-1745819772711.png){kind=logo}
ATLANTA – The Nationals had just one game remaining on the road portion of the 2025 schedule. With a victory this afternoon, not only would they end this six-game losing streak to the Braves, but they would also finish with a road record that is one game better than last year’s.
Things have rarely been easy for the Nats this year. But with an overall solid pitching performance and three home runs from some big sluggers, this was as easy of a victory they’ve had in a while.
Andrew Alvarez had a solid start through 4 ⅓ innings, Josh Bell and James Wood combined for three homers, and the Nats held on for a 4-3 win over their division rivals in front of an announced crowd of 32,898 at Truist Park.
“It was nice to get a .500 road trip," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "That was awesome to take two out of three against the Mets and 1-2 here. It was awesome. The guys fight. We put some barrels on the ball. Good pitching from the bullpen, from the starting pitcher. So it was a team win.”
Alvarez entered his fifth major league start looking to bounce back from his first tough outing last week in New York, when he gave up six runs (four earned) over 3 ⅓ innings against the Mets.
The 26-year-old rookie didn’t have his best stuff, but he was crafty enough to induce a lot of weak contact. And despite not consistently landing pitches in the strike zone – he threw only 42-of-83 pitches for strikes – he managed five strikeouts against a dangerous Atlanta lineup.
Alvarez’s day started off strong with a perfect first inning on 16 pitches. He struck out Jurickson Profar with an 82 mph slider and Ronald Acuña Jr. with a 92 mph fastball after running the count full to both.
He gave up his first baserunners in the second, but stranded both. He then six of the next seven batters he faced to get him to the fifth inning.
But that’s where Alvarez then ran into real trouble. Michael Harris II led off with a single, then moved to second on a wild pitch and stole third. After a one-out walk to Nick Allen, interim manager Miguel Cairo decided to not have Alvarez face the top of the Braves order a third time and turned it over to Mitchell Parker.
The starter-turned-reliever almost made a mess of the inning by walking Profar on four pitches to load the bases and get a visit from Jim Hickey. But Parker got Matt Olson to pop out and then got Acuña to ground into a force out to end the threat.
"Just everything that we just kind of wanted to do going into the game," Alvarez said. "I didn't do a great job of getting ahead and got behind and walking guys, so that was super frustrating. And not going deep into the game. But positives, Mitch was able to come in and get a zero in that fifth and we were able to keep the lead. So that was good.”
Alvarez finished what is likely to be his last outing of the year with 4 ⅓ shutout innings, two hits, three walks and five Ks. His major league ERA is down to 2.31 over his five starts.
“I'm super grateful," he said. "I'm super thankful for the Nationals organization and the front office for giving me an opportunity and a chance up here. I'm just super grateful.”
The Nats built themselves a three-run lead through the first 5 ½ innings. They recorded three straight hits off Braves starter Bryce Elder in the first, with the last being an RBI single up the middle by Daylen Lile to score CJ Abrams.
Bell then led off the fourth inning with his 21st home run of the season. He launched a 1-1 fastball 108.7 mph off the bat and 429 feet to center field to double the Nats’ lead.
“Him and (Paul) DeJong are the veterans that we need, that we keep in here," Cairo said. "They've been helping me big time with the young kids. The way they go about their business, how they prepare, how they get ground balls, how they go about their work every day. If I was one of those young kids, I would be watching how they prepare, how they go about their business, because that's the guys that have been playing for eight, nine years in the big leagues and had some success before.
Wood followed with the same feat leading off the sixth for a 3-0 lead. Swinging away in a 2-0 count, the big slugger hit a sinker from Elder 111.6 mph off his bat and 445 to dead center field for his 29th homer of the season.
Wood then homered in his next at-bat for his 30th of the season. He hit a similarly placed slider from reliever Tyler Kinley at 109.2 mph off his bat and also dropped it 436 feet in center field. He has now homered in three of his last five at-bats.
“It's definitely cool," Wood said of reaching 30 homers in his first full major league season. "It's something I was reaching towards and kind of scaring myself a little bit. But it feels good to get it.”
Today was also the second straight game Wood did not strike out, still leaving him eight behind Mark Reynolds’ major league strikeout record.
“It definitely feels a lot better going into the offseason, knowing that you kind of got out of the other end of it, instead of kind of feeling like you're searching going into the offseason," he said of his up-and-down season. "So it's good to have something that you can kind of stick with going in the offseason, for sure.”
Julian Fernández served up a leadoff homer to Drake Baldwin in the bottom of the sixth. Clayton Beeter walked the first two batters in the seventh and allowed them each to move up a base on a wild pitch, but then struck out Olson, Acuña and Baldwin, all on 88 mph sliders to get out of the jam.
“He's been one of the top high-leverage relievers," Cairo said of Beeter. "He showed us that he can come in the seventh or the eighth and dominate. He's a strikeout reliever. And you see, he walked two guys and he struck out the side.”
Jackson Rutledge did serve up a solo homer to Marcell Ozuna in the eighth, but Wood’s two longballs were enough to stave off a Braves comeback. Despite giving up a home run to pinch-hitter Eli White on the first pitch, Jose A. Ferrer locked down his 10th save to close out the victory.
“He's been amazing," Cairo said of Ferrer. "In the eighth, in the ninth, as a short reliever. He's getting the chance to close the game. And he's a good closer.”
The Nats finish the season 34-47 on the road, one win better than last year. Even with three games remaining this weekend against the woeful White Sox, the Nats can’t match their 38-43 home record from 2024.
So in a season full of disappointment, they’ll take any small improvements they can get.
“What I know, we went 3-3 on this road trip, and we got a W today," said the interim skipper.
