Washington Nationals left-hander Foster Griffin ranks among the National League leaders in several pitching categories, including wins, ERA and batting average against.
He is not, however, an NL All-Star.
Griffin (9-2, 2.87 ERA) will have one more chance to make a case as a potential late replacement when the Nationals conclude their three-game series against the visiting Houston Astros on Wednesday night.
The 30-year-old Griffin has been Washington’s ace during the team’s climb into wild-card contention. He is 3-0 with a 1.24 ERA over his past six starts, with Washington going 5-1 in those games and 14-4 in his 18 starts overall. And opponents are batting only .210 against him this season.
Last time out, Griffin allowed a run on four hits in five innings of a 9-5 win Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 100-degree weather at Nationals Park. He threw 83 pitches after reaching at least 100 in each of his past four starts.
“That was a lot of sweat, trying to stay hydrated, trying to keep my hands dry to grip the ball,” Griffin said. “All the elements, the other team has to do the same thing, so have to grind through.”
He has yet to face the Astros in his career.
Houston will counter with right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (7-4, 3.81 ERA) on Wednesday.
Arrighetti dropped his third straight start on June 26, allowing eight runs on five hits and five walks in three innings in an 8-0 loss to Detroit. He turned it around last Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays, giving up one run on two hits over six innings in a no-decision as Houston lost 3-1.
“I just thought he was way more aggressive in the zone,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He was not running away from contact. … There was better tempo, better command.”
Arrighetti, 26, will make his first career appearance against Washington.
The Astros evened the three-game series with a 6-3 win on Tuesday. Jose Altuve went deep for the second straight game, providing Houston’s only extra-base hit to go with five singles. The Astros benefited greatly from seven walks and Christian Walker getting hit by pitches on two occasions.
“I don’t know if it was pitching scared,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said when asked about the walks. “That’s what it felt like. … If we’re gonna go down, we gotta go down attacking. I’ve said that from the beginning of the year. I was just surprised to see that.”
Houston’s Nick Allen produced his first three-RBI game of the season and stole a base, and Christian Vazquez drove in two runs after going 14 games without an RBI.
Josh Hader struck out Dylan Crews with the bases loaded for the final out.
For Washington, James Wood hit his MLB-leading eighth leadoff home run of the season. He is just one shy of tying Alfonso Soriano for the Nationals’ single-season record.
Jose Tena hit his second pinch-hit home run of the season in the ninth and is batting .400 (8-for-20) as a pinch hitter in 2026.
Luis Garcia Jr. has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games and is batting .425 with four doubles, six homers, nine runs and 16 RBIs during that span.
–Field Level Media
