The Nationals left the West Coast with nothing to show for it, and Wednesday’s finale in San Diego only sharpened the frustration. Washington entered the game already carrying the burden of a major league record - its 38th blown save had come the night before - and then watched another lead slip away in a 3-2 loss to the Padres.
The game turned fast after the Nationals built a 2-0 edge in the third inning. San Diego answered with three runs in the bottom half, and the decisive play came when Jacob Young collided with the wall and dropped a ball on a catch attempt. That opened the door for the Padres to take control.
Manager Blake Butera was tossed after the sequence, convinced Ty France should have been rung up on a checked-swing appeal earlier in the inning. If that call goes Washington’s way, the inning ends with the Nationals still ahead 2-0.
Instead, France stayed alive, delivered an RBI single and later scored the go-ahead run. For Butera, it was another painful flashpoint on a trip full of them.
There weren’t many bright spots across the six-game swing, but Dylan Crews was one of them. In Los Angeles and San Diego, he went 8-for-23 with a homer, four doubles and five RBIs. His wRC+ was well above league average, a welcome sign against a Dodgers club and a Padres team both chasing October.
That matters because Crews has had a rough year overall. While several teammates have turned in career-best seasons in 2026, the former No. 2 overall pick has not matched that pace, and there’s real concern about his long-term future as an everyday player. This trip at least gave him a much-needed step forward.
Cade Cavalli was the other major positive. In his lone start on the trip, he was sharp against the Dodgers, holding the two-time defending World Series champions to two earned runs on four hits over six innings.
He struck out eight, walked none and even with a hit batter, he kept showing the kind of strikeout stuff and command that have defined his season. For Washington, he looks like a true ace to build around.
Everything else, though, was ugly. The pitching staff gave up 35 runs across the trip, an average of 5.83 per game, and that included trouble from both the bullpen and the rotation. The younger arms had shown some encouraging signs after their callups earlier in the year, but that momentum has faded badly.
The Nationals’ brass has work to do before next season. The starting rotation and bullpen both need attention, and the organization can’t afford to repeat the approach it used last winter.
CJ Abrams’ slump was another glaring issue. Against the Dodgers and Padres, he went 2-for-23 with 11 strikeouts.
One of those hits was a home run that pushed him to 30 on the season, but the overall stretch has been rough. He’s at .228/.307/.451 in the second half, with 10 homers in 46 games after the All-Star break, but he’s been hitting under .200 in August and September.
Abrams is not the only hitter who struggled in the series, but he is one of the team’s best players and one of its clubhouse leaders. So it’s hard to ignore that Washington was swept twice while he was ice-cold.
The loss dropped the Nationals to 67-81, locking them into a non-winning season. It also guarantees they will finish above .500 for the seventh straight year, the longest stretch in franchise history since the move to Washington in 2005. The only longer run came during the first 10 seasons of the franchise, from 1969-1978.
Since winning the World Series in 2019, it has been a hard road. There is hope in the talent rising through the system, but when that talent starts turning into wins is still an open question.
In Other News...
Nationals Bullpen Collapse Is Becoming This Teams Defining Problem
The Nationals keep finding reminders of how thin the margin has become in the late innings, and the latest one came in a loss to the Padres that pushed an already frustrating season into franchise-record territory. Washington had built a lead and looked positioned to close it out, only to watch the game slip away in the kind of bullpen unraveling that has become far too familiar around this club.
Jared Simpsons stint on the mound added to the strain, and the sequence that followed left the Nationals with another missed opportunity in a season full of them. For a team trying to stabilize one of its biggest problem areas, the concern is no longer just about one bad night or one shaky reliever. It is about how long this can keep happening before the bullpen stops being a weakness and becomes the story of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Fans Should Notice Which Harrisburg Prospects Just Took Over
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The one score that stands out even more for Nationals fans is Josh Randalls latest step forward, with the right-hander working deep into the game and keeping New Hampshire off the board while picking up his fifth win. Fredericksburg had a tougher night in a 4-2 loss to Fayetteville, though Noah Millikan gave the club a solid four-inning effort before Tony Neubeck took the loss, a contrast that only sharpens the focus on which arms and bats are separating themselves in the system. [Read more 🡒]
Dylan Crews Is Giving Nationals Fans A Reason To Believe Again
Dylan Crews has started to settle in since rejoining the Nationals in May, and the early signs are the kind Washington has been waiting for from one of its top young talents. The 2023 second-round pick has shown real progress at the plate, with his overall production trending upward and his ability to drive the ball looking more like what the organization envisioned when it brought him in.
Crews is not the only one benefiting from the work being done behind the scenes. Under Matt Borgschulte, the Nationals offensive coaching staff has helped several players make measurable gains this season, including Jacob Young, and the focus has been on helping hitters clean up their swings and find better contact. For a club trying to build something more sustainable, the encouraging part is not just that Crews is improving, but that the process around him appears to be working too. [Read more 🡒]