That the Nationals found themselves in a position to win tonight’s game against the Phillies was a testament to MacKenzie Gore’s intestinal fortitude over six gutsy innings and the lineup’s ability to actually make Zack Wheeler work enough to knock him out after only five.

These two division rivals, residing at opposite ends of the NL East, were tied heading into the seventh before a boisterous, Friday night crowd of 35,143. It was about as much as the Nats could have asked for under the circumstances.

The problem: A Nationals bullpen that causes heartburn even when at full strength was without its two most reliable arms. So what happened next couldn’t have shocked anyone in the building, especially when considering the opponent.

Back-to-back home runs by Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper off Konnor Pilkington flipped the game in the top of the seventh, the Phillies’ big boys taking down a rookie member of the Nats’ relief corps en route to a 6-2 victory on a steamy August evening in Navy Yard.

"Look, you know you've got to play well against that team. Because if you don't, they can beat you up," Gore said. "I think just understanding that going in ... a tough loss tonight, but I think we all did a good job of that."

As the latter stages of Thursday night’s game was playing out, Cole Henry started to get the sense he was going to be the man holding the ball for the top of the ninth.

With interim manager Miguel Cairo using new closer Jose A. Ferrer to face the heart of the Phillies lineup with a one-run lead in the eighth, Henry was told by bullpen coach Ricky Bones to prep himself to pitch the ninth for the first time in his career.

“I was just preparing mentally,” the rookie reliever said. “And hopefully whenever they call the phone, it was gonna be me to do it.”

A few tense minutes later, Henry was pounding his glove in celebration, his teammates gathering at the mound as the stadium lights at Nationals Park turned red to commemorate the team’s 3-2 victory, the 26-year-old having notched his first career save in the process.

It wasn’t a perfectly clean inning. Henry surrendered a leadoff single to Max Kepler, then saw him advance to third base on a sacrifice bunt and a ground ball to the right side. That left the tying run 90 feet with Trea Turner at the plate. With the crowd standing, Henry won an eight-pitch battle with the former Nats star shortstop, striking him out on a sinker that ran way in on his hands and left Turner helplessly flailing at it.

The Nationals sent a message when they designated struggling first baseman Nathaniel Lowe for assignment this afternoon to make room for Dylan Crews’s return: "We want to see the young kids. ... We want to see what they can do,” said interim manager Miguel Cairo ahead of tonight’s four-game series opener against the Phillies.

Sure enough, Cairo started four of his five young outfielders, with James Wood serving as the designated hitter, Daylen Lile playing left field, Jacob Young in center and Crews back in right.

But it was another young player Cairo chose to start tonight that came up clutch for the Nats against this veteran Phillies squad in a 3-2 comeback victory in front of an announced crowd of 21,609 on South Capitol Street.

“I gotta tell you, that's a game that you look at it and it's like a playoff game," Cairo said after the win. "That's the way you play games like this. Good pitching, good defense, opportune hitting. It was nice to see our pitchers, our defense, our hitters really engage in the game and doing the little things. That's what we did today. They picked each other up.”

Of the five young outfielders, three of them are left-handed hitters, so one of them figured to sit to start this one. The odd-man out was Robert Hassell III. And Cairo also figured this was a good time to give shortstop CJ Abrams a breather after he played 24 straight games and with tough left-hander Jesús Luzardo starting for the visitors. So Paul DeJong started at shortstop and José Tena started at second base for just his fifth appearance since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester 2 ½ weeks ago.

Way back on March 27, the 2025 season began with the Nationals hosting the Phillies and an Opening Day pitchers’ duel between MacKenzie Gore and Zack Wheeler. On that 57-degree afternoon, Gore authored the best start of his career, retiring 17 of 18 batters, 13 via strikeout, to outduel Wheeler (who allowed only one run on two hits in six innings himself).

Tonight, we get the rematch on a hot and muggy, August evening, the Nats’ season having long since gone awry while the Phillies have soared into first place in the NL East. Gore went through his own slump recently, but he bounced back in a big way Sunday in San Francisco, shutting out the Giants over six innings with 10 strikeouts. The lefty will try to keep things going tonight against Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Co.

Wheeler, who leads the league in WHIP and strikeouts to go along with a 2.68 ERA, faces a Nationals lined that scratched together three runs to win Thursday night’s series opener but would love to do more than that tonight with James Wood, CJ Abrams and Dylan Crews all in the lineup together for the first time since May 20.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 84 degrees, wind 6 mph in from right field

PHILLIES
SS Trea Turner
DH Kyle Schwarber
1B Bryce Harper
C J.T. Realmuto
RF Nick Castellanos
CF Harrison Bader
2B Edmundo Sosa
3B Otto Kemp
LF Weston Wilson

When Ethan Petry was selected as the Nationals’ second-round pick a month ago, he had no idea he would stick out like a sore thumb among the organization's first five picks. The University of South Carolina product was the only player of the Nats’ top-five selections to play in college.

The Nats’ first five picks all landed in both MLB Pipeline’s and Baseball America’s latest rankings of the organization's top 30 prospects. But the experienced Petry (No. 8 per Pipeline, No. 6 per Baseball America) has been the only one to get his professional career rolling, making his Single-A Fredericksburg debut on Tuesday with a hit, a run and a walk as the designated hitter.

“I'm really excited to start my career here with the Nationals,” Petry said Wednesday on the “District Chat” podcast. “Last night, got the win for Fredericksburg and just really excited to have the opportunity to play for the Nationals.”

Petry’s experience at South Carolina helped put him on a faster track to the pros than his high school draft classmates. The 21-year-old hit .321 with 10 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, 34 RBIs, 26 walks and 30 runs scored in 44 games for the Gamecocks in 2025. He posted a .437 on-base percentage and a .590 slugging percentage while leading the team in home runs and ranking second in RBIs and walks.

Facing pitchers with similar or less experience in the Carolina League hasn’t been too hard.

The Washington Nationals returned from rehabilitation assignment and reinstated outfielder Dylan Crews from the 60-day Injured List and designated first baseman Nathaniel Lowe for assignment on Thursday. Nationals Interim General Manager Mike DeBartolo made the announcement.

Crews, 23, returns to the active roster after playing in 13 rehab games with Triple-A Rochester. He went 10-for-41 (.244) with a double, two home runs, seven, RBI, one walk, one stolen base and five runs scored while appearing in right field (9 G) and designated hitter (4 G). He hit safely in six of seven games from Aug. 2 through Aug. 9, going 10-for-27 (.370) with a .630 slugging percentage (2B, 2 HR) along the way.

At the time of his injury, Crews was leading National League rookies in home runs (7), stolen bases (T1^st, 11) and was fourth with 24 runs scored. He was placed on the 10-day Injured List with a left oblique strain on May 21 and was transferred to the 60-day Injured List on July 22. In 45 games with the Nationals prior to the injury, he hit .196 with a double, triple, seven home runs, 15 RBI, 11 walks, 11 stolen bases and 24 runs scored.

The Nationals had a decision to make this afternoon as they prepared to reinstate Dylan Crews from the 60-day injured list. Do they send one of their four young outfielders – James Wood, Jacob Young, Robert Hassell III or Daylen Lile – down to Triple-A Rochester to get regular playing time? Or do they hold onto five outfielders and send down infielder José Tena, who has only played in four games since he was recalled 2 ½ weeks ago?

In the end, the Nats surprisingly went an entirely different route by designating struggling first baseman Nathaniel Lowe for assignment to make room for Crews, who returns after almost three months while dealing with a left oblique strain.

“We feel like we want to see the young kids,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said of the decision before tonight’s series opener against the Phillies. “We want to keep Hassell in the outfield, Lile, we have Wood. We have young players and I think we want to see them play. We want to see what they can do in the last month, month and a half.”

Lowe was acquired by former general manager Mike Rizzo in a December trade with the Rangers in exchange for left-handed reliever Robert Garcia. With two more years of arbitration eligibility, Lowe lost his salary arbitration case against the team and received a $10.3 million salary (the Nats’ highest-paid player this season) rather than the $11.1 million he requested.

The 30-year-old’s first half of the season was somewhat of a mixed bag. While he was on pace to be one of the team leaders in home runs and RBIs, his batting average, OPS and defensive metrics were well below his career averages.

The Nationals have returned from a 3-3 road trip for a tough homestand. In fact, they have a tough stretch to finish August, with each of their next 13 games coming against a team currently in a playoff position.

This homestand against two divisional rivals starts with a four-game set against the Phillies, who own a five-game lead over the Mets in the National League East. Luckily, the Nats will be getting some reinforcements by activating Dylan Crews off the 60-day injured list as he returns from his oblique injury. In a corresponding move, the Nats surprisingly designated first baseman Nathaniel Lowe for assignment. So we’ll have to wait and see how interim manager Miguel Cairo constructs his lineups with five young outfielders moving forward.

Brad Lord certainly has been one of the bright spots for this team in the second half. Since rejoining the rotation full-time, the right-hander is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA over four starts, with the Nats winning three of those games. He did make a start against the Phillies when he was briefly a part of the rotation back in May, tossing five innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts and one walk. He earned the win in that game, too.

Former Nats draft pick Jesús Luzardo starts for the Phils. The lefty is 11-5 with a 4.20 ERA and 1.346 WHIP in 24 starts. He started the second game of the season here at Nats Park and struck out 11 over five frames of two-run ball in a Philly rout.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of scattered thunderstorms, 80 degrees, wind 5 mph from right to left field

Dylan Crews’ return tonight from the 60-day injured list is a major development for the Nationals, and his performance over the next six weeks is one of the team’s most important storylines down the stretch of what has been an incredibly depressing season.

But in some ways, there’s just as much intrigue today to the flip side of Crews’ return. Somebody has to be dropped from the Nats’ active roster, and that transaction may say a lot about the performance and future expectations for a bunch of players who will be impacted by the decision.

We’ve known for several years now the Nationals eventually were going to confront a dilemma in their outfield, with more promising young prospects than available positions. They managed to hold off making any major decisions there due to Crews’ oblique injury, which wound up sidelining him nearly three months.

But the time has come to decide which three young outfielders are going to get the bulk of the playing time the rest of the season. Or, perhaps, which four young outfielders are going to split time among three positions. Or, perhaps, if the Nats are going to try to find a way to keep all five in the majors at the same time.

This much we know: James Wood is going to keep playing every day. Aside from an occasional rest day, the 22-year-old slugger is going to be in the lineup as much as possible, whether in left field or maybe as designated hitter sometimes.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The five-run top of the first – not to mention the extra runs scored in the third and fourth innings – should have been enough to make Miguel Cairo’s afternoon easy. But as Jake Irvin labored himself to keep that big lead intact, it became apparent the Nationals’ interim manager was going to have to play every pitching card he had available to him in an attempt to win today’s series finale against the Royals.

And then it was still going to require some more late offense to pull this one off.

It wasn’t always pretty, but the Nats did find a way to escape Kauffman Stadium with an 8-7 victory, one made possible by Daylen Lile’s game-winning single in the top of the ninth and five relievers combining to allow just one run over five innings.

"They've been ready, they've been settling down. They're doing an excellent job," said Cairo of a relief corps that has been turned over several times this season and currently includes seven rookies alongside 25-year-old closer Jose A. Ferrer. "Today, it was a team effort: Offense, pitching. That's what we're asking."

Lile’s clutch hit came a few minutes after the Royals tied the game against unlikely setup man Clayton Beeter. Luis García Jr. ignited the rally with a one-out double off Kansas City’s Carlos Estévez, then took third on Josh Bell’s flyout to center. Two batters later, Lile got to a 2-1 changeup from Estévez and lined the ball to right field for the go-ahead single.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Nationals are planning to activate Dylan Crews off the 60-day injured list Thursday for the start of their upcoming homestand, a source familiar with the club’s plan confirmed.

Crews, who has been out since May 20 with a strained left oblique muscle, has been on an extended rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester. He’s playing his 13th game today for the Red Wings, batting second and serving as designated hitter. Barring any setbacks, he’ll rejoin the Nats in D.C. and come off the IL for Thursday’s game against the Phillies.

It’s been a long road back for Crews, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, who struggled through the season’s first month-plus, batting .196 with seven homers, 15 RBIs and a .620 OPS in 45 games. He was just starting to get hot at the plate, though, before he hurt himself on a check-swing, homering in each of his last two games.

The Nationals chose to be extremely cautious with Crews’ recovery process, bringing him along slowly after he was cleared to resume baseball activities last month. He began his rehab assignment with Rochester on July 29, and over the course of more than two weeks he built up to playing nine innings in right field on back-to-back days.

Entering this afternoon’s game against Syracuse, Crews was 10-for-39 with one double, two homers and seven RBIs in 12 games. Physically, he has passed every test; the Nats simply wanted to give him time to get at-bats and get comfortable playing again, treating the rehab assignment like it was spring training.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – This road trip started off well for the Nationals, who won two of three in San Francisco over the weekend. Alas, now they find themselves needing a win this afternoon to avoid a sweep in Kansas City. How quickly things change.

The Nats have been hitting on the trip. They’ve averaged 5.3 runs and 11.8 hits over the last four days. James Wood (8-for-19, four doubles, one homer, seven RBIs) has been a big part of that, and it’s been great to see the big guy look like himself again after the worst slump of his brief career. They’ll try to continue the trend today against veteran right-hander Seth Lugo, who recently signed an extension with the Royals but has been unable to get out of the fifth inning in each of his last two starts, giving up seven runs to the Twins on Friday.

Jake Irvin has also been shaky his last two starts, with nine runs allowed over 9 1/3 innings against the Brewers and Giants. The right-hander has seen his ERA jump to 4.90, and he has surrendered a league-leading 26 homers now. He needs a bounceback this afternoon, and the key may be as simple as getting through a clean first inning. His ERA in that opening frame is a gargantuan 9.75. After that, it’s a very respectable 3.86.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Where: Kauffman Stadium
Gametime: 2:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 2 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
LF James Wood
SS CJ Abrams
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Josh Bell
1B Nathaniel Lowe
RF Daylen Lile
C Drew Millas
3B Brady House
CF Robert Hassell III

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Had anyone asked Mitchell Parker this afternoon if he would’ve been satisfied with a performance tonight that included only five batters reaching base against him in 5 1/3 innings, the Nationals left-hander probably would’ve embraced that outcome in a heartbeat.

The Royals went just 2-for-17 against Parker in this ballgame. They drew three walks as well, but on paper that shouldn’t have been enough offense.

Alas, it was more than enough. Because on this night, all the home team needed to do was reach base to guarantee runs on the scoreboard, which is how Kansas City emerged with an 8-5 victory over the Nats despite totaling only six hits in the game.

Every single batter who reached against Parker eventually came around to score, making for an odd pitching line, but nevertheless a losing one.

"It still sucks. It's still a loss," he said. "I gave up a couple runs and set them in motion to kind of run away with it."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Brady House hasn’t been in the Nationals’ lineup every day since making his major league debut two months ago. But he’s never been out of the lineup two days in a row, until now.

The rookie third baseman didn’t start Monday night’s series opener at Kauffman Stadium, and he’s once again sitting tonight as the Nats and Royals meet again. It’s a byproduct both of his own offensive struggles and the recent surge by veteran Paul DeJong.

DeJong has been on a tear during this road trip, going 7-for-14 with two homers and five RBIs the last three days. The 32-year-old got back-to-back starts at second base in place of Luis García Jr. (who was dealing with a tight back) and now he’s getting back-to-back starts at third base in place of House (who is healthy).

“It’s hard to take Pauly out of the lineup right now,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “He’s a true veteran, playing good defense. He’s been getting good at-bats. It’s helping our offense. We’re trying to create something here: Getting good at-bats, playing good defense, making adjustments is going to keep you in the big leagues.”

DeJong was signed this spring to a one-year, $1 million deal with the intention of holding down the third base position until House was ready to make his major league debut. But two weeks in, the veteran was struck in the face by a fastball, suffering multiple fractures, and wound up missing 2 1/2 months.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Nationals lost the opener of their series in San Francisco over the weekend before bouncing back to win the next two and leave town in good spirits. Can they do the same now in Kansas City after losing Monday night’s opener?

They’ll be asking Mitchell Parker to put forth a much better start than he did in either of his last two outings. The left-hander was roughed up by the Brewers and Athletics for a whopping 12 runs and 18 hits in only nine combined innings. In the process, the left-hander fell to 7-12 on the season with a 5.43 ERA that doesn’t look so hot right now. It’s fair to say Parker needs a strong finish to the season to make sure he’s still in the running for a rotation spot in 2026. If he keeps heading down this path, his case won’t look so great.

The Nationals lineup once again includes Paul DeJong in a prominent spot: batting cleanup and playing third base. DeJong’s two homers the last three days precipitated that, but it means Brady House is sitting for the second straight day, not ideal for one of the organization’s top prospects.

On the other hand, Robert Hassell III is back in the lineup, starting in center field alongside James Wood and Daylen Lile. That bumps Jacob Young to the bench against Royals right-hander Michael Wacha, though you have to assume Miguel Cairo would insert Young for defensive purposes late if the Nats hold a lead.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Where: Kauffman Stadium
Gametime: 7:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 84 degrees, wind 7 mph left field to right field

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The emotions of his long-awaited return to the majors behind him at last, Cade Cavalli settled into life as a true big league pitcher tonight, taking the mound for his second start, confident he will be back out there for his third and plenty more before season’s end.

This one didn’t have the fairy tale ending last week’s return did.

Missing the precise command of his eye-popping arsenal he displayed against the Athletics, Cavalli was charged with four runs in five-plus innings tonight against the Royals, giving up a killer, game-tying homer to Salvador Perez before departing in the sixth.

Jackson Rutledge then gave up the game-winning homer, a two-run blast by No. 9 hitter Kyle Isbel that propelled Kansas City to an eventual 7-4 victory over the Nationals.

Given an opportunity to appear in a high-leverage spot in a tie game, Rutledge got a key double-play grounder but then allowed a two-out single to Nick Loftin before leaving a 2-1 sinker over the plate to Isbel, who launched it deep to right for the decisive moment of the game. (The Royals added an insurance run in the eighth off Orlando Ribalta.)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Good morning to you all, and thanks for joining us for another Nats Q&A. We did the last one of these two days before the trade deadline, and quite a bit has happened since then. Some of it good, some of it not good at all.

James Wood went into the worst slump of his young career but appears to be hitting his way out of it during this road trip. MacKenzie Gore endured one of the worst four-start stretches of his career but bounced back in a big way Sunday in San Francisco. Cade Cavalli is a big leaguer again at long last and enjoyed a dominant season debut before a so-so start Monday night here in Kansas City. Josh Bell and Paul DeJong are red-hot, and still very much part of the team. Dylan Crews remains on the rehab assignment that won't end.

You've probably got plenty of questions you'd to ask, and I'm here to answer them as best I can. So, submit your questions in the comments section below, and I'll respond over the course of the morning ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Though he has played the full nine innings on back-to-back days for Triple-A Rochester, Dylan Crews will remain on his minor league rehab assignment for now.

Crews is staying with the Red Wings, who are off today, the Nationals announced. He’s then scheduled to play the outfield again Tuesday and Wednesday in Rochester against Syracuse.

Those will be Crews’ 12th and 13th games played on this rehab assignment, a longer stint than most injured major league position players typically serve. The Nats, though, want to see the 23-year-old not only prove he’s healthy but that he’s consistently productive at the plate again before they intend to activate him off the 60-day injured list.

Out since he strained his left oblique muscle on a May 20 check-swing, Crews began his rehab assignment with Rochester on July 29. The plan was to slowly build up his workload until he was able to play nine innings in the field on back-to-back days. He did that for the first time this weekend, playing all nine innings in right field both Saturday and Sunday at Norfolk.

Crews’ offensive production has been decent – he’s 10-for-36 with a double, two homers, seven RBIs, one walk and six strikeouts in 11 games – but the Nats appear to want to see more still before they deem him big league-ready again.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Hello from Kauffman Stadium, which still looks great 52 years after it first opened. The Nationals are here for the first time since 2023, looking to pick up where they left off Sunday in San Francisco, having won two in a row from the Giants.

First things first: Dylan Crews is not here. He has not been activated off the 60-day injured list yet, even though he played nine innings each of the last two days with Triple-A Rochester. It sure seems like the Nats will wait until they return home Thursday to bring him back, but hopefully we’ll get more information here shortly.

As for who is here tonight, Cade Cavalli is on the mound, making his second big league start of the season, the third of his career. Cavalli’s return last week could not have gone much better: 4 1/3 scoreless innings on 88 pitches. He’ll try to be a little more efficient tonight, but more important is the quality of his stuff and the health of his arm.

Luis García Jr. returns to the Nats lineup after missing the entire weekend series with tightness in his back. He’s batting all the way down in the No. 8 spot against Royals left-hander Bailey Falter, which means Paul DeJong is again batting third, this time playing third base in place of Brady House. DeJong has been hot. Miguel Cairo will try to keep getting him at-bats.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Where: Kauffman Stadium
Gametime: 7:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Thunderstorms, 77 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left field

SAN FRANCISCO – There was, understandably, some level of disappointment when the Nationals did not find any suitors for Josh Bell and Paul DeJong at the trade deadline.

The two veterans were signed to one-year deals prior to the season with the hopes they would help complement a roster full of young players and lead them to a surprising run at contention. And if the team didn’t win, at least they’d both be attractive options for actual contenders come July 31.

That, of course, didn’t happen. Bell got off to a terrible start to his season before slowly climbing his way back in recent months. DeJong suffered a terrifying injury in April when he was struck on the face by a fastball and only recently returned to the active roster. Teams seeking help for the stretch run didn’t view either of them as worthy acquisitions, so it’s entirely reasonable to view that conclusion as a failure on the Nationals’ part.

Not that everyone with the organization was disappointed by the lack of trades.

“I’m kind of selfish about that, because you want to have some veterans on the team like that who can guide and lead the young talent that we have,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “I was kind of hoping that they didn’t go anywhere, because the way they go about their business is amazing. They’re like true leaders, the way they work, how they engage the young players to do their work and their job. I’m glad they’re here, and you can see what they can do.”