Washington Nationals starting pitcher Foster Griffin no longer has the high-velocity stuff that made him a first-round selection in the 2014 draft.

Instead, the 30-year-old left-hander is having a breakout season with a seven-pitch repertoire he will deploy when the Nationals open a three-game home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.

A self-described “journeyman, four-A player spending time between Triple-A and the big leagues,” Griffin (8-2, 2.93 ERA) has learned to throttle back his approach and set up hitters.

“For me, I am not going for a strikeout from the start of the at-bat, I am letting it develop,” Griffin said. “If I get into an 0-2, 1-2 situation and I want to go for a kill count, and go for a swing and miss, I will. As soon as I get to even or behind, though, I am not really going for a punchout. I don’t want those free passes.”

On Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles, Griffin threw 112 pitches, allowing one unearned run on three hits and two walks while matching his career high with nine strikeouts. He didn’t factor into the decision as Washington earned a 4-3, 10-inning victory.

Griffin went 2-0 with a 1.15 ERA in five June starts. His only career start against the Pirates came on the road on April 16, a no-decision in which he gave up four runs on eight hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

Nationals manager Blake Butera has quickly developed belief in Griffin.

“I appreciate every time he’s on the mound,” Butera said. “We all have a ton of confidence in Foster. He pitches his tail off for us and leaves it all out there every single time.”

Washington had Thursday off after winning two of three games at Boston. The Nationals cruised to a 10-2 victory over the Red Sox on Wednesday behind James Wood’s 22nd home run, a three-run shot in the seventh. Andres Chaparro added a two-run bomb and Nasim Nunez hit a solo shot, the first homers of the season for both players.

The Pirates are set to counter with right-hander Mitch Keller (6-5, 4.87 ERA). After going 0-3 with an 8.25 ERA in his previous five starts, Keller earned his lone win of June on Sunday, a 9-4 home decision against the Cincinnati Reds. He allowed five hits and four runs (three earned) with one walk and four strikeouts.

Keller made his second straight six-inning start, and he feels things are pointed in the right direction.

“I’m starting to feel like I am getting in a little more of a rhythm,” Keller said. “Obviously, there’s still a lot more that I can clean up and just execute a little better.”

In eight career starts against Washington, Keller is 1-4 with a 5.31 ERA. He lost 5-4 to the Nationals on April 14 in Pittsburgh after yielding five runs on six hits and four walks with three strikeouts in four innings.

The Pirates’ offense is trending in the right direction. Rookie right fielder Esmerlyn Valdez continues to establish his place in the batting order.

Pittsburgh split a four-game road series against the Philadelphia Phillies this week, and Valdez was 2-for-4 with a run and three RBIs in a 6-1 win on Thursday.

Valdez homered in four consecutive games — including the series opener against the Phillies on Monday after going deep in each game of Pittsburgh’s previous three-game set against the Reds — a stretch that has highlighted his impressive start in the majors. Since his big league debut on May 22, Valdez has a .316 batting average, six homers and 15 RBIs in 19 games.

“The staff plays a big role,” Valdez said. “Even when you fail, they are right by your side. They bring the energy and give you the information you need to succeed.”

–Field Level Media

Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio came through in the bottom of the ninth inning in the series opener between the top two teams in the American League Central.

Their battle for first place continues Friday, when the first-place Chicago White Sox and Guardians meet in the second contest of a four-game set in Cleveland.

White Sox left-hander Anthony Kay (6-3, 4.50 ERA) will take on Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams (9-4, 3.81) in front of what is expected to be the first of three straight sellout crowds.

The teams have split their first four games this season, all of which have been decided by one run. That includes Cleveland’s 6-5 win on Thursday that ended on Rocchio’s two-run homer off the foul pole in right field with one out in the ninth.

“The ball has really been flying this week, so I didn’t know if it was fair, but I knew it was a home run,” Rocchio said. “Every time, it’s a good matchup facing those guys, especially how they’re playing right now.

“They play hard, they play smart, so it’s very fun to face them consistently.”

Rocchio’s second career walk-off homer came off Grant Taylor, who was called upon to work two innings for his third straight appearance by White Sox manager Will Venable. Taylor didn’t allow a baserunner in the first two outings.

Chicago catcher Kyle Teel said he believed throwing a fastball was “the right call,” as did Taylor, whose reasoning was an inability to locate his other primary pitch. He walked two of the first six batters he faced before Rocchio’s towering, 380-foot blast.

“I wasn’t lining up the curveball, so went with another pitch,” said Taylor, who has converted just two of five save opportunities. “I threw a pretty good location, but he was looking for it and got a good swing.”

Taylor currently is the closer because Seranthony Dominguez blew back-to-back save chances, moving him into second place in the majors with five failures in 17 save opportunities. Bryan Hudson is second on the team with three saves but pitched the previous day.

The White Sox (45-41) are a shaky 23-of-41 in save opportunities on the season but sit .0005 percentage points ahead of Cleveland (46-42) in the division standings.

“You don’t have to be perfect, and Grant knows that,” said Teel, who had a two-run double in the fifth. “(Rocchio) just took a good swing on a good pitch.”

Kay was one of the more surprising success stories in the AL in March, April and May, before cratering in June with a 1-2 record and 6.35 ERA. His lone quality start in the month came against Cleveland on June 22, throwing six shutout innings in a no-decision of a 6-5 Chicago win.

The Guardians have yet to score a run against Kay in three appearances (one start) totaling 7 1/3 innings, but he has no decision against them.

Williams also has seen his breakout season go south with a four-start winless streak, going 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA. He pitched against Kay in that June game, giving up two runs in five innings while not factoring in the outcome.

In four career starts against the White Sox, Williams is 1-1 with a 5.21 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 19 innings.

“There is a lot of season left, but this series is huge,” said Cleveland left fielder David Fry, who has homered in consecutive games. “Obviously, every game is big and any time we can get a comeback win, it’s huge.”

–Field Level Media

The Atlanta Braves’ recent struggles may be spilling into the bullpen, an area of the team that has been solid for most of the season.

Atlanta, which will open a four-game series on Friday night against the visiting New York Mets, saw its relievers melt down on Thursday and allow eight runs in an 11-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Braves have lost 14 of their last 19 games to see their lead in the National League East shrink to 2 1/2 games over the Philadelphia Phillies.

New York, which is in last place in the division, did not play on Thursday. The Mets lost a three-game series at Toronto and have dropped 10 of their last 12 games.

The Atlanta bullpen, which posted a 2.14 ERA in June, finished the final four innings on Wednesday without allowing a hit.

It was a different story on Thursday.

Dylan Lee, who entered the game with an 0.95 ERA, allowed three runs in one-third of an inning and saw his ERA grow to 1.64. Reliable Tyler Kinley gave up three runs in two-thirds of an inning, and Ian Hamilton and James Karinchak each gave up one run.

“Dylan has pitched a lot, so it’s something we’ve got to keep an eye on,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “We always talk about trying to keep those guys strong all the way through. (Lee) was good to go, and he’s been virtually untouchable this year.”

Atlanta setup man Robert Suarez is out with right elbow inflammation and won’t return until after the All-Star break.

This will be the second series between Atlanta and New York this season. The Mets won two of three games from June 12-14 in New York.

The Mets will send Christian Scott (2-0, 3.20 ERA) to the mound on Friday to face fellow right-hander Grant Holmes (4-4, 3.96) of the Braves.

Scott will make his second start since spending two weeks on the injured list with a hip impingement. He returned on Saturday to start against Philadelphia and threw 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out six in New York’s 6-2 victory.

“I feel great,” Scott said afterward. “Felt like I attacked the zone pretty well for the most part. Just established my off-speed stuff early in the game and then kind of just rode the wave off of that.”

Scott, who made nine starts as a rookie in 2024, missed all of 2025 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Since his return this spring, Scott has been reliable. In 10 starts, he has allowed more than three runs just one time — when he gave up four in 4 2/3 innings against St. Louis on June 11 before going on the injured list.

He has made one career start against the Braves, taking a loss after allowing three runs over six innings in 2024.

Holmes has made 15 starts, but his inability to pitch past the fifth inning in four of his last five starts caused the Braves to temporarily move him into a long relief role. In his last appearance against San Francisco on Saturday, he allowed just one hit over four scoreless innings in his team’s 5-0 loss.

Holmes has made two career starts against the Mets, going 0-1 with a 2.00 ERA and striking out 13 in nine innings.

–Field Level Media