The Dodgers and Nationals face off for the second week in a row, this time at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. beginning Tuesday night.
The Dodgers lost two of three games to the Nationals last week at Dodger Stadium, and will now try to return the favor beginning Tuesday night with a three-game series at Nationals Park in Washington D.C.
Shortstop CJ Abrams and left fielder/designated hitter Jesse Winker were in the middle of everything last week in Los Angeles, with Abrams homering twice plus a double and Winker collecting five hits in the series including a home run, two doubles, and a pair two-hit games.
James Paxton starts the opener in Washington D.C. on what will be eight days rest, after walking a career-high eight batters on April 14 against the Padres. The Dodgers bumped Paxton on Sunday against the Mets in favor of Tyler Glasnow, because Glasnow is the ace for one thing, and that with Monday’s off day Glasnow would have been pitching next on seven days rest had he not pitched Sunday.
“Any time we can give James extra rest, I think that’s beneficial,” manager Dave Roberts said of his 35-year-old left-hander.
Landon Knack, who allowed two runs in five innings in his major league debut last Wednesday at Dodger Stadium but took the loss, makes his second MLB start against the same time, getting the ball on Wednesday in the middle game of the series.
There will be Gore in the series finale on Thursday, though not because Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be starting on five days rest for just the second time in the majors. It’s because left-hander Mackenzie Gore starts on the mound for the Nationals.
Freddie Freeman is a career .319/.410/.504 hitter at Nationals Park, which is pretty much in line with his overall career numbers. But he also has a whopping 33 doubles in 96 career games there, a 56-double pace over a full season. Freeman has four doubles in six games in Washington D.C. since joining the Dodgers, including hitting his 53rd and 54th doubles of 2023 last September on the road against the Nationals, the former breaking Johnny Frederick’s 94-year-old franchise record.