Nationals’ Weekend Update

Two Homes Runs from Garica and Lile Lead Nats to Victory

Five Washington home runs led the way as our Nationals won the first of a three-game

series against the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-5 on Friday afternoon.

In the bottom of the 1st, Luis Garcia hit his 17th home run of the season to right field putting the good guys up 1-0.

Daylen Lile hit his 9th home run to center field in the bottom of the 2nd making it 2-0

Nationals.

In the top of the 3rd, Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds hit his 12th home run of the year to right field putting the Pirates on the scoreboard.

James Wood led off the bottom of the 3rd for the Nats with a triple to right field. Later in the

inning, Jose Tena homered to center field, his 4th of the year. Later still, C.J. Abrams singled

to right and was driven in by Daylan Liles’ double to right making the score 5-1 Nationals.

Washington added to their lead in the bottom of the 7th after Nasim Nunez’ infield single

and Luis Garcia’s second home run of the game, his 18th, to right field. 7-1 Nats.

Washington kept it going in the bottom of the 8th as Dylan Crews walked and scored when

Daylen Lile hit his second dinger of the game, his 10th. 9-1 Nats after 8 innings.

The Pirates made an attempt at a comeback in the top of the 9th with 5 doubles from Jaren Triolo, Brandon Lowe, Bryan Reynolds, Esmerlyn Valdez, and Nick Gonzales. They scored 4 runs, but it wasn’t quite enough.

Final outcome Washington 9 and Pittsburgh 5.

Great games from Luis Garcia who went 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs, 2 home runs, and 2 runs

scored.

Daylen Lile went 3 for 4 with 2 home runs, 4 RBIs, and 2 runs scored.

You may have heard about the altercation between the Nats and the Red Sox this past

Tuesday in Boston. Suspensions were handed down yesterday to the following players: Cade Cavalli received a 7-game suspension for what he said to the Red Sox’s

Willson Contreas after striking him out in the 4th inning. Contreas was also suspended for 7

games when he charged the pitching mound and tossed his helmet in Cavalli’s direction.

Nats’ pitcher Miles Mikolas will serve a 5-game suspension, and Sox outfielder Nate Eaton will sit for 3 games after they both came off the bench, which contributed to the

mayhem.

This actually all started the game before when Contreas hit a home run off Mikolas and

proceeded to toss his bat about 20 feet in the air. That’s probably what led to Cavalli’s

words after striking Contreras out in Tuesday’s game.

Contreras is a native of Venezuela and has, understandably, been having a tough time since the massive earthquakes his native country suffered on the 24th of June.

Mikolas and Cavalli have appealed their suspensions and are waiting for news from the league office.

Pirates Even Series with Nationals 7-1

Sat., July 4thThe Washington Nationals had a 11:05 start time on the 4th of July. The crowd was sparse due to a game time temperature of 97 degrees Fahrenheit and a heat index of 108! Wow.

The Pittsburgh Pirates started their ace Braxton Ashcraft and the Nationals went with Jason Palmquist, who had recently been acquired from the Colorado Rockies on May 25th.

An interesting top of the 1st that included a double-steal gave the Pirates an early 1-0

lead. The inning also included 3 stolen bases. Palmquist did manage, however, to strike

out the side.

It only took a second for the Nationals to tie it up, as James Wood smacked the 1st pitch he

saw deep over the right field fence, his 23rd of the year, to tie the game. Then Ashcraft

buckled down and struck out the next three batters he faced.

The Pirates started off the top of the 2nd with a single, a hit batsman, and another single,

loading the bases. Zach Littell came in to pitch for the Nationals. Henry Davis’s infield

single made it 2-1 Pirates. Brandon Lowe’s single to center drove in Tyler Callihan and Jake Mangum. Esmerlyn Valdez’ single to right scored Davis. 5-1 Pirates.

Braxton Ashcraft went 5 2/3 innings for the Pirates giving up only 1 run, 6 hits, with 7

strikeouts and 2 walks.

The game stayed 5-1 until the top of the 8th

. Pirate singles from Bryan Reynolds, Ryan

O’Hearn, and Nick Gonzales led to a run…6-1 Pittsburgh. Later in the inning, Tyler Callihan

walked with the bases loaded bringing in Ryan O’Hearn with the Pirates 7th run.I just checked my weather app…it’s 1:30 ET in Washington D.C…temperature is 100 degrees

Fahrenheit with a heat index of 111! Oh, my gosh…please don’t leave a chocolate bar in

your pocket!

And that’s how it ended. The Nationals went 3 up and 3 down in the bottom of the 8th and

9th.

Their only run of the game came courtesy of James Wood on the 1st pitch he saw in the

1st inning. They left 7 runners on base and grounded into 3 double plays. It just wasn’t to

be. Let’s hope for a better outcome tomorrow afternoon at 1:45.

Pirates’ Big Innings Sink the NationalsSun., July 5 The Pittsburgh Pirates scored 3 runs in the 2nd inning and 5 runs in the 8th to cruise past the Washington Nationals 11-5 at Nationals Park. The Pirates also took the series 2-1.The Bucs struck first in the top of the 2nd. Tyler Callihan’s single to right scored Nick Gonzales and Ryan O’Hearn to give Pittsburgh an early 2-0 lead. Jake Mangum then singled home Callihan pushing their lead to 3-0.

Bryan Reynolds made it 4-0 Bucs with his 13th home run to center field in the top of the 3rd.

Washington finally got on the board in the bottom of the 3rd courtesy of Luis Garcia’s home run, his 19th, to right that also scored Keibert Ruiz who had singled to center field. 4-2 Pirates.

The Nationals narrowed the gap in the bottom of the 4th without the benefit of a hit. Dylan

Crews walked and worked his way around the bases on ground outs. 4-3 Pirates.

Washington tied it up in the bottom of the 5th after a walk to James Wood, a single by Luis

Garcia and another walk to Curtis Mead loaded the bases. Wood then scored off a sac fly from C.J. Abrams. 4-4.

Pittsburgh blew it open in the top of the 8th

. Singles by Rodriguea and Triolo and a walk to Mangum loaded the bases. Konnor Griffin then singled in Triolo and Davis for a 6-4

lead. Brandon Lowe followed with a home run to right field, scoring Griffin and Mangum

ahead of him. 9-4 Pirates…The Nats got one back in the bottom of the inning off a home run to center field courtesy of

Dylan Crews, his 6th. 9-5 Pittsburgh.

But the Pirates were at it again in the top of the 9th. Henry Davis singled in Nick Gonzales

who had doubled to right and Ryan O’Hearn who had walked. 11-5 Pittsburgh.The

Nationals did manage a hit in the bottom of the 9th but that was it. 11-5, Pirates win the

game and the series.

The Nationals’ relievers had another tough day, with Brad Lord giving up 5 earned runs on 4 hits in 1 1/3 inningsJustin Lawrence didn’t fare much better giving up 2 runs on 2 hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Both teams now sit at 46 wins with 45 losses one week before the all-star break.

The Nationals welcome the Houston Astros tomorrow evening at 6:45 for game one of a

three game series.

Dave’s Dime…As many of us baseball fans know, six teams from each league make the

MLB playoffs at the end of the regular season: three division winners plus three remaining

teams with the next-best records regardless of division.

As of today, July 5th, 2026, the division winners in the National League would be the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, and Los Angeles Dodgers. The current three teams with the remaining best records would be the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs at 50-40, and the St. Louis Cardinals at 47-40. Those three would constitute the Wild Card teams.

The Miami Marlins (2 games) the Pirates and Nationals (3 games) the Arizona Diamondbacks (4 games) and the San Diego Padres (4 1/2 games ) are still in the wild card

hunt - And there’s still almost half a season to go!

The reason for the current format, which includes the three Wild Card teams, should be

quite evident. It gives so many additional teams the chance of making the playoffs. It

keeps fans in certain cities interested in what’s going on. It gives so many more teams

something to play for even if they’re not winning their division. I know it adds quite a few additional games to the MLB season for the teams that qualify for the postseason, but

that’s what it’s all about. A team has to have a deep bench; it has to have an amazing

bullpen. A team has to have stamina and intestinal fortitude. A team has to play hard every game. And it’s just a heck of a lot of fun for those of us who love this game. And, maybe even for those of us just starting to realize how good this game can be. I think you get the point.

This playoff format started in 2022. Since then, three wild card teams have made it to the World Series: the Phillies in 2022 and in 2023 both the Diamondbacks and Rangers who won the World Series as a Wild Card team! That should give hope to us all.

---

VIEWS

56