Young Nationals' first home series comes against champion Dodgers

The Washington Nationals will welcome the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers to the nation's capital Friday afternoon for their home opener.

Washington comes home having lost two straight to Philadelphia, including a 6-5 defeat in 10 innings Wednesday. The Nationals were a strike away from winning in the ninth before Cole Henry gave up a game-tying, two-run single.

Manager Blake Butera said after the loss that although many have tabbed this season as a rebuilding one for a young team, the players still expect to win.

"These guys are hungry, and they want to prove that they belong here, and then they can do some special things," the rookie manager said. "Just couldn't be more proud of what they've done for the first six games."

Through the first two series of the season, the Nationals have hit well. They are second in MLB in batting average at .281 and the offense has produced the third-most runs at 38. Joey Wiemer leads the majors in hitting (.588), on-base percentage at (.682) and on-base plus slugging (1.741). Meanwhile, Daylen Lile leads the National League with 11 hits and is batting .407.

The Nationals have not yet announced a starter for Friday's home opener. Four starters have opened games for Washington, with Cade Cavalli getting two starts, the season opener at the Chicago Cubs and Wednesday's getaway game. Reliever PJ Poulin also opened once.

Miles Mikolas (0-1) started the second game of the season, allowing six runs to the Cubs (four earned) over five innings. He gave up six hits and three walks against four strikeouts. At 37, the right-hander is by far the oldest player on the team and is four years older than his skipper.

In 10 games (seven starts) against the Dodgers, Mikolas is 1-5 with a 6.20 ERA. He faced them once last season, giving up five earned runs and three homers in just three innings of a 12-6 loss in Los Angeles on Aug. 5.

The Dodgers start their first road trip of the season leading the NL West, but they lost two of three to the Cleveland Guardians earlier this week, including falling 4-1 Wednesday. In five of their six home games, Dodgers' opponents struck first, and manager Dave Roberts is hoping that'll change.

"We get on the road, we get a chance to strike first," he said. "But I do think that those first couple innings, the first time through, we just haven't done a whole lot."

Andy Pages has been the team's best hitter, batting .429 and slugging .619. Shohei Ohtani struggled some over the first six games, getting just three singles across 18 at-bats, but he is tied for the NL lead with seven walks.

The California Post reported Wednesday that Emmet Sheehan (0-0, 10.80) will get the first start in the series. The 6-foot-5 righty lasted just 3 1/3 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks last Friday and surrendered four runs on five hits. He struck out six and walked two.

Sheehan has one career start against Washington. He lasted 4 1/3 frames and gave up five runs and two homers in a game the Dodgers won 8-5 on Sept. 8, 2023.