The Nationals picked up win No. 75 on Thursday, and they did it with the kind of late-season formula that has carried them through the stretch: a little pop, a lot of bullpen work, and another round of records falling along the way.
Washington is now 8-3 over its last 11 games and finishes interleague play at 28-20 against American League opponents. With three games left in the season, the Nats beat their opponent 4-2 behind YoYo Morales’ two-run homer and a bullpen that allowed only two runs across 7 2/3 innings after opener Richard Lovelady got things started.
The game also belonged to Nasim Nuñez, who set a new team stolen-base mark by reaching 48. He wasn’t done there. Nuñez added No. 49 and later turned that speed into another run, scoring from third on a James Wood groundout for Washington’s final tally.
“[ Nasim Nunez ] made that run happen. He steals second.
He steals third. Now a ground ball to first and he scores and gives us a little bit of a cushion there.”
- manager Blake Butera said
CJ Abrams got the Nationals on the board with a single, giving him 103 RBIs on the season with three games still to play. That number adds another line to an eye-catching 2026 stat sheet: Abrams is now the 15th player in baseball history to post 103 RBIs, 33 home runs, 30 doubles, and 33 stolen bases in a season.
On the mound, Yovanny Cruz worked through a tense finish. He entered with a 4-1 lead, dealt with weak contact, and after two blown saves earlier in the year, held on when it mattered most. With the go-ahead run at the plate, Cruz got Riley Greene to fly out and closed out the first MLB save of his career.
The save also fit the way Washington has handled the back end of games all season. Cruz became the 15th different pitcher to record a save for the Nationals this year, which is one shy of the 2025 Arizona Diamondbacks’ single-season mark of 17.
There were also useful innings from Jack Sinclair and Erik Tolman, while Brad Lord handled bulk duty with 3 1/3 scoreless frames. Will Dion picked up the win after the Nationals moved in front.
Washington now has a day off before wrapping up the season with a three-game set against the New York Mets at Nationals Park. The projected starters are Andrew Alvarez on Friday night, Jake Irvin on Saturday, and DJ Herz for Sunday’s finale. Paul Toboni had said Connelly Early would make his Nats debut on Saturday, though that plan still needs to be confirmed.
The win gives the Nationals 75 on the year, a 13.6 percent jump from last season’s total. If that kind of improvement carries forward, the math points to a club pushing past 85 wins in 2027.
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CJ Abrams Just Gave Nationals Fans A Milestone Worth Watching
CJ Abrams kept giving the Nationals a reason to pay attention in a season that has been better than many expected, powering a 3-1 win with two home runs and all three RBIs. Washington also got useful work on the mound, with Riley Cornelio and Jackson Kent both helping their ERAs, and the bullpen finishing the job behind scoreless innings from Jack Sinclair and Erik Tolman.
Abrams' night carried a little extra weight because it pushed him into a rare statistical neighborhood, one that only a small handful of big leaguers have reached in a single season. The milestone sits there now as one more marker of how much he has grown into the center of this lineup, even if the full significance of the achievement still feels like it could keep building from here. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Late Surge Just Got Another Encouraging Sign
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Washington also got another look at how fragile these gains can be, even in a game it controlled for most of the night. Relief work from Will Dion, Yovanny Cruz and others helped preserve the lead, but the finish still required the kind of late-innings survival the Nationals have had to navigate during this run, which is part of why every additional positive sign matters as they try to keep the surge going. [Read more 🡒]