Washington right-hander Zack Littell looks to put a bow on a turnaround month of May when the Nationals host the San Diego Padres on Sunday.
Littell (4-4, 5.23 ERA) opposes right-hander Griffin Canning (0-3, 7.24) in the series finale after the teams split the first two games with Washington rallying for a 9-4 win on Saturday.
Littell was 0-4 with a 7.85 ERA at the end of April. In May he is 4-0 with a 2.19 ERA and 14 strikeouts and six walks in 24 2/3 innings. He has worked behind an opener in three of his five May appearances, including last time out when he entered in the third and tossed seven strong innings to beat the host Cleveland Guardians 10-2. He gave up a run on five hits while striking out seven and walking two.
With 94 pitches after eight innings, Littell lobbied manager Blake Butera to pitch the ninth.
“This was the perfect opportunity to give the guys in the bullpen a break, so I told Blake I wanted them to be able to take a break,” said Littell, who stayed in the game and totaled 106 pitches.
The 30-year-old Littell is 2-0 with a 4.55 ERA in 20 games (two starts) versus the Padres.
Canning has been undergoing a turnaround of his own. After allowing six earned runs in consecutive outings, Canning’s ERA ballooned to 10.64. In each of his past two starts, the 30-year-old has given up just three earned runs. Last time out, he went 6 2/3 innings in a 3-0 loss to the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. He gave up three hits, two of them home runs.
“If you talk to any starter, that’s what we’re trying to do every single time,” Canning said of pitching into the seventh. “I just was able to get some quick outs earlier in the game, so I was able to get a little bit deeper.”
Canning is 1-0 with a 4.03 ERA in four starts versus the Nationals.
Washington used an unusual six-run seventh inning to win on Saturday. With only walks, singles, fielders’ choices and a hit batter, the Nationals turned a 3-1 deficit into a 7-3 lead. The key hit was Luis Garcia Jr.’s two-run single. He notched his sixth multi-hit performance in his past 19 games.
Curtis Mead provided a two-run double in the eighth and finished with three RBIs after entering as a pinch hitter, and Drew Millas hit his second home run of the season.
“The guys are doing an awesome job,” Mead said. “Just high quality at-bats after one another. That was a fun one. (Padres starter Michael) King was kind of rolling early, so it was fun to be able to put a break to that and put up a few runs.”
The Nationals lead the majors with 311 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. homered for the Padres, who have lost five of six. Tatis hit his first home run of the season after going 55 games without one, since Sept. 27, 2025. He hit 25 in 155 games last season.
“He’s been carrying that burden, the team has been carrying that burden,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “He finally got it. It was a good celebration in the dugout. It’s what baseball is all about, acting like little 10-year-olds.”
–Field Level Media
