The Nats bullpen inherited a lead and held on for good in Tuesday night's 5-4 win over the Pirates. Mark (From Pittsburgh) & Al begin with CJ Abrams, who continued his recent surge with a solo homer and two other hits.

(08:00) James Wood drew pair of walks out of the leadoff spot, but did strike out three times. Brady House came through with a single and a double in the victory.

(12:45) The offense is averaging 5.8 runs per game through 17 games.

(14:30) Miles Mikolas took over for the Opener PJ Poulin and lasted for three plus innings. Mikolas' ERA thus far is an astounding 11.49 in four appearances.

(19:00) Mitchell Parker had an excellent outing just hours after being activated to the Washington roster.  Parker tossed two shutout innings and struck out five Pirates in the process.

(26:30) The Nationals are 8-9 and will try and get to .500 on Wednesday evening.  Jake Irvin will take the mound in Pittsburgh.

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The Nats were crushed by the Pirates 16-5 on Monday night. Mark (From Pittsburgh) & Al run through Cade Cavalli's rough outing; as he was pulled in the bottom of the 2nd. Cavalli allowed four runs in the 2nd and was lifted in favor of Paxton Schultz.  Paul Skenes meanwhile lasted six frames and only allowed a CJ Abrams solo homer.

(10:00) The bullpen had an awful night as Pittsburgh scored ten runs in the bottom of the 6th.  Jackson Rutledge had the roughest evening of all relievers as he gave up seven runs in less than two innings of work and was sent back down to AAA after the loss.

(17:30) Cole Henry and Ken Waldichuk were each placed on the IL and Waldichuk might be facing Tommy John Surgery, pending a 2nd opinion.

(21:40) Abrams' OPS so far is 1.024 on the season and he is in the top 20 of MLB at the moment.

(23:00) Jacob Young went deep while hitting 5th in the lineup.

(26:10) Miles Mikolas is slated to start on Tuesday night, but we will see how long Blake Butera gives him the ball.

(29:30) An update from AAA by Josh Whetzel, the Voice of the Rochester Red Wings. 

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The Nats pulled off their first series sweep in Milwaukee since 2006 on Sunday afternoon. Mark & Al dissect the 8-6 victory that saw more production from James Wood at the plate.  Wood went deep for the 5th time this season and his OPS has shot up to 1.005. Wood also stole home as part of proper execution of "The Play".

(09:00) Jose Tena & Curtis Mead each came through with RBIs as pinch-hitters in the top of the 7th.

(14:10) Jacob Young had a single and double in the victory and his OPS is an encouraging .789.

(17:30) Zack Littell allowed three runs and all of them came off of solo homers in five innings of work.

(22:05) Ken Waldichuk left the mound while holding his pitching arm in pain.  Waldichuk had Tommy John surgery previously in 2023.

(27:40) Gus Varland notched the save and it seems like that position is still up for grabs.

(30:10) The Nationals move their road trip to Pittsburgh and the first game on Monday will feature Paul Skenes vs. Cade Cavalli. 

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The Nats won their second straight game in Milwaukee on Saturday night.. Al solo hosts after the 3-1 victory and begins with Foster Griffin's shutout effort that lasted into the bottom of the 6th. Griffin issued three walks but only allowed one hit on 80 pitches.

(06:00) Brad Lord relieved Griffin and struck out the side in the 7th. The Brewers didn't score until the 9th, but Clayton Better did just enough to record the final outs.

(10:40) The offense collected eight hits, and the biggest was James Wood's 2-run double in the top of the 5th to open the scoring.

(14:00) Washington made way too many outs on the bases, five into total, and three of them were due to pick-off throws.

(17:45) Tim is joined by the great Scott Jackson from Priority Lexus Sports Radio 94.1 in Virginia Beach. Nats Chat airs every Sunday morning on the station from 9-10AM. Hear about the unique sports market and how the locals feels about Ryan Zimmerman, who attended Kellam High School in Virginia Beach. 

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The Nats began their road trip with a 7-3 victory in Milwaukee on Friday night. Al & Mark have more praise for James Wood, who came through with four hits in the win.  Wood had a pair of singles and a couple of doubles to lift his OPS to .930.

(04:00) Washington used plenty of small ball including two RBI sacrifice bunts in the top of the 9th. The game was tied at 3 entering the final frame, but the Nationals scored four runs in the 9th.

(11:20) Brady House is showing more plate discipline so far this season. This leads to a conversation about new technology the organization is utilizing with their hitters.

(17:15) Jake Irvin had a mixed outing where he allowed three runs in the bottom of the 1st after inheriting a 2-0 lead.  Irvin then settled down and lasted five frames, with five strikeouts along the way.

(23:00) A strong night for the bullpen as four relievers each tossed a scoreless inning vs. the Brewers. Clayton Better took over in the bottom of the 9th after being given a four run lead. 

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The Nats ended a disappointing 1-5 home stand on Wednesday afternoon. Mark & Al analyze the 6-1 loss against the visiting Cardinals that meant the team has dropped seven of their past eight games.

(05:00) Miles Mikolas was pulled after the 3rd inning in favor of Brad Lord.  Blake Butera afterwards said he wanted Lord to get more work on the mound and that the plan was for Mikolas to face the St. Louis lineup just twice. Will the tandem type start become more normal for the franchise in the near future?

(13:10) Cionel Perez allowed a run in the top of the 7th and his ERA so far is up to 13.50.  The 'pen got beat up all series vs. the Cardinals and Wednesday was no different.

(17:20) The offense had a quiet game and the only run came from an early Luis Garcia Jr. RBI forceout. James Wood was the only player with multiple hits as he had a pair of doubles.

(22:00) Washington is off on Thursday and on Friday will begin their two-city road trip in Milwaukee.  They will face the Brewers this weekend and then open a four game series in Pittsburgh on Monday.

(25:30) Davey Lopes, who had a distinguished career in Baseball, passed away this week at age 80. Lopes stole a ton of bases as a player and later on had two stints as the Washington Nationals 1st Base Coach (2006, 2016, 2017). 

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The bullpen's shaky start to the season continued in Tuesday night's 7-6 extra inning loss vs. the visiting Cardinals.  Mark & Al discuss this continuing theme where the 'pen can hang onto the multi run lead it inherits in the middle of the game.

(06:00) Are there any answers for Blake Butera on how to handle this bullpen?

(12:40) Cade Cavalli had an inefficient start as he was lifted in the top of the 5th.  Cavalli issued four walks and allowed a pair of Cardinals runs in his 3rd outing of the season.

(17:10) James Wood homered for the 3rd straight games and his OPS has drastically changed in the past few days (.820).

(19:45) Curtis Mead went deep in the 5th to briefly put Washington ahead 3-2. Mead has hit well so far in a sample size; mostly against lefties.

(23:20) The offense has slugged 16 homers in 11 games, which is a far better pace than the past few seasons.

(26:30) Nasim Nunez stole his 7th base of the year and has not yet been thrown out.  The Nats swiped five bags on Tuesday night and are 14 of 16 thus far. 

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The Nats snapped their five game losing streak in exciting fashion on Monday evening in Navy Yard. Mark & Al recap the 9-6 come from behind victory over the Cardinals that was propelled by a trio of homers in the bottom of the 8th.  

(04:00) James Wood did it both with the glove and that bat in the victory.  Wood robbed a homer at the fence in the 4th and then his 3-run HR tied the affair in the 8th.

(12:30) Brady House continued his hot start with a huge performance at the plate on Monday night. House hit the go-ahead 2-run HR and also raked a pair of doubles vs. St. Louis pitching.  House's OPS so is a very impressive .983 thus far.

(16:25) CJ Abrams slugged the final homer in the pivotal six run bottom of the 8th. Abrams has 13 RBIs thus far and is tied for the MLB lead in that category.

(19:40) Is Nasim Nunez the permanent man at 2B?

(22:45) Zack Littell made his first start of the season (opener used the other day) and struck out six in five frames. Littell lasted only 70 pitches, indicating that he is likely not fully ready for the season.

(25:00) The bullpen had another tough night as they combined to allow five runs. Cionel Perez did come through with a scoreless top of the 9th in order to preserve the victory. Andre Granillo gave up a pair of runs in the 8th and was sent to AAA following the game. 

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The Nats were swept on Sunday afternoon as they could not protect their 6-1 lead in what ultimately ended being an 8-6 loss at the hands of the visiting Dodgers.  Al & Mark look at the bullpen faltering over the course of the final four innings after taking over for Foster Griffin.  Things went sideways in the top of the 8th as Cionel Perez allowed four runs that gave the Dodgers the lead for good.

(07:00) Blake Butera mentioned that L.A. was all over Perez and that he they noticed that he was tipping his pitches.

(13:10) Will there be personnel moves in the bullpen soon?

(16:45) James Wood connected on a 3-run HR to put Washington up by five runs.  Wood did strike out in the bottom of the 9th and he has at least one K in all nine games so far this season.

(23:30) Luis Garcia Jr. hit a 2-run HR for the early edge and his OPS so far is .883. Garcia has not 2B at all so far and has exclusively been slotted at either 1B or DH.

(28:10) Griffin pitched well and put the Nationals in a position to win before the bullpen blew it.  The Florida native pitched  the past three seasons in Japan and made his his MLB debut for the Royals in 2020.

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The Nats dropped their 4th straight on Saturday afternoon to the two-time defending champion Dodgers in a 10-5 loss. Al & Tim discuss Jake Irvin's rough outing where he allowed six runs in just four innings of work.  Irvin is coming off a poor 2025 season where his ERA finished at 5.70.

(07:30) Brad Lord gave up a 3-run homer to the red hot Andy Pages after entering the game for Irvin in the 5th.

(12:15) CJ Abrams homered for the 3rd time this season and  already has 12 RBIs.

(15:00) James Wood struck out twice and he has a K in every game so far this season.  Afterwards, Blake Butera acknowledged that Wood is not "in sync" and is constantly behind in counts.

(23:30) Tim shares his observations from Opening Day in this new era for the franchise.

(28:00) Will we have another 40K+ crowd on Sunday in the series finale vs. LA?

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