The Washington Nationals needed a top performance from Trevor Williams to give them their 70th win – and he delivered again. In the process, Williams lowered his ERA to 2.03 – a Nats record, and the Nats were 10-3 in his starts.

Today MacKenzie Gore takes the mound and hopefully the knife as MacK. The Shark will have to show its teeth to prevail against the Phillies and end its season on a more promising note.

The offensive star was Stone Garrett, who made his first start this season 401 days after breaking his leg last season. Garrett went 3-for-4 with a walk and a triple. It was an emotional and at the same time uplifting time.

The Nats need to go 2-0 to surpass their 2023 win total, and that's a tall order. Win one game and the Nats would reach the 71-win mark starting in 2023.

The Nats are the big underdogs today at +170 to win on the money line. This means that if you bet $100, you would win $170. Bet $10.00 and you win $17.00.

Nats manager Dave Martinez had the big lead and that gave him an opportunity to rest his “A” bullpen.

Here's a look at the matchups:

1. Saturday: MacKenzie Gore vs. Phillies
2. Sunday: Jake Irvin vs. Phillies (last game of the season)

Your best Washington Nationals on the FanGraphs' WAR leaderboard has MacKenzie Gore in the lead with 2.9 and just ahead of Luis Garcia Jr. at +2.9. Jacob Young is +2.6. CJ Abrams, whose season is over, is at +1.9 WAR. There are 29 Nats players in positive WAR, another 6.

The Nats' starting pitchers have one combined ERA of 4.39 and 23rd in the MLB.

Here's how they rank without Trevor Williams' 2.03 ERA, as he had fewer starts than the other starters:

No. 5 starter: Patrick Corbin 5.62
No. 4 starter: Mitchell Parker 4.29
No. 3 starter: Jake Irvin 4.22
No. 2 starter: DJ Herz 4.16
No. 1 starter: MacKenzie Gore 4.04

WAshington Nationals against Philadelphia Phillies

Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, DC
1. Rope length: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan Radio and via the MLB app; In Spanish on DC 87.7 FM and La Pantera 100.7 FM/1220 AM. Tune in to channel 180 on Sirius/XM for the home broadcast and the road team will be online only.

The list is subject to change (without prior notice):

TalkNats celebrates the 5th and 100th anniversary of the World Series victories by providing game-by-game recaps.

Game 161:

The Nationals won on September 28th. at home against the Cleveland Indians, which increased the Nats record to 92-69. The Nats were in second place in the NL East that day. But you already knew that. Box score/rankings
The Senators' regular season ended at Game 154 on September 30th. away against the Boston Red Sox, resulting in a record of 92-62. The Senators finished in first place and ahead of the Yankees. Box score/rankings

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