Well, the roller coaster of emotions that comes with being a fan of this team is officially back in operation. I sat in class earlier this afternoon, hanging on every pitch of what was just a thriller this afternoon between the Nationals and the Phillies. And when CJ Abrams launched a three-run bomb to put the Nats up 5-1, it is a miracle that nobody noticed the mammoth surge of energy that shot through every bone in my body. Conversely, an hour later, I lay paralyzed facedown on the bed after watching the bullpen completely blow the game. Oh, the joys of being a fan.

The Nationals played a tremendous game for about seven innings this afternoon. Cade Cavalli pitched great, the offense knocked Cristopher Sanchez out before he could finish six innings, and the bats scraped together five runs, a tally that looked to be more than enough for the boys to finish it off and win the series. I’ll get into the weeds of what happened later, but it’s about time I made my first comment towards Toboni and the Lerners this season, and to them I say, if you’re only going to pay enough for a bullpen of castoffs and wild cards, this is exactly what you’re going to get. Do better.

The action

The game started rather shakily, as the Phillies hopped out to an early lead just two batters into the bottom of the first inning. Kyle Schwarber lined a ball into center field with Trea Turner on base, and while Jacob Young‘s range has wowed us for years, this one was most definitely out of his reach. Someone probably should have told him that, as he laid out for it and missed, allowing the ball to roll all the way to the warning track, where Joey Wiemer chased it down and got it in. Credit to Wiemer and CJ Abrams, their relay allowed the Nats to get Schwarber out trying to go for third, but the run did score and Philadelphia had an early 1-0 lead.

While they did put together a fairly good lead later in the game, the story of the day for this Washington offense was missed opportunities, especially against Sanchez, who was not his best self today. The first of those chances came in the top of the second, as the Nats got the first two batters on base, giving Nasim Nunez a chance with men on first and second with nobody out. Nunez struck out, and it wasn’t the last time Sanchez would get him either. Nasim looked very overmatched today against the tough lefty. Jacob Young then drew a walk to load the bases with one out, and Drew Millas coming to the plate. In a very weird play, Millas struck out on a pitch in the dirt, and Joey Weimer came in to score when JT Realmuto threw down to first base to try and back pick Young. So the Nationals didn’t do much to earn it, but they did tie the game at one apiece in the second.

Jacob Young would redeem himself defensively in the bottom of the second, as Cavalli retired the first two batters, but the Phillies put together a rally afterwards that loaded the bases with two outs. Trea Turner scorched a line drive to center field that was falling fast. Young came sprinting in, went into a slide, and made the catch just barely before the ball could get down. Young’s athleticism helped to keep this game tied, and it would remain that way into the middle innings.

Both starters really settled in during those middle innings, each having to work around some traffic here and there, but the score remained 1-1 into the sixth inning. The Phillies went to the bullpen in the top of the sixth, calling on right-hander Jonathan Bowlan. The Nationals put together a big two-out rally against the reliever, with Jacob Young singling, stealing second, and then, on the seventh pitch of a terrific at-bat by Drew Millas, he lined a single into center to score Young and put Washington ahead 2-1.

Cade Cavalli was really great today, given that he’d probably tell you he had his B or C grade stuff. The command early on was shaky, especially with his offspeed stuff, but he found a way to carve through this potent Phillies lineup for six innings, allowing just one run in what was a very ace-esque performance for the Nationals’ new chief of staff (let me know if you guys like that).

• Cade Cavalli: 6 innings, 5 hits, 1 run (1 earned), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 84 pitches
• Cristopher Sanchez: 5.1 innings, 4 hits, 1 run (1 earned), 4 walks, 7 strikeouts, 97 pitches

The top of the seventh is where this game really turned on its head. Once again, the Nationals waited until two outs to get anything going, but boy did they deliver. Daylen Lile beat out an infield single, Joey Weimer scorched a single to center, and then CJ Abrams gave us his ‘welcome to 2026’ moment, as he took a hanging breaking ball and deposited it into the right field seats for a three-run bomb, giving the Nationals a 5-1 lead. And at this moment, things seemed pretty great. They did not remain that way.

Andre Granillo got the nod out of the bullpen for the bottom of the seventh, and on his second pitch, JT Realmuto hit a solo home run to trim the lead to 5-2. No big deal, Andre got the next two guys out and was lifted for the left-hander Cionel Perez to face the left-handed gauntlet known as Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. And from this moment on, I was stressed out of my mind. Perez was exactly who I wanted in for that moment; it wasn’t him, it was just a realization that this Phillies lineup is primed to wake up and make this very difficult.

Schwarber didn’t help those nerves, as he hit a ball 405 feet. Thankfully, he hit it to the very deepest part of the park, allowing Jacob Young to get under it and make the play to send this game to the eighth. The Nats went down in order in the top of the inning, and it was Perez back out to the mound to try and take this game to the ninth. Things didn’t go exactly the way Blake Butera planned, as Bryce Harper took the first pitch of the inning and smacked his first homer of the season, thus narrowing the lead to 5-3. The Nationals then began to hurt themselves, as CJ Abrams made a bad error on the throw to first, a throw that should have retired Alec Bohm had it not been spiked. A few batters later, Philadelphia had men on first and second with one out, and the go-ahead run coming to the plate. Clayton Beeter was called on a little earlier than I’m sure the Nationals would have liked, but he did his job and retired the next two hitters to take this 5-3 game to the ninth.

Once again, the offense was no help in the top half of the inning, so to the bottom of the ninth we went. Things started great, as Brady House made a tremendous diving play on a ground ball to get the first out of the inning. Then things went downhill from there. Trea Turner came up with a one-out single to knock Beeter out of the game, and the Nats turned to PJ Poulin to take on the left-handed gauntlet and try to close out this game. He didn’t have it today. Poulin walked Schwarber in a pretty non-competitive at-bat, then got Bryce Harper to pop out to the shortstop Abrams, and the Nats were an out away. Poulin couldn’t get it done against Bohm and walked him to load the bases, and the Nats made yet another pitching change, going to Cole Henry to try and finish this one. He got ahead of the pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa 0-2, and then hung a sweeper right down the middle, and Sosa didn’t miss it. He lined a two-run single to left, and this game was tied at 5 and headed to extra innings.

The Phillies turned to Jhoan Duran in the tenth, and CJ Abrams very nearly was the hero again. Abrams smacked a line drive towards second that should have been a go-ahead RBI single, if it wasn’t for Edmundo Sosa jumping out of his shoes straight in the air and coming down with the ball, then doubling up Daylen Lile at second base to end the inning. The bottom of the tenth was brief, and two singles later, Justin Crawford walked it off, giving the Phillies a 6-5 comeback win and the series victory as well. Just a really tough loss to take, as the Nats had this game in their hands late; they just couldn’t get that final out or even that final strike to put it away.

Ryan’s rant

This will be brief, and I’m well aware that he can get hot and figure it out at any moment, but until then, I am done seeing James Wood in the leadoff slot. I’m not quite to the point where I’m going to call for Butera to bench him or even send him to Triple-A, but he needs to hit lower in the lineup at the very least. Wood looks pitiful, hard contact is rare, he’s pulling everything, and particularly today, he just looks completely defeated. His 0-5 day at the plate hurt the Nats big time, and his .111 batting average (.496 OPS) over the first six games of this season has been extremely frustrating for us, and I’m sure James too.

What’s next?

Look, I said this last night, but as much as this loss hurt, we just went 3-3 in a road trip against two playoff teams from last season. Mind you, we did that with a roster whose over/under projection for wins this season is 60.5. If you offered me a 3-3 start last week, I’d happily take it, so let’s not be in our feelings too much about this game (talking really to myself here). Unfortunately, it’s not getting any easier. The back-to-back world champion LA Dodgers are coming to DC to begin a three-game weekend series on Friday afternoon at 1:05. The Nats will presumably send Miles Mikolas (0-1, 7.20 ERA) to the mound to face Dodgers’ right-hander Emmett Sheehan (0-0, 10.80). Neither of those starters has yet been announced, but each would be next up in the team’s opening day rotations.

Down on the farm

Triple-A Rochester: Game currently in progress (will update later upon completion)

Tomorrow: 6:05 vs Scranton Wilkes-Barre

Double-A Harrisburg:

Opening Night tomorrow night at 6:00 at Altoona