Bell Homers as Lord & the 'Pen Step Up

The Nats beat the Reds 6-1 on Tuesday night in D.C. for their 2nd consecutive win. Mark & Al note that the Nationals are now a game away from their first series sweep since mid-May in Baltimore.

(04:10) Josh Bell crushed his 13th homer of the season as he continues his hot month.  Bell is widely expected to be traded by next week and his surge is well timed for the organization.

(07:30) Riley Adams continued to play well while Keibert Ruiz is on the IL. Adams had a 2-run single and also a threw out a runner to end the top of the 3rd.

(09:00) Brad Lord had a solid outing as he returned to the starting rotation for the first time since May 6th.  Lord only allowed one run in four innings of work off of 50 pitches.

(15:30) Konnor Pilkington, fresh off being called up from AAA, impressed in his two innings of scoreless work.  Pilkington took over in the 5th, struck out the side in the 6th, and earned the win. It was not his MLB debut as he briefly pitched for Cleveland a few season ago. The corresponding move was Mason Thompson getting sent down to Rochester.

(25:15) Washington goes for the sweep on Wednesday afternoon. Michael Soroka takes the mound with an extra spotlight as many contending teams will paying attention to the right hander's outing ahead of next week's Trade Deadline.