It was another career night for Washington Nationals pitcher Mitchell Parker on Tuesday. After giving deep outing after deep outing this year, he one-upped himself and completed a career-high eight innings against the Baltimore Orioles. It was 99 pitches of 1-hit, scoreless ball that led to a shutout for the Nationals, 7-0, in the first game of the Beltway Series. Parker made his Major League debut last year on April 15th against the Dodgers in Los Angeles and has never looked back.
Parker’s Stellar Night
Parker started the game with a four-pitch walk to Cedric Mullins, but quickly settled down. He kept the Orioles at bay for eight innings, producing weak contact throughout and frustrating a usually potent and power-driven lineup. He made it easier for his defense, but he only walked two and punched out four. He allowed only one hit in the 3rd inning to Mullins, but retired the last 17 he faced.
Parker improved on his strong season to 3-1 with a stellar 1.39 ERA. He hasn’t given up more than one run in his four starts of six-plus innings and is one of only nine pitchers to make it to the 8th inning this year. Since the Nationals moved to Washington, he is the 10th starter to throw eight-plus innings of shutout ball while allowing one or fewer hits.
The Nationals Outlook
There hasn’t been much to see with the Nationals’ season thus far, but there have been a few bright spots. James Wood has been hitting the cover of the ball with seven home runs and 17 RBIs, sporting a nice .902 OPS. Newcomer Nathaniel Lowe has also been a solid pickup with a .293 AVG and 19 RBIs. Catcher Keibert Ruiz has given them some good numbers from behind the plate.
Final Thoughts
The National’s season thus far has been about the starting pitching and keeping players and teams in the same division. Over the last seven games, the rotation has pitched 42 ⅓ innings, with a dominant .153 opponents’ average to a stunning 1.71 ERA. The Nationals are in 4th place in the National League East at 10-13, 6.5 games behind the first-place New York Mets at 17-7. The Nationals seem off to a pretty solid start, especially if they hope to hold onto their ranking, but will it continue?
