The Nationals needed improvements all across the board to snap their three-game losing streak. Following last night’s 10-0 blowout loss to the Cardinals in the series opener, they needed better pitching and better offense.

Unfortunately, they got neither in their fourth straight loss, this one by a score of 4-2 with frustration mounting on an otherwise lovely 72-degree spring day in the District.

Recently, it had been the sixth inning that has buried the Nationals, with their opponents scoring a combined 18 runs in that frame over the last 11 games. But today, their woes came around much earlier.

After a perfect first inning on 12 pitches, Trevor Williams labored through a 35-pitch second that resulted in the Cardinals jumping out to an early 4-0 lead.

With one out, the right-hander, who was looking to right his own ship, hit a batter and issued a walk. A forceout at second put runners on the corners, but with only one out needed to get out of the inning.

After last night’s postgame roster move of releasing right-hander Lucas Sims, the Nationals have found a replacement in their bullpen.

Zach Brzykcy was recalled this afternoon from Triple-A Rochester for an extended stay in the Nats ‘pen after serving as the 27th man for Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Guardians.

“Great. Obviously, it's good to be back here. But yeah, I'm just trying to do my best to stay here,” the right-hander said in the Nats clubhouse four days after he left to go back to Triple-A. “I feel good. Knee's good, arm's good.”

Brzykcy, an undrafted signee out of Virginia Tech, missed all of the 2023 season after Tommy John surgery. But he bounced back to make his major league debut at the end of last year, proving himself to be a hidden gem in the Nats' farm system.

He entered this year as a candidate to make the bullpen on the Opening Day roster, but an ankle injury set him back. After finally making his season debut with the Red Wings, he pitched to a 2.35 ERA with 14 strikeouts, three walks and a .207 opponents’ batting average in eight appearances.

The Nationals would like nothing more than to shake off Friday night’s blowout loss to the Cardinals with a lopsided victory of their own this afternoon.

Where do they begin? Let’s start on the mound.

After Mitchell Parker’s rough outing, Trevor Williams makes his eighth start of the season. The right-hander is 2-3 with a 5.86 ERA and 1.613 WHIP on the year. He has been charged with five and four earned runs in his last starts, so he will also be looking to right the ship.

The lineup, meanwhile, will look to score their first runs of the series after being shut out for just the second time this season by old friend Erick Fedde, who threw his first career complete game Friday night.

The Nats' bats will try their luck against Andre Pallante, who makes his eighth start of 2025. The 26-year-old right-hander is 2-2 with a 4.75 ERA and 1.528 WHIP. However, he’s a different pitcher on the road: He’s 2-0 with a respectable 3.52 ERA at home, but 0-2 with a 5.66 ERA away from Busch Stadium.

For the second time in the last week, Michael Soroka has met the Nationals in D.C. from his minor league rehab assignment. And for the second time in the last week, he doesn't know when or where his next start will take place.

Soroka dominated Friday during his third rehab start while working his way back from a right biceps strain. He struck out 11 hitters over five innings of one-run ball, while reaching his goal of 94 pitches for Triple-A Rochester.

“I felt pretty good,” Soroka said in the Nats clubhouse Monday afternoon. “Everything was coming out pretty good and I can't complain about that. Ultimately, we got to the full pitch count. Yeah, I felt really good.”

The veteran right-hander then threw his between-starts bullpen session at Nationals Park yesterday, so the team will wait to see how he responds today before making a final decision on whether or not to return him to the major league rotation.

“He threw the ball really well. He's good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “So we'll see how he feels tomorrow, and we'll make a decision, hopefully tomorrow.”

Josh Bell will sit for the third straight game while dealing with a groin issue that kept him out of the lineup for the final two matchups in Cincinnati.

The Nationals designated hitter tweaked his right groin muscle running out a ground ball in the seventh inning of Friday night’s loss to the Reds. Manager Davey Martinez kept the 32-year-old out of the lineup for the final two games against the Reds as a precaution, especially due to the bad weather all weekend at Great American Ball Park.

But although Bell is feeling better, Martinez continues to practice caution, sitting him again for the opener against the Guardians, his former team.

“He's doing better. I'm being very cautious,” the skipper said during his pregame media session. “We have played in some bad weather. He's a big guy, so I want to make sure that he's OK. But he's definitely doing better. Yesterday he said he was a lot less sore than he was the day before, so that's good.”

Bell has struggled to start the season, hitting .139 with a .528 OPS in 30 games. Although, he is third on the team with five home runs and 14 RBIs. With him sidelined, Alex Call (and his .875 OPS) has the chance to play more, and is manning left field tonight while James Wood serves as the designated hitter.

After three straight rain-delayed games in Cincinnati, the Nationals return home to … more rain.

Yes, the weather for tonight’s series opener against the Guardians does not look promising, with thunderstorms projected to hit the area all night. The good news is this is the first game of this three-game set. The two teams play again tomorrow night and are scheduled to play a 12:05 p.m. game on Wednesday, leaving plenty of room for a possible doubleheader.

And although they would prefer not to lose an off-day, neither team is scheduled to play on Thursday, so could play each other then if need be.

Jake Irvin is slated to make his eighth start of the season tonight, bringing a 2-1 record, 4.01 ERA and 1.125 WHIP to the mound. After a stretch of three consecutive strong outings, the right-hander was roughed up in his last start, allowing six runs in six innings against the Phillies.

Luis Ortiz will take the mound for the Guardians. The 26-year-old right-hander is 2-3 with a 4.78 ERA and 1.406 WHIP in his first six starts with Cleveland since being acquired via trade in the offseason.

Michael Soroka summoned a small group of media members to his locker yesterday afternoon. He knew his presence in the Nationals clubhouse was noteworthy, but he also had other things to do like meet with trainers, manager Davey Martinez and pitching coach Jim Hickey. He wasn’t sure how much time he would be available, so he wanted to give reporters time to ask him some questions.

An always considerate Canadian.

Soroka, who has been on the 15-day injured list since suffering a biceps strain during his March 31 season debut against the Blue Jays in his home country, had just returned to D.C. from his second rehab start with Double-A Harrisburg. His red Senators hat was in his locker where his red Curly W cap would usually reside.

The veteran right-hander, who signed a one–year, $9 million contract over the offseason, completed 4 ⅓ innings with four hits, two runs, one walk and four strikeouts while throwing 78 pitches in his outing Sunday afternoon against the Erie SeaWolves (Tigers). He surrendered a leadoff home run on an unfortunate ball that seemed to get caught in the wind to carry out of the park. But it was still an improvement from his first rehab start in which he gave up two runs in 2 ⅔ innings on Tuesday.

“Better actually. I kind of made some adjustments a little quicker,” Soroka said. “A couple weird things going on, a little wind ball in the first inning, and kind of had to settle in a little bit. And yeah, found a good rhythm and made some good pitches and found some good shapes. I threw a lot of changeups for strikes, got the pitch count up and felt good at the end. So a successful day.”

Already possessing an impressive 9-6 record at home against high-quality opponents, the Nationals entered today’s finale against the Mets looking to put the cherry on top of an encouraging homestand.

With two dramatic, come-from-behind wins over the weekend, they had already secured at least a split of this four-game, wraparound series. But one more win, ideally without needing late-inning rallies, would give them three victories in four games against the team with the best record in baseball.

Unfortunately, the Nats fell behind again. And unlike Friday and Sunday, there were no theatrics in this 19-5 blowout loss to the Mets in front of an announced crowd of 14,011 on a sunny afternoon in the District.

“It was a good game til it wasn't,” manager Davey Martinez said after the loss. “The bullpen came in and had a rough day today. But we had our chances early offensively. Just once again, as I always say, when we chase, nothing good comes out of it. So we got to stop chasing, especially with guys on base. We gotta get good pitches to hit. When we do that, we're pretty good.”

The Nationals' offense, which combined to score 13 runs and collect 29 hits over the first three games, once again had no issues creating scoring chances. But the bats looked more like the ones that were shut out 2-0 on Saturday instead of the ones that put up hard-fought rallies Friday and Sunday.

The Nationals are looking to win three of four games against the Mets, the hottest team in baseball. To do so in Monday’s late afternoon finale of this four-game wraparound series, manager Davey Martinez is trotting all four of his outfielders into the starting lineup.

James Wood will serve as the designated hitter against Mets starter Griffin Canning. Alex Call takes over left field while Jacob Young and Dylan Crews remain in center and right, respectively.

Wood has now been in the Nats’ starting lineup for all 29 games to start the season. But this will only be the fourth time he’ll serve as the DH, which has been a part of the team’s plans to keep the big outfielder fresh and healthy after he dealt with left quad tendinitis during spring training.

“As we know in spring training, he had a little (quad) issue. So every now and then, I want to try to get him a DH day,” Martinez said of Wood during his pregame media session. “I think he's played in every game this year. But I talked to him, and he loves to play. But I think in order to keep him healthy and keep him going, DHing him one day and keeping him off his feet is good.”

Wood has slashed .257/.361/.543 with a .904 OPS, a team-leading eight home runs and 10 RBIs. And while he has -1 Defensive Runs Saved, per FanGraphs, in left field, that is already a major improvement from the -7 he posted last year.

After two dramatic come-from-behind victories over the weekend, the Nationals are now in position to win three out of four games against the Mets, who entered this series with the best record in the majors while riding a seven-game winning streak.

On a picture-perfect afternoon in the District, the offense will look to score enough runs early so late-inning rallies won’t be necessary. To do that, they’ll have to get to right-hander Griffin Canning, who enters his sixth start of the season with a 3-1 record, 3.12 ERA and 1.385 WHIP, before getting another crack at the New York bullpen that can’t seem to hold these bats in check.

Or perhaps Trevor Williams and the Nats’ improving bullpen can shut down this Mets lineup one more time, negating the need for an offensive explosion. Williams is 1-2 with a 5.11 ERA and 1.581 WHIP in six starts so far this year. The right-hander is 3-2 with a 3.83 ERA and 1.441 WHIP in eight career starts against his former team, but did not face them last year.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB Network (out-of-market only), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 74 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
DH James Wood
2B Luis García Jr.
1B Nathaniel Lowe
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Dylan Crews
3B José Tena
LF Alex Call
CF Jacob Young

When we look back on it days, weeks, months, even years from now, Friday night’s 5-4 win over the Mets may seem like just an ordinary divisional victory for the Nationals. But those who watched and lived it know it was so much more.

After a 3-0 lead vanished in the eighth inning, what had started as a positive night had suddenly turned a heartbreaking one with the Nats down by one run with only six outs to go.

But the Nationals prevailed with a ninth-inning rally, thanks in large part to the bottom of the order and the team’s young stars. It was all capped off by the first walk-off hit of James Wood’s young career.

So much happened last night, it couldn’t possibly be processed in one post. Let’s take some time to revisit some of the finer points of the Nats’ best win of the season to date …

Jake Irvin shows toughness in strong start
Although it is easy to forget, we should remember that the Nats almost lost their starting pitcher to injury two batters into the game.

The Nationals’ home schedule has been difficult on paper to date. All five opponents who have come to D.C., including the Mets for this weekend’s wraparound series, entered the year with high aspirations of playing in October. And all five, with the exception of the Orioles, started today above .500.

The combined record of the Phillies, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Orioles and Mets entering today was 71-53, good for a .573 winning percentage. The Nats’ record against those first four daunting opponents: 7-5, good for a .583 winning percentage.

This young Nationals squad has done what they said they would do from the start of spring training: Show their stuff against the top dogs in the league.

And just when they thought their eighth victory against a tough opponent was snatched away from them, this young Nationals group put together a ninth-inning rally to walk off the Mets 5-4 in a truly wild game in the District.

“A little tick for tack,” said manager Davey Martinez after one of the craziest wins in his career. “I'm proud of the boys. They fought. We talk about that all the time. We played hard for 27 outs and we fought. Man, I'll tell you right now, CJ (Abrams, who scored the winning run) was hauling ass. He really was. I don't know how else to explain it, but that was awesome to see.”

Cade Cavalli took the mound for his second rehab start Thursday night while starting the season on the 15-day injured list and pitched to some very encouraging results.

Moved up to Double-A Harrisburg, the right-hander completed five scoreless innings with two hits, one walk and four strikeouts on an efficient 69 pitches, 43 of which were strikes.

“Very good. He threw the ball exceptionally well,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said ahead of his team’s opener against the Mets. “I think his average velo was up to about 96 (mph). He threw the ball really well. Curveball was very good. He was trying to land it for strikes; he did that very well. So he's just building himself up. He's doing well.”

Cavalli’s first rehab start, as he continues to build his way back from March 2023 Tommy John surgery, came on April 19 with Single-A Fredericksburg. On that night, he completed four shutout innings with one hit, two walks, three strikeouts on 46 pitches, 29 strikes.

When asked where he would like to see Cavalli’s fastball velocity to be during these rehab starts, Martinez referenced the famous signs at last year’s spring training that hung in the bullpen and read, “I don’t care how fast you throw ball four.”

After taking two of three from the Orioles, the Nationals welcome another familiar foe – and a couple of former friends – to D.C. in the Mets. This four-game wraparound series provides another difficult home test for the local ballclub.

The Mets are the fifth visiting team the Nats will face that entered the season with October aspirations as they hold the best record in the major leagues. And of course, Juan Soto returns to Nationals Park for the first time wearing a Mets uniform after signing to his record-breaking contract over the offseason.

Gotta beat the best to be the best.

Jake Irvin will take the mound for his sixth start of the season in Friday’s series opener. The big right-hander is coming off back-to-back strong starts in which he shut out the Pirates over seven innings and then struck out nine Rockies over 6 ⅓ frames.

The last time Irvin faced the Mets in this ballpark, he shut them out over eight innings of one-hit ball with eight strikeouts on the Fourth of July.

The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network made a huge announcement this morning that will make Nationals and Orioles games more accessible to local fans.

MASN announced that starting today the network will begin offering a direct-to-consumer streaming option called MASN+. Fans can subscribe for $19.99 per month or $89.99 for the remainder of the 2025 regular season to receive MASN and MASN2 content.

That includes being able to stream every available Nationals and Orioles game, “Classics” episodes for both teams, “Nats Xtra” and “O’s Xtra” pre- and postgame shows, and all other MASN programming.

MASN+ will allow in-market fans to watch Nationals and Orioles baseball with no blackouts and no required cable or satellite subscription or contract. Fans can subscribe to MASN+ by visiting MASNsports.com here or the MASN app available on iOS and Android mobile devices, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku.

MASN and MASN2 will continue to be available via cable and satellite providers.

About 2 ½ years ago, Cole Henry’s career in professional baseball faced a major setback. After thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in August 2022, the idea of him pitching again came into serious question. And his chances of making the major leagues with the Nationals were slim-to-none.

But the right-hander continued to work his way back, trying to overcome a procedure that had consumed the careers of Stephen Strasburg, Will Harris, Matt Harvey and others.

One thing Henry had going for him was his age. He was only 23 when he had the surgery, so he had more time to recover his body, which hadn’t yet been worn down by numerous professional seasons. That also meant, however, he had a whole career ahead of him that could possibly be taken away before it ever really started.

Henry wouldn’t let it.

After years of rehab and carefully planned pitching schedules, Henry finally got the call to the majors this past weekend and made his big league debut Sunday against the Marlins.

MIAMI – It’s become a tradition unlike any other when the Nationals visit Miami. It’s for an unfortunate reason, but it’s still a welcomed sight nonetheless.

For the third year in a row, while recovering from his March 2023 Tommy John surgery, Cade Cavalli made the trek down from West Palm Beach to meet the Nats at loanDepot park.

In the past, Cavalli has met the Nats there to be around the team fresh off his surgery or to throw in front of the major league coaches during his rehab. But this time, instead of showing Davey Martinez and Co. how he has progressed in his recovery, Cavalli was showing them how he’s ramping up for the season.

Cavalli threw a two-inning sim game in West Palm Beach on Tuesday, totaling 35 pitches with his fastball sitting between 94-97 mph. He then threw an “in-between-starts” bullpen session Friday to get ready for his next “outing,” which should be at some point today back at the team’s spring training facility.

“It was great,” Cavalli said of his sim game inside the Nats clubhouse Friday afternoon. “It's always good being able to be back on the mound and pitch. We threw on Wednesday two innings, and then we have another one coming up on Monday. I threw a bullpen today. Arm's responding well, stuff feels good. So very excited.”

MIAMI – On Opening Day, MacKenzie Gore flashed the electric stuff that could make him one of the elite starting pitchers in baseball. Against a tough Phillies lineup, he struck out a career-high and Opening Day club-record 13 batters over six shutout innings.

Outings like that are the ceiling for the 26-year-old left-hander. The plan for him this season is to raise his floor by being more consistent throughout the year.

Today’s outing against the Marlins, unfortunately, epitomized the inconsistency Gore tends to battle.

In an 11-4 loss to the Fish, Gore had an up-and-down start throughout his six innings. Here’s how he fared in each frame in terms of pitches thrown and runs allowed: nine and zero, 25 and one, six and zero, 27 and two, 15 and zero, 23 and one.

That added up to eight hits, four runs, three walks and seven strikeouts on 105 pitches, 64 strikes.

MIAMI – The Nationals made another roster move ahead of Sunday’s finale against the Marlins, placing right-hander Orlando Ribalta on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to April 10) with a right biceps strain and recalling right-hander Cole Henry from Triple-A Rochester.

"It'll be his first time in the major leagues, we're excited about that," manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame media session. “He's a guy that could give us some multiple innings. He threw the ball really well in spring training. So he gets an opportunity to come up here and help us win games out of the bullpen.”

Ribalta, 27, hasn’t pitched in a game since Tuesday, when he threw 58 pitches over three innings in a bullpen-game win over the Dodgers. But after that outing, he told the Nats his arm was feeling tight and he wasn’t recovering as he normally does.

“A couple days ago, he was throwing and he said he just felt tight,” Martinez said. “So I said, 'Hey, just take your time. Keep throwing, see what we got. Go work with the trainers.' He just didn't rebound very well. This is day three or four now, so we just decided to put him on the IL and give him some time.”

The 6-foot-7 reliever had an MRI this morning and will go back to D.C. to start building up strength while the team heads to Pittsburgh. The Nats are hopeful Ribalta can play catch when they get back from this 10-day road trip.

MIAMI – The Nationals can still leave South Beach with a series win over the Marlins. Hopefully, they’ll get a complete team effort today to close it out.

MacKenzie Gore will lead the charge on the mound. The left-hander is 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA, 1.059 WHIP and a league-leading 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings. Gore held a tough Dodgers lineup to just two runs with seven strikeouts over six innings in his last start. He’s set up to have another good day today, coming in with a 2-1 record, 2.22 ERA, 0.781 WHIP and 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings in four career starts against the Marlins.

The Nationals offense will look to stay hot against Cal Quantrill. The right-hander is 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA and 1.444 WHIP over two starts to begin his first year with the Marlins. But after giving up six runs in four innings against the Mets, he shut out the Braves over five frames in his last start. The seven-year veteran is 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA and 1.177 WHIP in four starts against the Nats.

Davey Martinez should have all of his high-leverage relievers available today to shut the door late if needed.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot park
Gametime: 1:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 7 mph in from left field