The Washington Nationals and New York Mets kick off a four-game series in Queens on Thursday night. The Nationals come in following a six-game homestand while the Mets return home after completing an emotional two-game Subway Series with the Yankees in the Bronx. The pitching matchup on Thursday night will feature Nationals' righty Josiah Gray (7-8, 3.45) taking on Mets' righty Kodai Senga (7-5, 3.27). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM EST.
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The Washington Nationals have gone to a youth movement in the last two seasons and are now starting to see the rewards of making that commitment. The Nats have been even more competitive as the year has gone along, including a sweep of playoff-hopeful San Francisco this week in which they outscored the Giants 21-5. Washington followed up that series with a matchup against Colorado. The Rockies opened the series with a 10-6 win to end the Nats' winning streak. In games two and three, the Nats were able to pull out one-run wins. They won game two 6-5 and came back with a dramatic ninth inning on Wednesday afternoon and pulled out a 5-4 walk-off win on CJ Abrams' RBI single to cap off a four-run final frame.
sour. sweet. GOOONE.
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— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 25, 2023
The Nationals will hand the ball to all-star right-hander Josiah Gray in game one against the Mets. Gray is 7-8 in 20 starts this season including seven quality starts. He has allowed 111 hits in 112 innings pitched with an ERA of 3.45. He has a K/9 rate of 7.9 and a WHIP of 1.44. On the road, Gray is 4-4 in 12 starts with five quality starts. Gray has allowed 67 hits in 69 innings of work with an ERA that drops to 2.74. His K/9 rate jumps up to 8.2 and his WHIP lowers to 1.35. He is 1-2 in his last three starts with an ERA of 4.24.
Key Injuries: CL Hunter Harvey and CF Victor Robles are out.