Detroit Tigers at Washington Nationals 5/21/23

In Sunday afternoon MLB action, the Detroit Tigers and the Washington Nationals will square off from the nation’s capital. The Tigers (20-23) have split their previous ten games and trail AL Central Division leading Minnesota by three games. On Saturday, 1B Spencer Torkleson’s two-run blast was the only offense for Detroit during a 5-2 road loss against Washington.

Twenty-five year old southpaw Joey Wentz (1-3 6.38 ERA) will take the mound for the Tigers in this matchup. Detroit has won Wentz’s last three starts and he has allowed ten runs over his last 14 plus frames. 

The Washington Nationals have dropped 15 of their first 24 home games and are trying to climb out of the NL East Division cellar. During yesterday’s home victory, OF Lane Thomas put Washington ahead to stay with a two-run single in the fifth inning. SP Patrick Corbin (3-5) allowed two runs across six solid frames to earn the win for the Nationals, who improved to 19-27 overall.

Twenty-five year old righty Josiah Gray (3-5 2.73 ERA) is one of the building blocks for a long Washington rebuild. In his last start, Gray gave up two runs (1 ER) in seven innings during a 5-4 road loss against Miami. 

Detroit SP Tarik Skubal (elbow) was scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Saturday and hopes to make his season debut next month. Through 43 games, Detroit ranks 29th in OPS and 30th in runs scored. For the season, Washington ranks 22nd in OPS and 24th in runs scored. Take the Nationals to win at home. Final Score Prediction, Washington Nationals win 5-3.