The Nationals season is winding down with the team firmly out of a postseason spot. They have road games left against St. Louis and Detroit and finish the season with a home series against the Mets on September 25-27. The Nats have already won five more games than last year’s 66 wins, and done it with one of the youngest teams in the majors.
The hitting has been excellent, and the pitching has made it clear that we need to get better pitching in the offseason. The Nats are third in runs scored and lead the majors in stolen bases, with shortstop Nasim Nunez leading the individual category with 46 steals. There is a lot of traffic on the basepaths when the Nationals are up!
The Angels came to DC for three games last weekend. The Nationals continued their season-long trend of winning games against the league’s lesser teams by taking all three from the 58-94 Angels. Future first-round Hall of Famer Mike Trout led off the series by hitting a homer in the first inning of game one off Cade Cavalli. Trout has had a successful season playing center, hitting well, and staying healthy. The Nats overcame that homer and won 4-3.
The second game was far more exciting than it should have been. Andrew Alvarez threw seven innings of one-hit baseball and left with a 4-0 lead. That kind of game should be a lock but the bullpen collapsed again and the game went to extra innings. The Nationals won 6-5.
Alvarez has pitched so well (a 3.35 ERA) that he should be the clear #2 in the rotation next season behind Cavalli. Connelly Early has been rehabbing his elbow but showed enough talent with the Red Sox this season before the Nationals traded for him that he should be #3. That just leaves two solid free agents the Nationals need to sign in the offseason for a pitching rotation they can win with.
In game three the Nationals were down 4-2 in the eighth inning but they pushed four runs across, highlighted by a Daylen Lile triple, and then held on for a 6-5 win after the Angels got a run back in the ninth. The Nationals finished with 13 hits.
The Phillies followed the Angels into town and the Nationals split the unusual two-game series. On Tuesday Lile hit a tie-breaking pinch hit, three-run homer in the seventh to give the Nats a 6-3 lead. The bullpen was solid for two innings and that lead held up. The Wednesday game was decided by Phillies starter Zack Wheeler who gave up four hits and no runs in seven innings, and the Phillies’ 101 mph bullpen. Lile had two of those hits, keeping him the team’s hottest hitter.
As the season nears the end there are a lot of positives to take away. Go see a game against the Mets and enjoy the team one more time.
