Washington is gearing up to take on the Milwaukee Brewers in its first National League wild-card game at Nationals Park Tuesday night.
Mike Ploger, one of the Nationals’ in-stadium hosts, said the team expects 45,000 people to attend, which would be a sellout crowd.
“We’ve been [in the postseason] five of the past eight years which is amazing, but you can’t take it for granted,” he said. “Being here, taking in this energy and this atmosphere, there is nothing is like it.”
In a special tribute, relief pitcher Aaron Barrett will throw the pregame first pitch. Barrett, who pitched at Nats Park for the first time since 2015 in the final game of the regular season, is not on the postseason roster.
Barrett had Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery later that year, then broke his pitching arm in 2016 and missed all of 2017 and 2018. He was called up from the minors in September to make his return to the majors and pitched in two games for Washington — both on the road.
“He’s fought very hard to overcome those injuries,” said Jake Burns, the Nationals’ executive vice president of business operations. “It’s a very meaningful moment for us.”
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Max Scherzer will throw out the first pitch of the game at 8:08 p.m. Since a 2013 AL Division Series victory for Detroit, Scherzer has made seven postseason appearances, in a mix of starting and relieving roles, and his teams are 0-7. Scherzer himself is 0-4 in that stretch, lowering his career record in the postseason from 4-1 to 4-5.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner was 11-7 with a 2.92 ERA was slowed by back trouble this season. The Nats will have Stephen Strasburg (18-6, 3.32) ready in the bullpen.
Brandon Woodruff (11-3, 3.62) will start for the Brewers. He has pitched in only two games since returning from a strained left oblique that sidelined him for nearly two full months; he went two hitless innings each time.
The Nationals are 0-3 in winner-take-all postseason games, all at home. The Nats have never advanced in four previous trips to the playoffs over the past eight years.
The Brewers made it to Game 7 of the NL Championship Series last year before falling to the Dodgers. Milwaukee surged to the playoffs this September despite losing NL MVP Christian Yelich to a broken kneecap.
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and all fans will receive a red rally towel as they enter the park. Burns said he encourages fans to get to the stadium early and participate in the pregame festivities.
“There’s nothing better than postseason baseball,” he said.
WTOP’s Melissa Howell contributed from Nationals Park. The Associated Press also contributed to this story.
