The Nats were routed 9-1 in Seattle on Tuesday to begin their six game road trip. Mark (From T-Mobile Park) & Al convene after the Nationals fell to 24-30; putting them on pace for just 72 wins this season. Mariners starter Logan Evans cruised through the lineup as he only needed 88 pitches to last eight innings.

(09:15) James Wood clubbed his 14th homer of the season and was the only source of offense for the team. However, Wood struck out three times and the hosts explore why he tallies so many Ks.

(16:10) Mitchell Parker struggled again on the mound and gave up a trio of homers. Parker's troubles began right away as he gave up Back to Back HRs in the bottom of the 1st, continuing his recent trend of not pitching well in the opening inning.

(25:15) Extended discussion of Ken Rosenthal's scathing piece of the Nationals rebuild woes in The Athletic.

(39:30) Josh Whetzel, the voice of the Rochester Red Wings, swings by for his weekly AAA update. Hear his latest on Cade Cavalli, Yohandy Morales, Brady House, and more.

The Nats fell 3-2 on Sunday afternoon to the visiting Giants. Al begins with the sluggish offensive performance, that was punctuated by the curious decision to pinch-hit Josh Bell for Amed Rosario in the bottom of the 9th. James Wood had a RBI double, but the bats only collected five hits in total.

(07:30) Alex Call and Robert Hassell III each had disappointing outfield defense in the pivotal top of the 3rd. Most notably, Call lost a fly ball in the sun at the wall that turned into a Sam Huff homer instead of an out.

(12:15) Michael Soroka had a solid outing, but still was tagged with the loss. His six innings of work is the most he has pitched in five starts this season.

(15:00) Al answers a listener email. Feel free to send your thoughts to natschatpodcast@gmail.com.

The Nats shutout the Giants on Saturday afternoon 3-0 for their seventh win in the past nine games. Mark & Al have plenty of praise for Jake Irvin, who tossed eight scoreless innings and tied a career high with seven strikeouts. Irvin's ERA is down to 3.42 and his WHIP is an impressive 1.10.

(10:45) Jorge Lopez surprisingly pitched the 9th instead of closer Kyle Finnegan. Mark explains what is going on with Finnegan and why he did not enter the game on Saturday.

(16:35) James Wood hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of the 1st for an early lead. Wood has homered in seven of the eleven games in which he has been the DH.

(21:00) The final out came on a diving catch by Daylen Lile in RF. Lile started for the second straight day and had a single in the win.

(24:00) The team is playing better, but still remains four games below .500. The hosts close the show by looking at the organization's big picture as we are almost one-third of the way through the season.