The Washington Nationals can secure their fourth straight series win when they host the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.
The Nationals beat the Royals 7-3 on Monday night in the opener of a three-game set. Washington has won three consecutive games and seven of its past 10. At 38-35, the Nationals are now three games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2019 season, when they won the World Series.
Kansas City, which has lost five of six, will send veteran right-hander Michael Wacha (4-5, 3.58 ERA) to the hill to face left-hander Foster Griffin (7-2, 3.46) in the middle game of the series.
Wacha has struggled lately, going 0-3 with a 7.13 ERA over his past three starts. In his latest outing, he gave up four runs on nine hits in seven innings, resulting in a 4-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Thursday. He allowed a run in each of the first three innings before settling down.
“Just some waste pitches, I would say, just non-competitive pitches there in those first couple of innings,” Wacha said. “Just tried to make a quality pitch in the zone to the corners, trust my stuff in the zone and was able to get some quick outs.”
The Royals have lost each of Wacha’s last six starts.
Wacha, 34, is 5-2 with a 3.04 ERA in nine games (eight starts) vs. the Nationals.
Washington has a 10-4 record this year in games Griffin started, and he has allowed one earned run or none in three of his past four outings. He hasn’t lost since May 14. In his most recent start, he gave up a run on six hits over six innings against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. He was in position for the win before Washington blew a 9-1, eighth-inning lead and ultimately lost 11-10.
“Once we get on the plane, it’s over with, it’s done with,” Griffin said.
Griffin has never faced the Royals, the team that drafted him as the 28th overall pick in the 2014 draft. He appeared in six games for Kansas City over two seasons before he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022.
The Nationals have won three of four since the meltdown in San Francisco.
“I think that just shows a lot about this team we’ve got here,” Washington outfielder Dylan Crews said. “We don’t carry anything on our backs from the past and we just move on to the next day and it’s awesome to see.”
The Monday win was largely thanks to a five-run fifth inning. Luis Garcia Jr. delivered a two-run single before Crews hit a three-run homer. Crews has a five-game hitting streak and has driven in at least one run in each of those games.
Washington’s James Wood doubled in the third inning, and he has hit safely in seven straight games. During that span, he is batting .429 (12-for-28) with two doubles, three homers, 11 runs, six RBIs and three stolen bases.
Kansas City’s Jac Caglianone singled in the first inning and doubled in the fifth for his seventh multi-hit game this month. He is hitting .422 (19-for-45) in June.
Maikel Garcia gave the Royals a 3-2 lead with a two-run fifth-inning single. The hit came on a 1-2 fastball.
“I think what he did today is an example of what he’s been doing,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “When he’s down in the count, he’s not trying to do too much.”
Kansas City catcher Carter Jensen singled to extend his career-best hitting streak to eight games.
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