Washington Nationals outfielder Daylen Lile has owned the Cincinnati Reds this season.
The 23-year-old has hit four of his 15 home runs against the Reds and has driven in 10 runs in 17 at-bats.
On Friday, his three-run homer in the first inning gave host Washington an early lead in a 5-3 series-opening win over Cincinnati.
Game 2 in the three-game set will be Saturday night.
“I guess it is just playing against my hometown team,” said Lile, who grew up in Louisville, Ky., about a hundred miles from Cincinnati. “Tonight I was just trusting in my approach and being on the fastball. I wanted to be on the fastball and react to anything else.
“We have a lot of young guys out there, and they are gaining confidence in their abilities. Hopefully, we can keep that going.”
The Nationals are coming off a 1-7 road trip, so opening the homestand with a win was important.
“We knew we had to come here and play well right off the bat,” manager Blake Butera said. “I’m happy for Daylen. He has such high expectations of himself. He just needs to be the same guy every single day. A night like tonight should boost his confidence.”
The Reds tied the score after Lile’s home run, but Washington’s Harry Ford hit a two-run shot in the fourth to complete the scoring.
“I saw the pitch down the middle and knew it was a good pitch to hit so I put my best swing on it,” Ford said. “We just need to start over every day and keep winning.”
The Nationals will go with 27-year-old southpaw Andrew Alvarez (2-3, 3.94 ERA) as the starter on Saturday. He has not won since beating the Red Sox in relief July 1 and has figured in only two decisions since then.
The Nationals have lost four of the five games he pitched in during that stretch, and Alvarez has not won any of his eight starts this season.
He is 3-4 with a 3.50 ERA in 21 career games, including 13 starts, and has never faced Cincinnati.
The Reds will counter with Chase Burns (13-1, 2.35 ERA). The 23-year-old right-hander has won four of his last five starts, including 10-2 over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.
Burns is 13-4 with a 2.94 ERA in 34 career games, including 29 starts, and is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in two starts against the Nationals.
With ace Hunter Greene being lost for the rest of the season this week, the Reds had to go with a bullpen game Friday. However, manager Terry Francona used only four pitchers to get through the game, saving his pitching staff for the weekend.
“I thought they all did a really good job,” Francona said. “I felt bad for (Julian) Garcia. He took the loss giving up that two-run homer, but we were asking him to go longer than he normally does. Unfortunately, we had to do that. It saves us at least for tomorrow.”
The Reds hit three more solo home runs Friday, giving them seven in two games and eight in the last three games.
“I wish they were all three-run homers, but they pitch us differently with guys on base,” Francona said. “Guys are doing a good job of seeing the pitches and putting the bat on the ball.”
–Field Level Media
