After a rare day off, the Washington Nationals returned to action on Wednesday night in an exhibition game against Venezuela with the World Baseball Classic officially underway.

Daylen Lile led the way after finishing 2-for-2 with an RBI while Keibert Ruiz capped off the win with a three run shot in the sixth inning to cement a 5-1 win.

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The Nationals, also responsible for an error, allowed five combined hits and nine strikeouts on the night after Foster Griffin made his team debut with the nod to take the mound for the opening pitch. Griffin posted one strikeout and one walk across a pair of innings, while both Clayton Beeter and PJ Poulin posted a pair of strikeouts.

Now, the Nationals will shift their attention back to the rest of the spring training slate with a rematch against the New York Mets, who took down Israel on Wednesday.

First pitch is set for 1:05 PM with broadcast available on MLB.TV.

The two teams met on Saturday, Feb. 28 with the Nationals snapping a four-game winless streak for a 3-2 finish in Jake Irvin’s first appearance in spring training, who first year manager Blake Butera praised during his appearance on 106.7 The Fan on Wednesday.

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It will be another marquee name expected in the 2026 rotation taking the mound next with Miles Mikolas is set to return on Thursday for his second start of spring training after posting a pair of strikeouts, three walks and allowed one hit in two innings against the Houston Astros back on Feb. 27.

Justin Hagenman is set to take the mound for the Mets against the Nationals for his third appearance in spring training. He made his spring training debut against the crosstown rival Yankees back on Feb. 22, allowing one home run and a pair of hits across 2.1 innings. He followed it up with an appearance against the St. Louis Cardinals back on Feb. 27 where he appeared in three innings and allowed four hits, two runs and a hit by pitch. He also combined for seven strikeouts across his two starts and enters Thursday with a 5.06 ERA so far this spring, but similar to Washington, the Mets will turn to the bullpen with a third round of roster cuts not far off.

The game also comes fresh after the second round of roster cuts for first baseman Warming Bernabel now headed to minor league camp despite a strong start to spring training with his bat.