Griffin vs. Bratt as D-backs Carry Four-Game Streak

The Arizona Diamondbacks arrived at Nationals Park on Saturday, July 25, carrying a four-game winning streak and a 3-2 series-opening victory from the night before, with rookie left-hander Mitch Bratt set to face Washington Nationals All-Star Foster Griffin at 4:05 p.m. EDT.

What Arizona Built on Friday Night

The Diamondbacks closed out the July 24 opener with a margin that felt tighter than the scoreline suggested. Eduardo Rodríguez delivered six innings of two-run baseball, and the go-ahead run came from an unlikely source: Gabriel Moreno's sacrifice fly in the seventh inning scored Ketel Marte and flipped what had been a tied game.

The moment extended something worth noting. According to the official MLB game story, Moreno reached base safely in his 40th consecutive start, passing Jay Bell's 1998 club mark of 39 and closing in on Corbin Carroll's franchise record of 44, set in 2024.

Paul Sewald closed the ninth for his 24th save. The Diamondbacks had won six of their last seven entering Saturday's game.

The Gap Between the Two Starters

The contrast between these two starters is one of the starker splits in baseball right now.

Per the official MLB probable pitchers page, Foster Griffin carried an 11-2 record and 2.68 ERA into Saturday, with 111 strikeouts across 117 1/3 innings this season. He was named to the 2026 NL All-Star team alongside Washington teammates C.J. Abrams and James Wood, his first All-Star selection. His run of consistency heading into this start was particularly sharp: the official MLB game preview noted Griffin had held opponents to no more than one run in eight consecutive starts, the longest such streak in Nationals history since 2005.

Mitch Bratt entered with a 0-0 record and 5.06 ERA in his first three MLB outings. His last appearance, July 20 against the Athletics, produced 4 2/3 innings with eight hits and two earned runs allowed. Saturday marked his fourth career major-league start, and Washington's lineup was the most difficult draw he could have faced at this stage of a career that only began on June 24, 2026.

The Wild-Card Stakes Behind the Scoreboard

This series carried more weight than an ordinary July road trip. Arizona entered the weekend ahead of Washington in the NL wild-card standings, with the Nationals needing to make ground against a team that had just beaten them the night before.

The Diamondbacks had played themselves into form at the right time, six wins in seven games is the kind of run that shifts a team's position inside a postseason race. Washington, meanwhile, had Griffin, who had been as consistent as any left-hander in the National League since May. Eight consecutive starts with one run or fewer is a number that earns attention regardless of the month or the opponent.

For context on Arizona's recent scheduling stretch, their July series against the Cardinals three days earlier also carried direct wild-card implications before they turned north to face Washington.

Griffin signed with Washington on December 22, 2025, having spent three seasons pitching in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants before returning to North American baseball. His 2026 performance justified the decision fully: 11 wins, a place on the NL All-Star roster, and now the role of stopping a four-game Arizona streak in front of the Nationals' home crowd.

How to Watch

Saturday's game at Nationals Park was available to stream on DBACKS.TV for Arizona viewers and Nationals.TV for Washington-market audiences.

The 2026 MLB season has produced several marquee regional matchups worth tracking, the MLB Futures Game rosters and broadcast schedule earlier this summer gave a preview of the names, including Bratt, who are now making their first impressions in the big leagues.

Bratt's Test

Rookie starts against elite starting pitching leave little room for error. Bratt had walked six batters across his first 10 2/3 innings at the major-league level, a control issue that Washington's lineup, anchored by All-Stars Wood and Abrams, was equipped to exploit.

Griffin, by contrast, had a full half-season of evidence that he could handle exactly this kind of assignment. The question Saturday was whether Arizona's lineup, on its current run of form, could do against Griffin what it had managed against Washington's bullpen and back-of-rotation starters.

Gabriel Moreno's streak sat at 40 consecutive starts with a baserunner. The franchise record is 44. Washington had every reason to want to end Moreno's on-base streak and Arizona's win sequence on the same afternoon.