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Nationals Turn to Ace MacKenzie Gore to Open Series Against Struggling Rockies
Following a frustrating series loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates — including a 1-0 defeat on Thursday — the Washington Nationals are heading west for a three-game set against the Colorado Rockies, hoping to reset and get back in the win column.
The Rockies (3-15) have one of the worst records in baseball, giving the Nationals a strong opportunity to rebound after dropping three of four in Pittsburgh.
Washington will have to do so while dealing with some roster challenges. Third baseman Paul DeJong is sidelined after taking a pitch to the face on Tuesday. Fortunately, he avoided major injury but will miss some time to recover.
Reliever Jorge López remains available for now as he appeals a three-game suspension and fine handed down by MLB for allegedly throwing intentionally at Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen — an incident that led to his ejection on Wednesday. López maintains there was no intent to harm. Nationals manager Dave Martinez, suspended one game for the same incident, served his punishment on Thursday and will be back in the dugout Friday.
The Nationals will turn to their ace, right-hander MacKenzie Gore (1-2, 3.52 ERA), to start the series in Denver. He’ll go head-to-head with Rockies righty Chase Dollander (1-1, 5.06 ERA) in Friday’s opener at 8:40 p.m. ET.
Gore dazzled on Opening Day but has been inconsistent since. He picked up his only win on April 7 against the Dodgers, pitching six innings and giving up two earned runs. His last outing against Miami saw him surrender four runs on eight hits over six innings. Despite the ups and downs, he’s racked up 32 strikeouts and issued just six walks in 23 innings.
Dollander, with only two starts under his belt, has allowed six earned runs and struck out 13 over 10 innings.
Saturday’s 3:10 p.m. game will feature Nationals righty Brad Lord (0-1, 4.82 ERA) making his second start of the season. He’ll face Rockies veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland (0-3, 4.88 ERA). Lord gave up four runs in 4.1 innings in his debut Monday, while Freeland has allowed 13 earned runs across his last three starts.
The series wraps up Sunday at 3:10 p.m. with Jake Irvin (1-0, 3.91 ERA) on the mound for Washington. Irvin is coming off a stellar outing against the Pirates in which he threw seven shutout innings. He’ll oppose Antonio Senzatela (0-3, 5.89 ERA), who’s been shaky, allowing 12 earned runs in his last three starts and failing to make it past the fifth inning in his past two outings.
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