 setback, a duel with Sale.

Sanchez has faced the Cubs three times, compiling a 1-1 record and a 7.36 ERA in the matchup. He threw six innings of six-hit, two-run ball in a 13-7 win over the Chicago Cubs on April 13.

–Field Level Media

Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Michael Soroka is putting up numbers reminiscent of his 2019 All-Star season.

The only thing that has changed is everything else.

Using a new “drop and drive” style that generates power from his lower half, plus featuring a slurve he developed in 2025 and has refined this year, Soroka has remade himself into one of the best pitchers — and best comeback stories — in the majors this season.

Soroka (4-0, 2.78 ERA) is scheduled to oppose White Sox right-hander Davis Martin (3-1, 2.16) in the rubber game of a three-game series in Phoenix on Thursday afternoon.

Soroka is not the only headliner in the finale.

Munetaka Murakami will bring a five-game homer streak into the game after hitting a two-run shot in the White Sox’s 11-7 loss Wednesday. He is tied with Shohei Ohtani for the most consecutive games with a homer by a Japanese-born player. Ohtani had a five-game streak last July for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Murakami has 10 homers this season, one fewer than major league leader Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros and one more than the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Washington’s James Wood.

“I’m not the caliber of player who should be compared to Aaron Judge,” Murakami said through an interpreter. “I have to stay humble and keep doing what I am doing right now.”

Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas had his second career two-homer game Wednesday and has hit safely in all of his 17 games this season, a franchise record. He has a 20-game hitting streak dating to last year, the longest active streak in the majors.

Soroka is tied with Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves and Landen Roupp of the San Francisco Giants for the National League lead in victories by a starting pitcher, but the bottom line is health.

After posting a 13-4 record and 2.68 ERA for Atlanta in 2019, Soroka pitched in just three games in the 2020-22 seasons because of two torn Achilles. He played for four different organizations after that before signing a one-year, $7.5 million contract with the Diamondbacks in the offseason. One of those teams was the 2024 White Sox; he was 0-10 with a 4.74 ERA.

“I think I’m better than I have ever been,” Soroka, 28, said recently. “Everybody goes through some sort of injury at some point in their career or struggles with performance.

“For myself it has always been there. I’ve always been able to give my teams a reason to believe in me. I’m very thankful to be in an organization that does that as much as anyone. It’s so easy to go there and want to prove them right. I’ve always seen it in myself, and it means a lot when an organization sees that
in me, too.”

Soroka has given up more than two runs in only one start this season and has struck out 28 with a pair of 10-strikeout games in 22 2/3 innings, a rate of 11.1 per nine innings.

He has faced the White Sox once, pitching three innings in relief against them while with Atlanta in 2023. He allowed two runs but didn’t figure into the decision of an 8-1 loss.

Martin has been as sharp as Soroka in his four starts. He has given three or fewer runs in each, and in April, he has allowed three runs in 20 innings while going 2-1 against the Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals and Athletics.

He gave up three hits and one run in a 9-2 road victory against the A’s last Friday in his most recent start.

“He goes out there with a plan,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “He has a different mix and just really attacks hitters and isn’t scared. He’s a guy who continues to improve. He has a game plan, and he’s able to execute it.”

Martin has faced the Diamondbacks once in his career, giving up five runs and four hits over three innings in a loss to them in 2022.

–Field Level Media

The weather is getting warmer, and so is two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.

Including the postseason, Skubal racked up double-digit strikeouts in 12 starts last season.

The Detroit Tigers left-hander notched a season-high 10 strikeouts in Boston on Saturday during his last start, and he should have pristine weather conditions to employ his formidable arsenal against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday afternoon.

Temperatures are expected to reach the mid-70s during the series finale in Detroit. Skubal hasn’t required big strikeout totals to be effective. He’s given up just one run in four of his five starts this season.

Skubal (3-2, 2.08 ERA) limited the Red Sox to one run and four hits in six innings despite pitching in 45-degree weather. He cruised through the first four innings but got into jams in the fifth and sixth, which increased his pitch count and prevented him from going deeper into the game, which Detroit won 4-1.

“He rarely misses like he did (Saturday) where he fell behind multiple batters in a row,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I just thought he was in battle-mode. It looked like he was in control. He was missing bats and using his whole arsenal, and he won some big at-bats. That was the key for him. He stayed mentally into the game and didn’t get too frustrated with a few big misses.”

A nasty change-up helped him increase his strikeout total.

“The change-up performed better (Saturday),” Skubal said. “But I still think there is room for improvement. I need to be able to throw it in the zone and out of the zone when I need to. I need to execute pitches out of the zone early in counts to where those aren’t six- and seven-pitch at-bats and end them in three to four pitches.”

Skubal, who has won his past two starts this season, has been dominant in two career outings against the Brewers, holding them to one run in 13 2/3 innings, with 19 strikeouts.

Right-hander Brandon Sproat (0-1, 6.88 ERA) will be his mound opponent on Thursday. He’s coming off his best outing of the season, as he held Toronto to one run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings a week ago in Milwaukee’s 2-1 victory.

“I think the biggest thing was keep the rhythm up,” Sproat said. “Just get the ball and go. Don’t think about anything else. Just attack, attack, attack, and I think we did a really good job of that (Thursday).”

Sproat, 25, still is looking for his first major league victory. He’s made eight appearances over the last two seasons, including six starts. Sproat, who has never faced the Tigers, got a mental boost in his last outing.

“Just that I’m capable,” he said. “Capable of going out there and making good pitches, getting a ground ball when needed. Giving it my all. That was the big word (Thursday). (Manager Pat Murphy) told me, ‘You’re more than capable,’ and hearing that from him is definitely a boost in confidence.”

The teams have split the first two games of the series. Detroit bounced back from a 12-4 drubbing on Tuesday with a 5-2 win on Wednesday. First baseman Spencer Torkelson, who hit 31 homers last season, broke through with his first long ball this season.

–Field Level Media

Right-hander JR Ritchie, Atlanta’s No. 2 prospect, will make his major league debut when the Braves conclude their four-game series against the host Washington Nationals on Thursday afternoon.

Ritchie, 22, was selected with the 35th overall pick of the 2022 MLB Draft. He is 3-1 with an 0.99 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 28 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings for Triple-A Gwinnett.

Thursday’s originally scheduled starter for the Braves, Martin Perez, was called upon for three relief innings after Wednesday starter Didier Fuentes only made it through three innings of Atlanta’s 8-6 victory.

Perez gave up two runs and three hits as the Braves won for the seventh time in eight games entering Thursday’s matchup.

“I’m excited to see JR against this tough lineup,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “It’s going to be a challenge for him. [The lineup] is going to be very left-handed, I’m sure. But he’s got weapons for that. He’s a good one.”

Ritchie will oppose Washington right-hander Cade Cavalli (0-1, 4.12 ERA).

Cavalli, 27, was selected by Washington with the 22nd overall pick in 2020. He allowed three runs (one earned) in four innings of a no-decision against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. He struck out five and did not walk a batter. The Nationals lost 7-6 in 12 innings.

Cavalli has not faced the Braves in his career.

Michael Harris II hit two home runs, and Matt Olson smacked a three-run shot to help Atlanta overcome an early three-run deficit on Wednesday.

Drake Baldwin homered for the second straight game for the Braves, who have earned at least a split of the four-game series.

“The offense continues to swing the bat,” Weiss said. “Michael Harris is locked in, and we’ve seen it before. We’ve got some guys coming around. … We did a nice job scoring runs and overcoming a rough first inning.”

Olson has 14 home runs in 32 career games at Nationals Park.

Baldwin, who is batting .320 this season with 23 RBIs, joins Eddie Mathews (1959), Hank Aaron (1970), Rico Carty (1970) and Chipper Jones (1998) as the only Braves to collect 30-plus hits, 25-plus runs and 20-plus RBIs in the first 25 games of the season.

James Wood homered for the second straight game to boost his National League-leading total to nine for the season for Washington. Daylen Lile went deep for the third time in five games with a three-run homer, and Joey Wiemer had a pinch-hit solo shot.

“We don’t need to change one thing at all,” Lile said. “We’re doing everything we can as hitters, and we’re backing our pitchers up. As long as we’re staying positive and just committing to our plan and staying true to ourselves, the wins are going to start rolling.”

Washington is scoring runs at an impressive clip, but Nationals pitchers are not holding up their end. They have given up seven or more runs in five of the past seven games.

“Our pitchers are just as frustrated as anybody,” manager Blake Butera said. “They know what our offense is doing. … They want to go out there and limit it and let our offense do its thing and win some of these games that we should be winning.”

–Field Level Media