Nats shut out in emotional season finale (updated)

Few individual baseball games carry the kind of emotions that come with Game 162. For those involving teams still fighting for the chance to play in October, it’s the ultimate blood-pressure test. For everyone else, it’s the ultimate feel-good day, a chance to chase some personal milestones and say goodbye to those who aren’t returning the following spring.

For the Nationals, Game 162 this afternoon fell squarely in the latter category. They had nothing to play for. Neither did the White Sox.

That didn’t mean there wasn’t still plenty of emotion inside Nationals Park, where a crowd of 22,473 honored the retiring Bob Carpenter and Michael A. Taylor while interim manager Miguel Cairo and his coaching staff worked through what was likely their final game in their current positions.

Throw in the brief scare of a perfect game being thrown by Chicago starter Shane Smith, and there was plenty to care about in an otherwise insignificant game.

The Nationals avoided that ignominy, but barely did so. They managed one baserunner in nine innings during an 8-0 shutout loss to wrap up a 66-96 season that represented a five-game drop-off from back-to-back 71-win seasons in 2023 and 2024.

They actually had a shot at a winning record in September (to go along with a winning record in May) but wound up 13-13 during this final month.

"We're trying to finish strong, no matter what," rookie outfielder Dylan Crews said. "We're trying to come out here and get a win, especially on one of our guys' last days here. We wanted to do something special. Obviously, we didn't do that today. It was kind of a rough day for us."

The afternoon began with Carpenter (calling the final game of his 42-year major league announcing career, the last 20 for MASN) throwing out the ceremonial first pitch to broadcast partner Kevin Frandsen. The entire Nationals team then paused before the game’s first pitch to tip their caps to an unsuspecting Carpenter in the TV booth high above home plate, leaving him speechless for several seconds and openly wondering how he was supposed to now call a ballgame.

But pro that he is, the 72-year-old announcer did his job for the next 2 1/2 hours, even if there wasn’t much action on the field to raise his voice about. When the bottom of the ninth arrived, he made sure to get all his thanks and goodbyes in.

"I just want to thank everybody watching for letting us, and letting me, into your living rooms, your dens, wherever you're carrying your devices around, for the last couple of decades. I really appreciate it," Carpenter said to close out his last broadcast. "It's been a privilege to be your friend, to be your broadcaster. And I don't know what else, other than: See. You. Later."

This undoubtedly will be remembered as a positive year for Brad Lord, the 18th-round pick who not only made the Opening Day roster but stayed on it for the full 162 games, twice shifting from a relief to a starting role. The 25-year-old proved along the way he had the stuff, the stamina and the versatility to be successful in any role, putting himself squarely in the mix for a job somewhere on the 2026 pitching staff.

The final start of Lord’s rookie season, however, was anything but memorable. Lasting only four innings while throwing 80 pitches, he was thrice victim to the longball. Miguel Vargas took him deep in the first. Brooks Baldwin took him deep in the fourth. So did Dominic Fletcher, who drilled a two-run shot off the signage above the right field bullpen to give the White Sox a 5-0 lead.

Thus did Lord depart having surrendered five runs, his third-highest total of the season. All three of those duds came over the last six weeks, turning a 3.26 ERA in mid-August into a 4.34 ERA by late September.

"It was a season full of challenges, ups and downs," Lord said. "But I felt like I was able to handle it pretty good. It sucks for it to end this way; it kind of leaves a sour taste. But I'm just going to use that as motivation going into the offseason to get better at things."

Trailing 5-0, the Nationals already faced a steep uphill climb. It became steeper when Shinnosuke Ogasawara gave up two more runs in the fifth, retiring only one of the five batters he faced to conclude a disappointing first season in the majors that included a 6.98 ERA in 38 2/3 innings.

The only drama after that involved the Nats lineup’s futile attempt to do anything against White Sox starter Smith. The Rule 5 draft pick retired the first 16 batters he faced with ease, seven via strikeout, and entered the top of the sixth with a paltry pitch count of 56.

With Carpenter (whose stated favorite call in 20 seasons was Steven Souza’s diving catch in the ninth inning to secure Jordan Zimmermann’s no-hitter on the final day of the 2014 season) surely hoping he wasn’t about to say goodbye calling a no-hitter for the opposing team, Brady House finally put an end to that unnecessary drama with a line drive single to right in the bottom of the sixth, the crowd sighing with relief.

"He threw a good game," said shortstop CJ Abrams, who grounded out three times. "We had one hit. Tip your hat."

Attention then turned to James Wood, who was trying not to make his own history with what would’ve been the worst single-game showing of his career. Entering the day with 218 strikeouts, he would’ve needed to whiff five times to match Mark Reynolds’ all-time major league record set in 2009 with the Diamondbacks. It seemed impossible, but when Wood struck out in each of his first three at-bats, the thought began creeping back into everyone’s mind.

The only saving grace: Because Smith mowed down the entire lineup with such ease, the odds of Wood even getting a chance to come up to bat a fifth time were slim. And in the end, Cairo didn't even give him a chance to bat a fourth time, sending Nasim Nuñez up to pinch-hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Nuñez proceeded to strike out looking, the Nationals' 13th strikeout of a dismal Game 162 that now sets up some major changes to come before they take the field again in 2026.

"It was a privilege and honor to have that talented team fight every single day," Cairo said in what was likely his final postgame press conference. "We went through a lot of stuff this year, and they came and played their butt off every single day until the end. To witness that every single day, battling every pitch, every inning, every single game, I told them it was an honor for me. ...

"They've got a bright future ahead of them. They're going to get better, and they're going to be dangerous."