The Nationals have got to be anxiously awaiting the day David Peterson retires. Besides one rocky start against Washington earlier this season, Peterson’s track record of terrorizing the Nationals has been a legacy he’s carried on over multiple seasons now.

Even in the midst of what’s been a brutal start to the season for Peterson, he found it in himself to toss five innings of one-run ball this afternoon to keep the Nats from bringing their record back above .500. In his own right, Cade Cavalli was awesome today, going a full seven innings of two-run ball today on just 84 pitches, in the latest of what’s been a strong stretch for him of late. At the end of the day, when you only allow the other team to score two runs, you should win the game, and the Nationals’ offense wasn’t able to make that happen today.

The Action

The Nationals couldn’t take advantage of a bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the first, as David Peterson retired the first two hitters before walking the next three. He dialed in to escape the threat, getting a huge strikeout of Daylen Lile to end the inning with no damage done.

The Mets struck for their only runs of the ballgame in the top half of the third inning. Bo Bichette, quiet for most of the early part of this season, has absolutely come alive in DC this week, and that continued today with a two-run single in the third inning. The Nats will be glad to see him leave town this evening, as Bichette finished the series with a 7-18 line over the four-game series, with 9 RBIs, 3 home runs, and a double.

Cade Cavalli did a nice job this afternoon of limiting the damage to just those two runs, as his hot start to the game picked back up after the third inning, at quite an efficient pitch count as well. His offense finally came awake in the bottom of the fifth inning, mounting a rally with runners on second and third with nobody out. With the ability of hindsight on our side, we can definitely say that getting at least two runs out of this opportunity would be absolutely essential, but unfortunately, the Nats were only able to get one. Curtis Mead would strike out for the first out of the inning, Andres Chaparro drove in the lone run with an RBI groundout, and CJ Abrams ended the inning with a groundout of his own.

Cavalli continued to cruise through the middle innings, at one point setting down ten straight hitters between the fourth and seventh innings. A walk and a hit-by-pitch in the top of the seventh showed a little bit of weariness as Cavalli battled to make it through seven, but he was able to get Luis Torrens to ground out to end the inning and get the Nats a huge seven-inning performance on just 84 pitches.

• David Peterson: 5 innings, 4 hits, 1 run (1 earned), 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 82 pitches
• Cade Cavalli: 7 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs (2 earned), 1 walk, 9 strikeouts, 84 pitches

Clayton Beeter made his return from the IL in the eighth inning and battled some serious control lapses, but they didn’t hurt the Nationals as he was able to navigate through the frame without any damage being incurred, highlighted by strikeouts of Bo Bichette and Mark Vientos.

Meanwhile, the Mets’ bullpen took over in the bottom of the sixth inning and began their day by retiring the first eight batters they faced. Huascar Brazoban tossed a perfect sixth, Brooks Raley did the same in the seventh, and then Luke Weaver allowed a walk in the eighth, but that was the only bump on his road to a scoreless inning, and the game went to the ninth inning still 2-1 New York.

Orlando Ribalta was apparently looking for some added excitement to his day, so he decided to load the bases with nobody out in the top of the ninth. His master plan was executed to perfection as he got a strikeout of MJ Melendez, a lineout by Luis Torrens, and then a flyout by Carson Benge to get himself out of the jam and keep this a one-run game headed to the bottom of the ninth.

Daylen Lile injected some serious energy into the stadium after leading off the ninth with a hustle double against Devin Williams. A shallow fly ball that just barely fell out of the glove of a diving AJ Ewing in center field gave Lile the opportunity to reach second base as the tying run with nobody out. This gave the Nats a golden opportunity to use some fundamental ‘get him on, get him over, get him in’ baseball to try and tie this game. Luis Garcia did his job, moving Lile to third with one out on a groundout. The pivotal at-bat came down to Williams versus Jose Tena, pinch-hitting for Nasim Nunez. Tena worked the count full to 3-2 before chasing after a changeup well off the plate for a strikeout, and out number two. One pitch later, Keibert Ruiz grounded out softly to second to end the ballgame and put an end to the Nats’ excellent opportunity to extend this game.

The Positives

Despite the disappointing loss today, we still have some guys who deserve to be recognized. Our three pitchers from this game did a fantastic job, holding a solid Mets’ lineup to just two runs, a number that as I said earlier, should win you most games. Cade Cavalli, Clayton Beeter, and Orlando Ribalta did everything we could have asked to give the offense a great chance to win this game. Offensively it was a pretty rough day, but we do have two-hit games from Keibert Ruiz and Daylen Lile to celebrate.

What’s Next?

The Nationals will get a heck of a challenge this weekend, as the homestand has come to an end and it’s time to get back out on the road. They will make the trip tonight to Atlanta, where tomorrow night at 7:15, they’ll begin a three-game weekend series against the division-leading 35-16 Braves. While Atlanta has not yet announced any starters for the series, the Nationals have listed Miles Mikolas (1-3, 6.91 ERA) as their starter for game one tomorrow night. I won’t speculate, but you have to imagine that if Mikolas can’t turn things around pretty soon, his role is going to be vastly diminished, if not eliminated altogether here, as his struggles have just continued and are ultimately beginning to hold this club back once every five days.

Down on the Farm

AAA Rochester

• 9-4 win tonight at Worcester
• Riley Cornelio: 0.2 innings, 3 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts (3.99 ERA)
• Seth Shuman: 2.1 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts (4.76 ERA)
• Christian Franklin: 1-4, RBI, walk (.272 BA, .750 OPS)
• Seaver King: 1-4, 2 RBIs (.455 BA, 1.136 OPS)
• Abi Ortiz: 1-2, RBI, walk (.227 BA, .744 OPS)
• Andrew Pinckney: 1-3, RBI, 2 walks (.263 BA, .765 OPS)
• Trey Lipscomb: 1-5, double, 2 RBIs (.234 BA, .746 OPS)
• Tomorrow: 6:05 game at Worcester (Starter TBA)

AA Harrisburg

• 1-0 loss today versus Akron
• Alex Clemmey: 6 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 11 strikeouts (4.67 ERA)
• Caleb Lomavita: 2-3, walk (.226 BA, .721 OPS)
• Jonathan Thomas: 2-4 (.252 BA, .673 OPS)
• Tomorrow: 7:00 game tomorrow versus Akron (Kyle Luckham pitching)

High-A Wilmington

• Doubleheader today was postponed due to rain
• Tomorrow: Doubleheader beginning at 4:30 (Bryan Polanco starting game one)

Low-A Fredericksburg

• 12-8 win tonight at Fayetteville
• Alexander Meckley: 4 innings, 6 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts (2.88 ERA)
• Luke Dickerson: 1-6, home run (5), 3 RBIs (.232 BA, .794 OPS)
• Coy James: 1-5, double (.200 BA, .710 OPS)
• Rafael Ramirez: 1-3, double, 2 walks (.263 BA, .870 OPS)
• Juan Cruz: 2-5, double (.277 BA, .734 OPS)
• Nick Hollifield: 2-3, 2 RBIs, 2 walks (.125 BA, .480 OPS)
• Elian Soto: 2-5, double, RBI (Low-A debut, Juan Soto‘s little brother)
• Dashyll Tejeda: 1-3, triple, 3 RBIs, 2 walks (.136 BA, .569 OPS)
• Jordan Williams: 1-3, home run (2), walk, 3 RBIs (.262 BA, .804 OPS)
• Tomorrow: 7:05 game at Fayetteville (Mikey Tepper pitching)