Cade Cavalli’s latest gem ended in the kind of ugly moment nobody wants to see. The Nationals right-hander was dealing again Tuesday in Washington, mowing through the Marlins and pushing his no-hit bid along, when a 93.1 mph comebacker from Javier Sanoja drilled him in the lower right leg in the fourth inning.
Even after taking the shot, Cavalli stayed in the play. He fielded the ball, then threw off-balance to first for the third out of the inning. But the damage was enough to send him limping toward the dugout, and the Nationals began warming up the bullpen soon after.
The club announced that Cavalli left with right calf discomfort. Left-hander Erik Tolman took over to start the fifth.
Before the injury interruption, Cavalli had been flat-out dominant. He had eight strikeouts through four innings and was locked into a strong duel with Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara. Cavalli struck out the side in the first, escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second, worked a clean third, and then shrugged off a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the fourth by retiring the next three hitters.
He came into the game 4-1 with a 1.97 ERA and an 11.0 K/9 rate in five starts this month. He also carried momentum from a near-no-hitter against the Cubs on Aug. 13, when he took that game into the seventh inning without allowing a hit.
“I expect him to give us everything he's got,” manager Blake Butera said pregame. “That's one thing that's never really changing with Cade.”
Cavalli, 28, was named the Nationals’ Opening Day starter in the first full season of his Major League career. Since debuting on Aug. 26, 2022, he had spent nearly three years sidelined by a string of injuries before finally putting together this season: 12-5 with a 3.12 ERA in 29 starts over 152 2/3 innings.
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