The Washington Nationals, who have equaled their longest winning streak of the season, will shoot for a fifth straight victory during the second game of a three-game series at Detroit on Wednesday.
The Nationals pulled out a 5-4, 10-inning win over the Tigers on Tuesday with Lane Thomas driving home the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly. Washington won the last three games of a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves over the weekend. The Nationals won four straight in late April, all at Miami.
Detroit right-hander Reese Olson (1-7, 3.43 ERA) will look to halt Washington’s success while attempting to bounce back from his worst outing of the season. Olson, who has pitched far better than his record suggests, surrendered eight runs and 12 hits in four innings against Milwaukee on Friday.
The Brewers’ first five runs came in the second inning.
“I think I made some good pitches that were able to find holes,” Olson said. “As a whole, I’m not really happy with my performance. Combined maybe a little bit of bad luck with some poorly executed pitches, all in one inning. It kind of unraveled on me. …
“I’ve been pretty good up until this point. I’ll look back at maybe what I can improve on, but for the most part, flush this one and move on.”
In his previous outing, he gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings at Boston on June 1. Olson entered the month with a 1.92 ERA.
He will be facing Washington for the first time.
The Nationals will counter with right-hander Jake Irvin (4-5, 3.12 ERA), who has delivered four consecutive quality starts. During that span, he has given up four runs in 24 1/3 innings (1.48 ERA). Irvin has notched 26 strikeouts and just five walks in those outings.
In his latest start, he held the Braves scoreless for six innings on Friday.
“A lineup like that is a daunting task, and those guys are really good over there,” Irvin said. “For me, it’s all about competing, just making really good pitches and keeping a high level of pitches throughout all those innings.
“For me, it was changing speeds. Me and (catcher Drew Millas) were working hard between innings, kind of what the plan was going to be, how we were going to attack these guys, and I thought it all went pretty well.”
Irvin pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning.
“He’s learned so much in a short period of time (about) how to stay in control in situations like that,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. “High-leverage situations don’t seem to rattle him that much, don’t seem to bother him. He knows what he needs to do, and he worked really good. And that says a lot about Millas, too. Millas called a good game.”
Irvin lost his only previous outing against Detroit, allowing six runs (four earned) in 2 2/3 innings on May 19, 2023.
The Tigers failed to hold a 4-3 lead on Tuesday, surrendering an unearned run in the eighth inning that tied the game. Detroit committed two errors in the frame, including one by shortstop Ryan Kreidler. He was promoted from Triple-A Toledo on Tuesday when Javier Baez was placed on the 10-day injured list due to lumbar spine inflammation.
“Javy has had bouts with the back dating back awhile,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s managed it. But I had a meeting with him over the weekend and he let me know it was harder and harder for him to feel like he could get through the game.”
–Field Level Media