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Nationals Notebook: We’ll always have March

By Dave Preston

Remember March 2026 when the Washington Nationals jumped out to a 3-2 start and actually spent four days in first place of the National League East? Those were fun times.

A lot more fun than what we are dealing with this week. Unfortunately a pitching staff that owns an ERA of 6.04 can’t make six run efforts stand against lineups that made the playoffs last season.

The Nats were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the two-time defending World Series champions put 31 runs on the board to negate decent production at the plate by the Nats (17 runs).

From starters coming up short to relievers imploding, it was a rude awakening in D.C. And until the pitching can deliver nine straight solid innings, it’s going to be a long April.

Digesting the Division: Miami (6-3) has taken an early half game lead, thanks in part to the bat of Liam Hicks. The catcher’s three homers and 12 RBI have him well on his way to passing the six and 45 he posted last season as a rookie. Atlanta (6-4) and the New York Mets (6-4) are tied for second after the Braves dropped a pair of one run games over the weekend at Arizona while the Mets outscored San Francisco 24-5 while taking the last three games of their series. Philadelphia (5-4) has won four of five to climb out of the cellar, while Washington (3-6) returns to the place they resided from last June 24 onward.

O’s Woes: Baltimore (3-6) got swept over the weekend by Pittsburgh, with Sunday’s 8-2 loss sparked by former Oriole slugger Ryan O’Hearn’s four RBI. The Birds’ bats have had little trouble finding their way on base (their .337 OBP ranks seventh in MLB) but have had issues getting home (their 32 runs are tied for 19th in the big leagues). This week they face San Francisco and the Chicago White Sox.

Diamond King of the Week: Foster Griffin made a great first impression in his first two starts of the season, striking out 11 while allowing three runs over 10 innings.

Last Week’s Heroes: CJ Abrams hit .333 with three homers and 10 RBI while Luis Garcia Jr. batted .346 with six RBI. Offseason pickup Jorbit Vivas may be wearing the number 84, but the infielder went .455 at the plate. Starter Cade Cavalli allowed one run over six innings in his lone start of the week.

Last Week’s Humbled: Miles Mikolas tossed 15 strikes in 23 pitches over his first two innings against the Dodgers Friday before coughing up 11 runs over his next 2.1 frames, ballooning his ERA to 14.46 on the season. Jake Irvin allowed six runs over four innings in his start, while reliever Cionel Perez allowed five runs over two thirds of an inning in his two outings (67.50 ERA for those scoring at home). The catching combination of Keibert Ruiz and Drew Millas combined to hit 4-for-23.

Game to Watch: Tuesday the Nats face St. Louis and pitcher Matthew Liberatore who’s posted a 1.64 ERA in his two starts this year. Cavalli has pitched well in both of his regular season outings and this game has the potential for an interesting mound matchup.

Nationals get strong outing from Griffin, hold off late Brewers rally to win 3-1

By The Associated Press
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Foster Griffin didn’t allow a hit through five innings and hot-hitting James Wood drove in a pair of runs as the Washington Nationals held off the Brewers 3-1 on Saturday night, handing Milwaukee its fourth consecutive loss. Griffin held the Brewers hitless until a lead-off single by Joey Ortiz, Milwaukee’s No. 9 hitter, in the sixth. Milwaukee eventually loaded the bases in the inning but came up empty when pinch-hitter Jake Bauers grounded out against Brad Lord, who relieved Griffin. Griffin (2-0), who returned to the majors this year after spending three seasons in Japan, pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings, giving up one hit. He struck out one and walked three in the 80-pitch outing. Lord and Cionel Perez pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings before turning it over to Clayton Beeter, who notched his second save in three tries but had to pitch out of trouble. After surrendering a lead-off homer in the ninth to William Contreras, Christian Yelich struck out swinging on a wild pitch and ended up at second. The Brewers eventually loaded the bases with two outs before Ortiz grounded out to the mound to end it.
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