Struggling offenses seek a breakthrough as Rangers, Nationals meet

Despite a string of lackluster offensive performances, the Washington Nationals have a chance to post a series victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Saturday afternoon.

Following Washington's 2-0 win in the series opener on Friday night, the club has only nine runs since the calendar turned to June -- an average of just 1.8 runs per game.

The Nationals haven't scored more than three runs since an 11-run outburst on May 31 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but Washington got six scoreless innings from starter Michael Soroka on Friday before Alex Call launched his first home run of the season in the seventh on Friday for a much-needed insurance run.

"It was good to just get in the box and feel confident," said Call, who has three hits in the Nationals' past three games after not appearing in a game since May 25. "I got a good pitch to hit and trusted it. I'm trying to stay within my plan and approach and get something in the middle. I just battled, worked good at-bats and tried to help our team. I'm glad we came out with a victory tonight. Everybody did a great job."

Washington's pitching staff holds the majors' fifth-worst ERA (4.94), but the starters have surrendered just three earned runs in the past 18 innings. Looking to extend that streak on Saturday will be Mitchell Parker (4-5, 4.71 ERA), who will make his 13th start of the year. The 25-year-old left-hander allowed three earned runs in five innings in a 3-1 loss to Arizona last Sunday.

Parker faced Texas once in his rookie campaign in 2024, allowing three runs across 5 1/3 innings in Washington's 6-0 loss on May 2.

The Rangers' offensive woes continued in the series opener as they tallied just two singles against Soroka -- who entered with a 5.81 ERA. Texas ranks second-to-last in baseball in batting average (.220) and hits (453) and third-worst in runs (212). Losers of four straight games, the Rangers have only eight runs during their skid.

Former Nationals and now-Texas pitcher Patrick Corbin allowed two runs in an eight-inning complete-game loss on Friday, but again the Rangers' lineup provided little help.

"What a terrific job Patrick did. Again, the story is we didn't swing the bat," Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. "Just a couple hits; really didn't get a lot of good swings off today. I wish I could tell you why. The vibes before the game are good, but we just can't get a rally going."

Texas, which has dropped 13 of its past 17 games, still boasts MLB's fourth-best ERA (3.17), a trend that veteran right-hander Jacob deGrom (5-2, 2.34) will hope to prolong on Saturday.

After posting just nine total starts in his first two seasons with Texas due to injury, deGrom has found success in the third year of his five-year contract. The 36-year-old allowed just one earned run in six innings on Sunday in Texas' 8-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. A longtime rival of Washington with the New York Mets, deGrom has a 9-4 record and a 2.41 ERA in 22 career starts against the Nationals.

--Field Level Media