Under new management, Nationals out to keep pressure on Cubs

Washington Nationals rookie manager Blake Butera basked in the achievement of winning his first game Thursday.

Once his players let him be, that is.

"They grabbed me and next thing you know, there was a lot of liquids all over me in the shower," Butera said. "All kinds of stuff. Shaving cream, beer, you name it."

On Saturday, the Nationals will aim for another novelty in Butera's young career. A victory against the host Chicago Cubs would give Washington's 33-year-old skipper his first series win.

The Cubs, meanwhile, hope to avoid starting 0-2 for the third consecutive season. Chicago pitching yielded home runs to Joey Wiemer, Jacob Young and Brady House during Thursday's 10-4 defeat.

"You're going to your bullpen in the fourth inning -- some bad things have happened if that's the case, and that was the case," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said after left-hander Matthew Boyd was rocked early. "We were in the game a little bit with all the runners on base we had every inning ... the next hit was kind of missing.

"Obviously you're down a little bit, you've got to string together a rally. We just never could do that."

Michael Busch (three hits) and Pete Crow-Armstrong (two) did what they could for the Chicago offense. Wiemer (three hits) and House (two) followed suit for the Nationals and will look to continue their hot starts.

Veteran right-hander Miles Mikolas will get the call for Washington as he faces an old nemesis.

Mikolas went 8-11 with a 4.84 ERA in 31 starts in 2025, his last of seven seasons with Chicago's longtime rival, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Washington signed Mikolas, 37, in February with the hopes he could stabilize the rotation not only with his penchant for logging innings but his acumen off the diamond, as well.

"I'm not chasing any records or anything like that," Mikolas said. "But I'd like to leave an imprint on the game in some way, shape or form. Whether that's sharing my experience -- being a guy who was a reliever-turned-starter, to Japan and coming back and having some success, and doing a lot of different things -- or being able to leave some knowledge here and there."

Mikolas also strives to leave the ball in the confines -- Wrigley Field's friendly variety or otherwise. He yielded a career-high 29 home runs last season, including nine over 11 combined innings in losses at Chicago on July 4 and Sept. 26. Busch and Crow-Armstrong each went deep three times over those two games.

Mikolas is 6-8 with a 3.73 ERA in 25 career appearances against the Cubs, including 23 starts. He will face Cubs right-hander Cade Horton, who had 17 strikeouts in 16 2/3 spring innings and is eager to build on a standout rookie season in which he went 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA in 23 games, including 22 starts.

Making his fourth career start on June 3, Horton delivered 5 1/3 sharp innings to defeat the host Nationals. He scattered three runs, one earned, and five hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

--Field Level Media