Nationals left-hander MacKenzie Gore was making his first Opening Day start for Washington on Thursday. That afternoon, he had a stat line matched only by Bob Gibson.

The Washington Nationals will find themselves in a familiar situation on Wednesday afternoon, needing a win to avert a three-game series sweep by the host Toronto Blue Jays.

Despite generating 18 first-strike calls and 12 whiffs, Gore allowed at least one base runner in four of the five innings he worked, though he managed to limit the damage to three runs as the Blue Jays left eight men on base during his outing.

Left-hander Easton Lucas pitched five scoreless innings in his first career major-league start as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the visiting Washington Nationals 4-2 on Wednesday afternoon.

Herrera hit a two-run homer in the sixth, and a solo shot in the fourth off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi to give him his first career multi-home run game. Willson Contreras drew a bases-loaded walk off Burke to break a 5-5 tie after Ian Anderson (0-1) allowed three straight hits to open the bottom of the eighth inning.

Lucas (1-0) picked up the win against the Nationals on Wednesday. He allowed one hit and two walks while striking out three across five scoreless innings. With Max Scherzer (thumb) on the IL, Lucas was given the ball Wednesday for his first major-league start.

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Straw went 3-for-4 with two doubles an a run in Wednesday's 4-2 win over the Nationals. Straw made his second start in center field Wednesday and logged his first hit of the season when he doubled off MacKenzie Gore in the second inning.

Springer took an 85 mph changeup from MacKenzie Gore deep to left field for a 368-foot homer in the fourth inning, his first of the 2025 campaign. Springer has recorded an RBI in four straight games and has gone 7-for-15 with two doubles,