A pair of teams trending in opposite directions will meet in the nation’s capital on Friday as the Washington Nationals face the Los Angeles Angels to start an interleague series.
The Angels enter play a confident group, winners in four of five, including a series victory in the Bronx this week against the New York Yankees.
After dropping the opener, Los Angeles combined for 17 runs in the final two games, including a 9-4 win on Thursday. Right fielder Jo Adell, who has hits in seven consecutive games, drove in three runs as part of a six-run Los Angeles fifth inning.
“I was just trying to use the big part of the field,” Adell said of his bases-clearing double. “I went up, got a pitch to handle and drove it the other way.”
Adell, whose 16 home runs are tied with Zach Neto, Logan O’Hoppe and Taylor Ward atop the team leaderboard, is batting .320 in August. He was hitting .192 at the start of the month.
“I’ve definitely had to simplify at the plate,” Adell said. “Kind of cutting down on the swing and leg kick, which has been a big adjustment for me. It’s helped me be more direct, put more balls in play. That’s what I can bring to the team. It doesn’t always have to be the long ball — and tonight showed that.”
In a complete performance, the Angels enjoyed a gem from All-Star Tyler Anderson, who threw six innings of one-run ball.
Hoping to mirror that performance, 25-year-old right-hander Jose Soriano (6-7, 3.47 ERA) takes the mound on Friday. Coming off throwing six shutout innings against the New York Mets on Saturday, Soriano faces another National League East team in Washington, a franchise he has yet to face in his career.
For the Nationals, Friday will mark a rare home meeting with the Angels, who haven’t played in Washington since August 2017.
Washington is hoping to see more success at Nationals Park, a place that has seen the team go 26-31 this year, including 3-7 in the last 10 home games.
The club enters play following a series in which it lost three of four to the visiting San Francisco Giants, including a 9-5, 10-inning defeat on Thursday.
In a game that had it all, the Nationals sat through multiple rain delays that combined for 122 minutes, before second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. tied the game at 5-5 with a ninth-inning, three-run homer while down to his final strike. It was the first game-tying or game-winning home run down to the last strike and trailing by three or more runs in Washington history.
Ultimately, the Nationals committed four errors, including three in the final two innings, eliminating any chance of another rally.
“It was good until it wasn’t,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. “We played in sloppy conditions, and we got sloppy the last two innings.”
The Nationals, looking for a bounce-back effort, will give 24-year-old lefty Mitchell Parker (6-6, 4.06 ERA) the ball on Friday, making his first career appearance against Los Angeles. The rookie is coming off a winning start against the Milwaukee Brewers in which he went six scoreless innings on Sunday.
–Field Level Media
