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Monday’s News & Notes

Team Yesterday Today Pitching Probables
Rochester Won, 7-2 OFF DAY N/A
Harrisburg Won, 2-0; Won, 1-0 @ Binghamton, 6:35 p.m. Luckham (2-2, 3.77) vs Sproat (0-0, 2.25)
Wilmington Lost, 8-7 OFF DAY N/A
Fredericksburg Lost, 9-4 OFF DAY N/A
FCL Nationals OFF DAY @ FCL Marlins, 12 p.m.

Rochester 7 Lehigh Valley 2
• Ward 6IP, 1H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 4K, HR, HBP
• La Sorsa 1IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 0K
• Lipscomb 4-5, R, RBI, SB
• Yepez 3-4, 2R, 2B, 2RBI
• Blankenhorn 1-4, R, HR, RBI

Rochester built a 6-0 lead through five and cruised to a 7-2 win over Lehigh Valley in the series finale. Thad Ward flirted with a no-hitter for five and 2/3rds innings before giving up a two-run HR and instead settled for his second quality start and third win of ’24. Joe La Sorsa, Orlando Ribalta, and Amos Willingham each put up goose egg to close out the game. Trey Lipscomb led the Red Wings’ 13-hit parade with three singles, followed by Juan Yepez with two singles and a double.

Harrisburg 2 Akron 0
• Alvarez (W, 3-2) 7IP, 5H, 0R, 0BB, 5K
• Pinckney 1-3, R
• D. Garcia 1-3, R

Andrew Alvarez went the distance in the opener, shutting out the RubberDucks, 2-0 on five hits for a complete-game shutout, the first of each for his career. Andrew Pinckney and Dérmis Garcia both went 1-for-3 with a run scored while Dylan Crews and J.T. Arruda each drove in a run.

Harrisburg 1 Akron 0
• Lord (W, 5-1) 7IP, 3H, 0R, 3BB, 9K
• House 1-3, SB, 2K
• Hassell 1-3, K, OF assist @ HP

In the nightcap, Harrisburg got a gift run in the 1st on a throwing error and a huge assist in the 7th from Robert Hassell, who threw out the tying run to end the game and preserve a 1-0 shutout. Brad Lord also notched a complete-game shutout (first of each for his career) while becoming the first five-game winner in the Nationals minors. Dylan Crews drew a two-out walk, took third on a Brady House single, and came home when Akron’s Kody Huff threw the ball behind Brady House on a steal of second for the game’s only run.



Rome 8 Wilmington 7
• Cornelio 5IP, 5H, 4R, 3ER, 2BB, 3K, HR
• Zinn 3BF, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 0K
• M. Gomez (BS, 1; L, 1-1) 1IP, 2H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 0K, 3-2
• V. Peña 4-5, 2R, SB(5)
• Glasser 2-5, 2RBI
• Made 1-3, R, 3BB, E

Jaren Zinn walked the bases loaded in the 6th and Miguel Gomez let two of ’em along with one of his own baserunners to turn 6-4 lead into a 7-6 deficit. The Blue Rocks pulled within one in the 9th but fell, 8-7 in the series finale. Wilmington starter Riley Cornelio gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits (one HR) and two walks while striking out three. Gomez was charged with the blown-save-loss. Viandel Peña extended his hit streak to eight games with four singles and stole his fifth base while Phillip Glasser had two safeties and two RBIs to lead the Blue Rocks’ attack.

Lynchburg 9 Fredericksburg 4
• Sthele ⅔ IP, 5H, 4R, 4R, 1BB, 0K
• K. Rodriguez 3⅓ IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 1K, 2-0 IR-S
• De La Rosa 3-5, R, 2B, CS
• Farmer 2-4, BB, 2B

The FredNats lack of starting pitching did them in again Sunday Afternoon in Fredericksburg.

20 Commments

  1. That Rubber duck manager
    Was muttering Oh Lord all day
    V Pena now hitting .280
    Cornelio deserved better defense Sunday

  2. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen better pitching in a double header like I did last night. Alvarez and Lord were in complete control. Great job by Hassell on charging the ball and throwing a laser to home.

  3. Anyone have a scouting report in Justin Lord?

    I’ve been very critical of the Nats inability to draft and develop homegrown pitching, but I cannot deny the great season Lord is having

      1. he throws a low-mid nineties cutter 75% of the time that the AA hitters just can’t seem to barrel up. Akron just got their second look at him this week with results not as good as the first. he needs to be starting in AAA to see if his stuff will play at higher levels. there is nothing more he needs to work on or develop.

        2. The best part regarding Lord is he made that huge jump from High A to AA without barely a hiccup.

  4. Jaren Zinn may have the worst mechanics in the system with the results to match. works from the first base side of the rubber, steps even further in that direction and throws away from his body. yikes!

    1. The command numbers support this! 54 BB in 60 IP. Yikes indeed. And yet, somehow he’s incredibly hard to hit, allowing only 33 hits in those 60 IP! Seems the hitters are just as baffled with it as you, haha.

      He’s like the relief version of Herz, whose mechanics I expect are much cleaner.

  5. Any updates on Wood’s injury? Not good that he’s been missing for 3 straight games…

    That’s gotta be one of the worst timed injuries in a very long time.

    1. he didn’t come out of the game right away so I think it’s just an abundance of caution

  6. On reflecting on the Nats major league roster, it’s kind of crazy they’ve been able to remain a half-decent team with all the wasted roster spots.

    You have Nasim Nunez and Tanner Rainey contributing literally nothing positive to the team. Rainey has appeared 3 times in 21 games in May (meanwhile Floro gets lit up in his 3rd straight appearance in the same series… Quelle surprise.) And Nunez has exactly 7 plate appearance all season, and for all the hype about his blistering speed, he’s only 2 for 3 in stole base attempts this season. Really don’t understand what is keeping either player on the roster at this point. No one would claim Rainey; his game (high velocity overpowering his shoddy control) has been negated by his injuries and he’s 31, so there’s no more potential. And I’ve just never seen the upside with Nunez. He’s a clone of Lucius Fox, and that’s not a compliment.

    With Thomas’ imminent reinstatement, you now have 7 of 13 players with an OPS below .600, and 4 of 13 arms with ERAs over 5.00. Plenty of room for improvement.

    I wonder who will be the odd man out once Thomas is reinstated. Are they finally brave enough to DFA Robles? Or will we have to wait until August 1 to find out that he like 10 other guys on the roster have no trade value?

      1. Based on what he’s done this season, the Robles DFA shouldn’t be surprising at all. Nevertheless, it’s still a shock to system to see the possible end of the Nats’ association with a guy who was supposed to be a significant part of their future. It will be interesting to see if he clears waivers and accepts assignment. Can’t see any team being eager to add a guy with a .120 BA to their 40-man.

        1. His baseball IQ was always so low and never got better. Just glad I don’t have to watch him anymore.

        2. I could see another (bad) team taking a flier on him, much like 3 or 4 teams have recently done with Gallo.

          Rizzo isn’t the only GM who loves a former uber-prospect.

          1. Remember when Nats had a chance to get J.T. Reamuto for Robles and said no? That looks even worse now.

  7. Something to keep an eye on: after seemingly reinventing his plate approach, cutting his K% significantly and increasing his BB%, House has reverted to his worrying peripherals in recent weeks. Over his first 30 games he was striking out 22% of the time and walking 12%, but over his past 13 games, House has struck out 23 times in 48 PA (48%!) and walked only 3 times (6%).

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