As the bottom of the fifth came to a close at windy, gray Nationals Park late this afternoon, the home team finally had reason to feel encouraged for the first time in this four-games-in-48-hours series against the Braves. Brad Lord had tossed five scoreless innings to continue his September resurgence. The lineup had figured out Atlanta starter Hurston Waldrep at last, scoring three runs in rapid fire to take the lead and snap a 15-inning scoreless streak.

And then Miguel Cairo sent Lord back to the mound for the top of the sixth, a curious decision in the moment that only looked worse when the rookie right-hander gave up hits to two of the three batters he faced before getting pulled.

Not that the bullpen performed any better. Clayton Beeter really turned the top of the sixth into a mess, the Braves ultimately scoring four runs before tacking on two more against newly promoted reliever Sauryn Lao and three more off Shinnosuke Ogasawara to hand the Nats a thoroughly frustrating 9-4 loss that completed a miserable three days at the park.

When this series opened Monday evening, the Nationals trailed the Braves by four games at the bottom of the National League East standings, still with a shot at catching them for fourth place before season’s end. Four straight losses to Atlanta, however, dashed any hope of that and left the Nats at 62-91, matching their loss total from each of the previous two years with nine games still to be played.

"It's never easy to lose," rookie right fielder Dylan Crews said. "We want to win every single day, trust me. We want to go out there and win every single time we walk out onto that field. But we've got to fix some things. We've got to command the strike zone a lot better, from both sides. We do that, a lot of good things happen."

With the season series tied 3-3 and seven games scheduled between the two teams over a 10-day stretch in the season’s final two weeks, the Nationals entered this four-games-in-three-days series with a chance to close the gap between themselves and the Braves before the end of the year.

Last night’s 11-3 drubbing was a setback, but the Nats have not one, but two chances to get back in this long set with today’s split doubleheader. But by dropping the first game, which was rescheduled from a May 21 rainout, 6-3 on this Tuesday afternoon, the Nats now must win tonight to avoid the twinbill sweep and the possibility of a four-game sweep in tomorrow’s finale.

Much like Monday night’s starter Mitchell Parker, Jake Irvin entered this afternoon’s start looking to build any positive momentum before the offseason.

For a moment, it looked like Irvin had something going to start this one. With so much talk about his velocity being down this year (his four-seam fastball has averaged 92.3 mph this season), he struck out Matt Olson with a 95.1 mph heater and touched 94 mph during his strikeout of Drake Baldwin in the first inning, stranding Ronald Acuña Jr. after a two-out single.

Irvin then stranded runners on the corners with back-to-back strikeouts in the second, but his pitch count was already up to 41. And with a 2-0 lead in the third, he induced a double play ball and stranded Acuña again after the Braves slugger hit a comebacker off Irvin’s left foot and the 6-foot-6, 234-pound starter did a somersault while trying to field the ball and throw to first.

The Nationals knew all along James Wood was going to strike out a lot. And truth be told, when you glance at baseball’s strikeout leaderboard, you see a bunch of names with serious star power: Kyle Schwarber, Rafael Devers, Cal Raleigh and Shohei Ohtani all rank in the top 10 this season. Most high-strikeout guys are also high-production guys.

At the top of the list, though, stands Wood, who tonight tied and then broke the Nats’ club record with his 199th and 200th strikeouts of the season.

Ah, but there's more to Wood’s game than whiffs and called third strikes. He may not be producing in the second half of the season the way he did in the first, but he still has the ability to impact ballgames by impacting the baseball with extreme force. And, as it turns out, by firing baseballs to the plate from his position in left field.

Sure enough, what did Wood do tonight after striking out in his first two at-bats? He doubled twice, each of them coming in key moments that helped the Nationals rally from three runs down to take a three-run lead against the Pirates. And then, just when it looked like Jose A. Ferrer was about to blow his first save opportunity since becoming the closer more than a month ago, Wood fired a perfect strike to the plate to nail the potential tying run in the top of the ninth, helping secure the Nationals' 6-5 victory.

"He does insane things I've never seen players do before," third baseman Brady House said of his fellow 22-year-old. "It's almost like, it's awesome that he got the out, but I wasn't surprised at all. It's James. He does things that you can't imagine sometimes." 

It’s been a long season, and given what occurred in July, it would be understandable if any Nationals fans out there saw their interest in the team wane in the ensuing months.

But if you’ve lost track, or have just turned your attention to football, it’s worth noting that we have now officially reached the home stretch of the 2025 season. The Nats have only 16 games left to play, which equates to one-tenth of the season.

It’s pretty much too late for anyone to change the narrative of the season as a whole, or on any individual level. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still a few things at stake over these final two weeks. Here are several to keep an eye on (when you’re not watching football) …

* James Wood’s homers and strikeouts
It’s been an incredibly disappointing second half for the young star. Go back to July 3, and he was on pace for 43 homers, 125 RBIs and 190 strikeouts. Now, he finds himself needing to homer three more times just to finish with 30, to drive in 12 more runs just to get to 100. As for the strikeouts, well, that rate has skyrocketed. He’s already at 198, well ahead of his previous pace. That means he’s only one shy of Adam Dunn’s single-season club record from 2010. More concerning, he’s only 25 away from Mark Reynolds’ major-league record of 223 from 2009 with the Diamondbacks.

* CJ Abrams’ push for 20-30
Abrams is sitting on 17 homers, so he needs three more to match last season’s total of 20. He’s already got 30 stolen bases, so he just needs to hit for some power to join the 20-30 Club for the second straight year.

MIAMI – James Wood is getting a rare day off, the Nationals slugger finding himself on the bench for tonight’s series finale against the Marlins.

It’s only the fourth time in his big league career Wood hasn’t been in the Nats’ starting lineup. All four have come within the last two months, since interim manager Miguel Cairo replaced Davey Martinez.

Why tonight? Cairo described the decision as involving a combination of Miami’s starting pitcher (left-hander Ryan Weathers) and the artificial turf at loanDepot Park.

“We’re playing on turf, and I want to make sure,” Cairo said. “He’s been DHing, playing the outfield. I told him whenever Ryan Weathers was going to pitch, I was going to give him a little break for his knees and his body. Believe me, he’s been playing a lot, and he’s been unbelievable. One day won’t be bad for him.”

Wood started the first 174 games of his career before sitting July 13 in the Nationals’ first half finale in Milwaukee. He also was held out of the lineup July 28 in Houston and Aug. 17 against the Phillies (though he came off the bench for one at-bat in that one).

As summer turns to autumn and a long-lost baseball season approaches its conclusion, the Nationals must cling to whatever bright spots remain. And there may be no bigger bright spot the rest of this month than the one that continues to follow Cade Cavalli nearly every time he takes the mound.

Cavalli has been far from perfect, and his most recent start at Yankee Stadium was downright ugly, but there still has been far more good than bad from the finally-healthy right-hander. And there was a lot of good tonight during the Nats’ 5-2 victory over the Marlins.

Bouncing back nicely from that seven-run, four-homer barrage in the Bronx last week, Cavalli shut down Miami’s lineup over five strong innings, a 75-pitch outing that probably could have continued if not for the team’s caution in extending the 26-year-old too much as his healthy-to-date season nears the finish line.

Cavalli’s efforts tonight – with some offensive help from James Wood (two-run homer), Daylen Lile (double, RBI single), Riley Adams (RBI double) and Jacob Young (2-for-2, RBI, stolen base) – earned him his second career win in his seventh career start.

Don’t let the lack of victories, though, overshadow Cavalli’s true performance so far. He has now allowed three or fewer runs in four of his six starts this season. He has notched 28 strikeouts and only eight walks in 29 2/3 innings.

A crowd of 26,148 at Nationals Park spent all afternoon looking for a reason, any reason, to cheer for the home team.

The home team provided few such moments. The only significant crowd reactions for most of the day, if you want to call them that, came when security guards corralled and escorted two fans who ran onto the field in separate incidents during the course of the Nationals’ 4-1 loss to the Rays.

Such disruptions have been incredibly rare in the 18 seasons of the ballpark’s existence. Far less rare: Tepid offensive performances like the one the Nats put on display today during their seventh straight loss.

Though they narrowly avoided getting shut out for the 12th time this season thanks to an eighth-inning run, the Nationals never came close to mounting any kind of serious threat against Tampa Bay’s pitching staff until that point. Through seven innings, they totaled one hit and four walks, nothing else. They never put more than one runner on base in any individual frame, going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position one day after going 0-for-12 in those situations in the series opener.

"It's about preparation," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "We still have young kids. Young, talented baseball players here. They're learning. But you've got to go out there and execute your plan. The pitchers don't dictate what you're going to swing, first of all. You've got to have a plan. If it's not your pitch, OK, let it go. But if it's in the strike zone, you've got to be ready to hit."

The Nationals could have made a significant decision ahead of Friday night’s series opener against the Rays. With Thursday’s off-day, they could have chosen to skip Mitchell Parker’s spot in the rotation while keeping the other four starters on normal rest, allowing the struggling left-hander to work on some things with some extra time before his next start.

Instead, they chose to keep him in his spot, with interim manager Miguel Cairo saying before the game Parker needs to pitch.

So he did pitch, and in fact he pitched very well, albeit in a 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay.

“It was nice to see him pitch like competing," Cairo said of Parker. "He was throwing strikes. He was attacking the hitters. … It was nice to see him come back and be who he can be. And it was really good to see that.”

Parker entered tonight with a 12.00 ERA and 1.952 WHIP over his five August starts, with the Nats winless in all of those outings. But he at least kept his team in the game by turning in his first quality start since July 19 against the Padres.

NEW YORK – The Nationals can’t get out of New York City fast enough. They entered this afternoon’s finale against the Yankees 0-5 in the Big Apple this year after being swept by the Mets in a three-game series at Citi Field in June and dropping the first two games of this set at Yankee Stadium.

And they will remain winless in New York until their next trip to Queens in September after an 11-2 blowout loss, their third straight to get swept by the Yankees and their fifth straight defeat overall.

Just about everything that could have gone wrong for the Nationals today did. They couldn’t manufacture runs. They couldn’t prevent the Yankees from scoring. And they suffered injuries along the way, adding salt to an already wide-open wound.

If the power differential between these two teams wasn’t on display enough earlier this week, it definitely was in this finale.

The Yankees entered today with a major league-leading 219 home runs, while the Nats only had a measly 125 for the third-fewest. New York had already hit four to score eight of their 15 runs over the first two games. Washington had scored four of their six runs on one swing, Jacob Young’s ninth-inning grand slam Monday night.

NEW YORK – Daylen Lile continues to be away from the Nationals while dealing with an illness. The young outfielder will miss his third straight game and stay at the team hotel in New York after “throwing up a little bit and not feeling good” over the past couple of days, according to interim manager Miguel Cairo yesterday.

Cairo provided a non-update update on Lile before tonight’s second game at Yankee Stadium, saying the Nats want the rookie to feel 100 percent better before he returns to the field … and to the clubhouse as to not get anyone else on the team sick.

“He was feeling a little better. Still a little under the weather,” Cairo said during his pregame media session. “We just want to give him one more day. Until he feels that he can do something, we're (not) going to bring him over here. We didn't want to get the rest of the team sick. But hopefully he's better and he'll come back tomorrow.”

That leaves the Nationals short-handed once again in The Bronx with the other four young outfielders available and in the starting lineup tonight against reigning American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil.

James Wood remains in left field, Jacob Young is in center and Robert Hassell III is in right, while Dylan Crews serves as the designated hitter for just the second time in his young career.

NEW YORK – The Nationals will be short one of their young outfielders tonight as they begin a three-game series against the Yankees.

Daylen Lile is out of the starting lineup for the second straight game while dealing with an illness, interim manager Miguel Cairo revealed during his pregame media session. James Wood is starting in left field, Jacob Young in center and Dylan Crews in right as Robert Hassell III serves as the designated hitter for the first time in his young major league career.

“We don't have a Lile,” Cairo said. “He's been a little sick, so he's been out yesterday and today because of that. But besides that it's the same lineup.”

Lile was not seen around the Nats clubhouse before tonight’s game, with the Nats probably keeping him away from the rest of the team to prevent the disease from spreading to his teammates. This will be the first game Lile has missed since Tuesday’s opener against the Mets back home.

“He was throwing up a little bit and not feeling good,” Cairo said. “So hopefully he's ready tomorrow. We just want to make sure he's fine.”

PHILADELPHIA – When James Wood grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth Sunday afternoon, there was plenty of reason for the Nationals slugger to be disappointed in himself. That 4-6-3 twin-killing may have brought home his team’s first run of the day, but it spoiled a golden opportunity to score a lot more than that during what wound up a 3-2 loss to the Phillies.

The real surprise about Wood’s at-bat, though, was the fact he actually made contact yet didn’t record a hit in the process.

In one of the stranger weekend performances you’ll ever see, Wood finished the series 4-for-12 with one walk and seven strikeouts. Do the math, and you’ll figure out the unusual part of this: Every batted ball he produced turned into a hit, until that killer ground ball to second. He struck out in every other at-bat.

Wood has worked hard to snap himself out of the prolonged slump he was mired in through most of July and into the early stages of August. He entered Sunday’s game batting .304 with an .886 OPS over his previous 14 games, looking much more like the best version of himself from the season’s first half.

But he’s not all the way back. Because while Wood is finally hitting the ball hard again, he’s not hitting the ball enough overall, leading to a gargantuan strikeout total.

PHILADELPHIA – Three-fifths of the Nationals rotation is giving them a chance to win right now. The other two-fifths is not, and that has become a real problem.

While MacKenzie Gore, Brad Lord and Cade Cavalli have offered the organization legitimate reason for short-term and long-term encouragement with their pitching performances, Jake Irvin and Mitchell Parker haven’t come close to matching their teammates’ numbers. It would be one thing if those two were at least gutting out five or six innings and keeping the score close, but even that has become a challenge.

It happened to Parker during Saturday night’s loss to the Phillies. And it happened to Irvin this afternoon during a 3-2 loss to the National League East leaders.

It certainly didn’t help matters that the Nats lineup was rendered helpless by Philadelphia left-hander Ranger Suárez, who struck out a career-high 11 batters over seven scoreless innings. But Irvin’s inability to complete even three innings made it feel like this game was much more one-sided than it actually was.

This is the recurring theme for the Nationals at this stage of the season. Over the last 2 1/2 weeks, they’ve gone 7-2 in games started by Gore, Lord and Cavalli while going 1-7 in games started by Irvin and Parker.

PHILADELPHIA – They gave themselves another chance at another dramatic rally inside a sold-out Citizens Bank Park, in spite of the large hole Mitchell Parker dug for his teammates. The Nationals chipped away at the big deficit, got themselves to within two runs and had a chance to tie the game (or even take the lead) late against the Phillies' bullpen for the second straight night.

Perhaps it’s a good reminder just how special Friday night’s come-from-behind win was, though. These things generally don’t happen every night. And, in fact, it didn’t happen again tonight, the Phillies hanging on for a 6-4 victory to even the weekend series and set up a rubber match here Sunday afternoon.

The Nationals, who stormed back in the top of the ninth against Jhoan Duran in the opener, couldn’t make lightning strike twice, though they sure gave it a try. Brady House doubled and Robert Hassell III singled with one out off the All-Star closer, bringing the big boys to the plate representing the go-ahead run. But Duran managed to strike out James Wood and get CJ Abrams to line out to left to end the game and secure his seventh save in eight tries since his acquisition from the Phillies.

Few opponents have proven as tough on Duran as the Nats, though, who have now faced him six times in the last four weeks alone (the first two when he was still with the Twins). They've managed to bat .381 (8-for-21) against him, dramatically better than the .199 mark the rest of the sport has against him this year.

"I think we know we can beat this guy," Hassell said. "We know that anyway, but actually seeing it last night, coming into tonight, we were pretty confident."

With a chance to win a series against a playoff team, the Nationals needed a strong offensive showing against an opposing left-handed starting pitcher.

Yes, the Nats roster right now is heavy with lefty bats. And the right-handed options haven’t consistently produced. But something needed to change after David Peterson came within one inning of tossing a complete game against the Nats for the second time this season.

“We've got to do something about it,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said after Tuesday’s 8-1 loss to Peterson.

Luckily, Peterson wasn’t on the mound this afternoon. Instead it was veteran Sean Manaea, who entered the game with a 7.98 ERA over his three August starts. And it was off this southpaw that the Nats were finally able to score some runs en route to a 9-3 victory in front of an announced crowd of 20,127 on a cloudy, misty and unusually chilly August day in D.C.

Facing a 3-0 deficit in the fourth, the Nats lineup, with only three left-handed hitters, started chipping away at Manaea. They loaded the bases and got on the board thanks to a Dylan Crews groundout, but stranded two runners in scoring position, leaving a golden opportunity on the field.

In these, the dog days of August during a miserable season, there are still distinct glimmers of light for the Nationals. For all the chaos they’ve endured this year, there remain more than a few prominent young core players who still have the ability to make 2025 meaningful in the larger picture.

And when they come together like they did today during a 2-0 victory over the Phillies, it reminds suffering fans and team employees alike there’s still some hope for what lies ahead.

"The pieces are there," James Wood said. "We've just got to continue to learn and grow. I think wins like this are great. I think everyone in this locker room here knows we have the potential to play with anybody. It's just a matter of doing it consistently, and stringing together days like today."

It was right there for 36,042 paying customers to see on a steamy Saturday afternoon, with Cade Cavalli authoring seven scoreless innings against one of the most intimidating lineups in baseball. It extended to the batter’s box, where the Nationals scored both of their runs in the bottom of the fifth via Wood’s two-out double, with recent first-round picks Dylan Crews and Brady House coming around to score.

And it was even there on the mound for the final two innings, with Jose A. Ferrer recording the final six outs for his third career save, the young lefty retiring the Phillies’ biggest names to lock up the victory and ensure at least a four-game weekend split against the National League East leaders.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – This road trip started off well for the Nationals, who won two of three in San Francisco over the weekend. Alas, now they find themselves needing a win this afternoon to avoid a sweep in Kansas City. How quickly things change.

The Nats have been hitting on the trip. They’ve averaged 5.3 runs and 11.8 hits over the last four days. James Wood (8-for-19, four doubles, one homer, seven RBIs) has been a big part of that, and it’s been great to see the big guy look like himself again after the worst slump of his brief career. They’ll try to continue the trend today against veteran right-hander Seth Lugo, who recently signed an extension with the Royals but has been unable to get out of the fifth inning in each of his last two starts, giving up seven runs to the Twins on Friday.

Jake Irvin has also been shaky his last two starts, with nine runs allowed over 9 1/3 innings against the Brewers and Giants. The right-hander has seen his ERA jump to 4.90, and he has surrendered a league-leading 26 homers now. He needs a bounceback this afternoon, and the key may be as simple as getting through a clean first inning. His ERA in that opening frame is a gargantuan 9.75. After that, it’s a very respectable 3.86.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Where: Kauffman Stadium
Gametime: 2:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 2 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
LF James Wood
SS CJ Abrams
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Josh Bell
1B Nathaniel Lowe
RF Daylen Lile
C Drew Millas
3B Brady House
CF Robert Hassell III

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Had anyone asked Mitchell Parker this afternoon if he would’ve been satisfied with a performance tonight that included only five batters reaching base against him in 5 1/3 innings, the Nationals left-hander probably would’ve embraced that outcome in a heartbeat.

The Royals went just 2-for-17 against Parker in this ballgame. They drew three walks as well, but on paper that shouldn’t have been enough offense.

Alas, it was more than enough. Because on this night, all the home team needed to do was reach base to guarantee runs on the scoreboard, which is how Kansas City emerged with an 8-5 victory over the Nats despite totaling only six hits in the game.

Every single batter who reached against Parker eventually came around to score, making for an odd pitching line, but nevertheless a losing one.

"It still sucks. It's still a loss," he said. "I gave up a couple runs and set them in motion to kind of run away with it."

SAN FRANCISCO – Maybe it was the cool air blowing out towards the bay, the clear blue sky welcoming everyone to summer in San Francisco. Maybe it was just time for things to stabilize again for a Nationals team that looked lost, defeated and deflated in its first week following a tumultuous trade deadline.

Whatever the case, back-to-back day games at Oracle Park provided the recipe for a much-needed, get-right weekend for the Nats, especially their biggest stars.

Today’s 8-0 thumping of the Giants saw MacKenzie Gore look like MacKenzie Gore again, the left-hander striking out 10 over six scoreless innings to bounce back from a wretched stretch of four substandard starts.

It saw CJ Abrams look like CJ Abrams again, the shortstop launching a two-run homer off the right field foul pole, then singling and scoring again later.

And along with Saturday’s 4-2 win, James Wood looked like James Wood again, the slumping slugger recording a homer and three doubles to drive in six runs (four of them coming during today’s game).

SAN FRANCISCO – Amazing what a difference a day makes. The Nationals showed up at Oracle Park on Saturday morning reeling from back-to-back shutout losses. Then James Wood led off the game with his first homer in a month, and they were on their way to a 4-2 victory over the Giants that featured power (three solo homers), a quality start by Brad Lord and solid bullpen work. And just like that, they now have a chance to win the weekend series this afternoon.

It will require a major bounceback performance from MacKenzie Gore, though. The left-hander is in a bad place right now, having allowed six or more runs in three of his last four starts, including eight runs on 12 hits last time out against the Athletics. During that stretch, Gore has seen his ERA skyrocket from 3.02 to 4.29.

Would you believe that’s actually identical to Justin Verlander’s ERA? The veteran right-hander has not enjoyed a good season here in San Francisco, and there’s pressure on him to get himself back on track before it’s too late. The Nationals will try to jump on him today and give their ace an early lead. Miguel Cairo’s lineup once again features Wood in the leadoff spot, but it also once again is missing Luis García Jr. (still dealing with back tightness).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: Oracle Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 67 degrees, wind 13 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
LF James Wood
SS CJ Abrams
DH Josh Bell
2B Paul DeJong
1B Nathaniel Lowe
C Riley Adams
RF Daylen Lile
3B Brady House
CF Jacob Young