Nats win Cavalli's return to majors with Abrams' walk-off single (updated)

Anyone inside Nationals Park this afternoon who claimed to know what to expect from Cade Cavalli’s first major league start in nearly three years was guilty either of wishful thinking or doom-and-gloom soothsaying.

Truly, there was no way to know what would happen when the soon-to-be 27-year-old took the mound for the first time since Aug. 26, 2022, because every piece of evidence since then offered conflicting clues.

Between major elbow surgery, several setbacks in his rehab, several dominant starts and several ugly starts at Triple-A Rochester over the last three months that all added up to a 6.09 ERA, Cavalli’s road back to D.C. was anything but smooth. The Nationals gave him the ball tonight hoping for the best but acknowledging the worst was equally possible.

And then, lo and behold, the organization’s 2020 first-round pick went out there and pitched exactly as he and everyone else had long dreamed about at the sport’s highest level. With the best repertoire of pitches any of this team’s starters has displayed in some time, Cavalli tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings during what wound up a 2-1, walk-off win for the Nationals over the Athletics.

CJ Abrams’ bottom-of-the-ninth RBI single to left scored Robert Hassell III, who was aggressively waved around third by Ricky Gutierrez and slid in ahead of an off-line throw by A’s left fielder Tyler Soderstrom. And the Nats celebrated for the first time in a week, having snapped a six-game losing streak in dramatic fashion.

"It means a lot," Cavalli said. "It's been a long almost three years now. It was just great being on that mound again. There's been a lot of leadup to it. I've pictured that day a lot. I'm just glad it was finally here, and that we were able to get a win."

Cavalli didn’t last quite long enough to qualify for the win, but he wouldn’t have been credited with one regardless because his counterpart, Jeffrey Springs, carried a perfect game into the sixth inning. Riley Adams finally put a stop to that nonsense with a leadoff homer to left, one that tied the game at 1-1 and matched Soderstrom’s solo homer off Konnor Pilkington from the top half of the inning.

"I was able to get to 3-2, and I didn't think he was coming at me with a breaking ball to potentially give up the no-no or anything like that," Adams said. "Just happy I was able to make contact. To put a run on the board was huge."

The game remained knotted into the late innings, putting pressure on the Nationals’ massively struggling bullpen to pitch in a rare high-leverage situation. That group pulled through, with Cole Henry recording three outs, Shinnosuke Ogasawara recording four outs in a surprise setup appearance and Jose A. Ferrer making his first closer-like appearance in the ninth inning of a tie game.

"That's my closer right there," interim manager Miguel Cairo said with a wide smile, finally revealing Kyle Finnegan's replacement six days after the trade deadline passed. "Now you get to see it. That was my closer right there."

Thanks to that unexpected bullpen performance, the Nats came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth with a chance to walk it off. And Robert Hassell III immediately ignited the rally with a double down the right field line off Michael Kelly, one that that popped out of Colby Thomas’ glove on a desperation diving attempt.

Jacob Young was unable to get three bunt attempts down, so that left Hassell at second base for Abrams. The leadoff man sent a soft liner to left, and Hassell seemed to get a late jump on the play. That didn’t stop Gutierrez from giving him the go signal, an aggressive move that paid off when Soderstrom’s throw came up short and to the left of the plate.

"I was just thinking: Go! Go! Go!" Abrams said. "Just trying to get a fastball. Got one down the middle and went the other way with it. Shout out to Hassell for the hustle."

Cavalli’s 2022 debut came on a ridiculously muggy August evening in the nation’s capital, and he suffered as a result, sweating through his jersey and cap and losing his grip on the ball several times during a laborious, 4 1/3-inning start. How relieved must the right-hander have been, then, when he stepped onto the field tonight and experienced unseasonably lovely conditions (75 degrees, with a dew point of 63)?

Whether it was the weather or simply an ability to control the emotions swirling through his mind, Cavalli went right to work and set a positive tone for the outing. He retired the side in the top of the first on 13 pitches, striking out a pair and barely breaking a sweat in the process.

"These last three years, I've been trying to build my mind for that moment," he said. "I've visualized it a lot. So when I got out there, I was just ready to rock."

He kept it going throughout, ultimately retiring the first eight batters he faced before someone finally reached base (via a Paul DeJong error). There would be a few more baserunners along the way, but no damage of any real consequence. All three of the Athletics’ hits were mere singles. One batter reached via walk.

This was about more than the results, though. Cavalli wasn’t just getting guys out. He was doing it with elite stuff: a three-pitch repertoire that included a fastball that averaged 97 mph and topped out at 100 mph, a curveball that averaged 86 mph and a changeup that averaged 89 mph. From a pure "stuff" standpoint, this looked very much like peak Stephen Strasburg, a comparison that can’t be lightly made.

"It's electric stuff," Adams said. "Touched 100 there; the fastball's electric. I didn't even realize the curveball was touching upper 80s until I was seeing some of the highlights there. That's not a comfortable at-bat when he's commanding all those pitches."

"I'm going to tell you: That's as elite as you can get right there," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "I know he was feeling a little good, because he was away from the big leagues and from pitching on this stage for a while. It was nice to see him go out there and perform like that."

Cavalli used all three of those pitches to induce 19 whiffs off 52 total swings, and he notched at least one strikeout on each of them, totaling six altogether.

The only drawback to his night? An elevated pitch count that wasn’t really his fault. Two errors by Nationals infielders (DeJong, Abrams) added 10 pitches to the tally. And a 13-pitch battle by Gio Urshela in the top of the third drove up the total as well. That was enough to convince Cairo to walk to the mound with one out in the fifth and pull his starter after 88 pitches (59 of them strikes).

"It was getting to that point where I didn't want him to face (A's rookie left-handed slugger Nick) Kurtz again," Cairo explained. "That was the third time around, and he's a very dangerous hitter against righties. So I didn't want to take that chance."

Cavalli walked back to the dugout to a big ovation from the crowd, tapped his heart and gestured toward the sky. Once he toweled off, he found rotation mate Jake Irvin waiting to give him an extended hug, surely proud of his fellow Oklahoma Sooner and fellow Tommy John survivor on this, his return to the major leagues.

"He's been the guy that I go to with a lot of questions," Cavalli said. "He's been through this, and to see what he's doing now has been awesome. He's been a leader for me in my life. I just was grateful to see him at the end of the dugout and embrace that moment with him."