Washington Nationals: Takeaways From Lucas Giolito’s Debut

Check out our three takeaways from last night’s Washington Nationals win in Lucas Giolito’s debut

Last night, the Washington Nationals sent Lucas Giolito to the mound in his big league debut against the New York Mets. While the rain put a small damper on the excitement, the matchup between Giolito and Matt Harvey lived up to the hype early on.

Harvey appeared to be on his A game after the Washington Nationals hit him hard in his first two starts against him. But, the Nats found a way to get that early run in the second inning on a RBI triple by Anthony Rendon that drove in Wilson Ramos.

Even though the rain limited what Giolito could do, (four innings) it did help the Washington Nationals because the Mets bullpen was used heavily the night before when Noah Syndergaard only went three innings. Now, they will need innings from Logan Verrett tonight (taking the place of Steven Matz). Plus, the Nats were able to get some key insurance runs against the Mets bullpen after the second rain delay.

As for the Nats bullpen, they did their job in continuing right where Giolito left off. Even though Yusmeiro Petit ran into some trouble in the sixth, Oliver Perez found a way to escape a bases loaded, one out jam with a strikeout to James Loney and a flyout to center by Wilmer Flores.

Before the Washington Nationals go for the sweep tonight with Max Scherzer on the mound (7:05 p.m ET, MASN2/ESPN2), check out my three takeaways from last night’s 5-0 shutout win:

Next: Giolito Gives Good 1st Impression