Nationals look for momentum with Giants in town

(Photo credit: Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports)

MacKenzie Gore hopes to see more progress when he takes the mound for the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night in the second game of a four-game series against the visiting San Francisco Giants.

Gore (6-9, 4.54 ERA) made six starts in July and went 0-2 with a 7.62 ERA, but showed improvement in his most recent outing, allowing three runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings while taking a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks last Wednesday.

“We can build on that,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. “Hopefully he’ll finish the season strong. I’m proud of him because he went through a lot last month.”

Gore also said he felt he made strides in the right direction in his last start.

“We’re hoping that next time we can step up a little bit more,” Gore said. “We’ll deal with what we need to do in the next four or five days and get ready for action.”

The Giants won the series opener 4-1 on Monday night.

The loss was the sixth in the last eight games for the Nationals, who are 7-9 after the All-Star break.

“We’re better than we were before, but there’s still a lot of things we need to work on,” Gore said. “We need to take advantage of these last two months as a group, come together and build momentum.”

Gore has made three career starts against San Francisco and is 2-1 with a 5.65 ERA against the Giants.

Keibert Ruiz had the best at-bat for the Nationals on Monday, drawing a 13-pitch walk in the sixth inning that led to Washington’s only run.

Ruiz doubled in his next at-bat to put runners on second and third with no outs in the eighth, but the Nationals were unable to score another run.

“His batting skills are really good,” Martinez said of Ruiz. “He could tire out (San Francisco starter Logan Webb), plus he could be a confidence booster for Ruiz, too. He came back and hit a double to right-center field. I know it was right-handed, but still good at-bats can have that effect.”

The Giants plan to start rookie right-hander Hayden Birdsong on Tuesday.

Birdsong (3-0, 2.97) has won his first three major league decisions, including his last two starts, both against the Colorado Rockies.

The 22-year-old most recently pitched five scoreless innings in a 5-0 victory on July 27 in the second game of a doubleheader.

Birdsong’s performance followed a dominant showing by Blake Snell in Game 1, when the left-hander struck out 15 batters in six innings.

“I’m not a lefty, I’m not Blake Snell, but I still have a curveball,” Birdsong said. “That’s what (the Rockies) have struggled with the last few outings we’ve had against them. They proved it again, they continue to struggle with that. They just throw strikes like Blake and try to get zeros.”

Monday’s win gave the Giants eight wins in their last 10 games.

Matt Chapman hit a three-run homer in the series opener and has homered in three straight games. Tyler Fitzgerald has homered in each of the last two games and has 11 homers in his last 17 games overall.

–Field level media