Nationals' Sean Doolittle: Looking good early

Doolittle struck out two in a perfect seventh inning during Sunday's win over the Mets.

The Nationals were down 2-1 when the veteran southpaw entered the game in relief of Steve Cishek with runners on first and second and nobody out, but he fired eight of nine pitches for strikes to end the threat and set the stage for a Washington rally in the eighth. Doolittle topped out at 94.9 mph with his final fastball, and the 35-year-old may have returned to something close to the form that saw him rack up 75 saves for the Nats from 2017-19. For now, Doolittle will be part of the setup crew behind Tanner Rainey, but the closer situation is volatile enough that he could find himself working the ninth before long.