Two lower tier team in the National League East will kick off a three-game weekend series in Miami on Friday night as the Washington Nationals battle the Miami Marlins. The Nationals are earmarked for the worst record in baseball while the Marlins are well below .500 as well for the season. The pitching matchup on Friday night will feature Josiah Gray (7-9, 5.14) of the Nationals against an as yet to be named starter for the Marlins. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40pm EST.
The Nationals cut bait on this season back in August when they parted ways with superstar Juan Soto among other players. The Nationals hope the haul of prospects they received at the trade deadline will eventually turn into another team ready to make a run at a World Series title. Til that time, the Nationals are likely to be among the worst teams in baseball. The Nationals have lost seven out of ten games heading into this series but were able to finally upend the Braves, 3-2, in the final game of their series in Atlanta on Wednesday.
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The Nationals have the worst record in baseball and own the league's worst pitching ERA as well. They have allowed a league-worst 1.5 home runs per game. On Friday night, they will turn to hard-throwing righty Josiah Gray to try and slow down the Marlins. Gray is 0-1 in his last five starts with an elevated ERA of 6.66. In those five games, Gray has allowed a whopping eight home runs. Against the Marlins this season, Gray is 0-1 with a 5.64 ERA with a 10.6 K/9 rate in five games.