What a roller coaster of emotions it was this afternoon, throughout what I believe to be one of my favorite Washington Nationals’ wins of the over the last six years!

The boys weathered another mediocre start by Miles Mikolas, where he was once again harassed by the home run ball. The Nats got behind their franchise shortstop, CJ Abrams, and the Nationals came back from multiple early deficits to win a huge game and series over the Diamondbacks.

Abrams was incredible (2 home runs!), James Wood came up with a huge home run in the fifth (and another in the eighth), Brady House was spectacular after being flown in from Triple-A at 3:30 AM morning, and Jacob Young came up big twice, and the bullpen got multiple big contributions en route to a huge victory that puts the Nationals firmly in place to go grab a wild card spot. Let’s talk about it!! (I’ve been jumping up and down like a goof since the fifth inning)

The Action

All of the buzz and anticipation that built up from the Curtis Mead/Connelly Early trade that went down late last night (I’ll address that later), as well as from the opportunity the Nationals had today to steal a critical series and the season series from a team in the final wild-card spot, and quickly faded away this afternoon as Miles Mikolas took the mound to start. After a one-out walk surrendered to Geraldo Perdomo, Gabriel Moreno made him pay immediately by driving in Perdomo with an RBI double into the left field corner. Mikolas would work his way out of further damage, though, and the Nats were down just 1-0.

The bottom of the first didn’t see any runs against Kohl Drake, but it did see Dylan Crews, promoted to the third slot in the batting order today, rip an opposite-field double to give us some further proof that we may be in for a breakout couple of months from Dylan.

The Nats took advantage of Mikolas’ only 1-2-3 inning of the day in the second inning and gave him that run back in the bottom of the inning. Brady House was a controversial demotion to Triple-A a couple of months ago, but was showing signs of slight improvement at the big league level early in the year, and Paul Toboni gave him some time to work on his swing in Triple-A. House has been Triple-A Rochester’s best hitter for the last month, showing real leaps in nearly every category, and with the Mead trade opening up a need on the big league roster for a right-handed third baseman, House got the call this morning for what feels like a critical upcoming stretch for his career.

I could not be rooting harder for this kid, and he gave us a joyous greeting in the bottom of the second. House got a two-strike fastball and lined it the other way to the warning track for a leadoff double, and then came in to score the tying run two pitches later on an RBI single by Jacob Young.

Vibes were high with two outs in the top of the third, as it looked like Mikolas was settling in nicely, with the game recently being tied back up. That was until he left a slider up against Perdomo, who promptly deposited it into the Nats’ bullpen for a solo shot, putting Arizona back ahead 2-1 and doing a nice job of deflating the energy in Nats Park.

That energy was restored and then some in the bottom of the third, as CJ Abrams got an 0-2 curveball well below the zone and somehow managed to hit it out to center field, just barely clearing the wall for a game-tying solo home run to knot things at two apiece.

Momentum just did not resonate with Miles Mikolas today, as once again he could not keep any of it in the fourth. Minutes after Abrams tied the game with a blast, Mikolas served up a sinker right down the middle to Ketel Marte, who sent a solo shot of his own out to center field to put Arizona right back ahead 3-2. At some point, as a fan, you begin to wonder how many gut punches a team can take, and unfortunately that’s how it’s felt most nights that Mikolas has taken the bump this season. I appreciate everything he’s done to mentor the young guys and eat innings this season, but a playoff-contending team just cannot continue to trot him out there every five games.

Riley Cornelio took the ball in the top of the fifth and had some command struggles early, which ultimately resulted in the Dbacks getting an insurance run on a sacrifice fly by Moreno to make it 4-2. I don’t want that to be the tone of Cornelio’s day, though. He came back out to pitch the sixth and threw a huge zero on the board to bridge the gap through the middle innings for the Nationals, and while it took 42 pitches to get through those two innings, he could have easily imploded in the fifth and caused this game to go completely differently, but instead he held firm.

The defining inning in this game was the bottom of the fifth. Going in trailing 4-2, the Nationals flipped the script thanks to two big swings from their two young stars. James Wood was first, getting to face the left-handed Kohl Drake for a third time, and he made Arizona pay with a two-run shot to score Nasim Nunez and tie the game at four. After a pitching change and a pinch-hit single by Daylen Lile, it was CJ Abrams‘ turn once again. CJ hit his second homer of the game, putting the Nats ahead 6-4, and giving Abrams his 27th of the season, making him the Nationals’ all-time franchise leader in home runs in a season by a shortstop.

• Kohl Drake: 4 innings, 5 hits, 4 runs (all earned), 2 walks, 1 strikeout (64 pitches)
• Miles Mikolas: 4 innings, 4 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 1 walk, 1 strikeout (63 pitches)

Those two swings flipped the game on its head, and the bullpen took the reins from there. Cornelio tossed a scoreless sixth, Max Kranick threw up a zero in the seventh, and then the offense gave us some more to cheer about.

Dylan Crews led off the bottom of the seventh with a base hit, and two batters later, Brady House drove him in on an RBI double to extend the lead to 7-4. The line didn’t stop there, as Jacob Young added on three pitches later with an RBI double of his own to make it 8-4, and the Nats picked up one more later in the inning on an infield single by Luis Garcia that was aided by an errant throw from pitcher Brandyn Garcia.

Tom Cosgrove entered in the eighth inning with a 9-4 lead and a ballpark buzzing with excitement. The excitement was quelled minimally by the Dbacks getting one back on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Locklear, but that’s all they’d get as Cosgrove sent the game into the bottom of the eighth with the Nats holding tightly to a 9-5 lead.

James Wood must have felt left out by all the noise that’s come from CJ Abrams’ bat this week, because he got even on the day with a 418-foot home run to the opposite field in the eighth. His 30th homer of the season put the Nationals ahead 10-5, and that was the margin as the game headed to the ninth with the Nats just three outs away from their biggest win of the 2020s.

I want you guys to think to yourselves: has anything ever come easily with this bullpen? Absolutely not. And it sure didn’t today either. Matt Krook was given the opportunity to close this one out and repaid Blake Butera‘s confidence with three straight walks to begin the inning, the last one coming, unfortunately, on a pitch clock violation with a 3-2 count. Before we go any further, I want to share a quote from Denard Span, former Nats’ outfielder who subbed in the TV booth this weekend.

“This Nationals’ experience might give me a heart attack” – Denard Span said as the color analyst on Nationals.TV

So in came Clayton Beeter to try and make sure this one didn’t get away from the Nationals. He entered with the bases loaded, nobody out, and the game still 10-5. Things started positively, as Beeter got the first hitter to ground into a forceout at the plate for the first out. Two away. Then things took a step back as Ryan Waldschmidt singled home a run to make it 10-6 with the bases still loaded, and now the tying run coming to the plate. Nolan Arenado was next, and he traded an out for a run on a groundout, making it 10-7 but putting Beeter one out away from ending things. That out didn’t come against Ildemaro Vargas, who walked on four pitches, but just as the collective patience of the Nationals’ fanbase was beginning to break, he got Tyler Locklear to ground out, putting a MASSIVE curly W in the books.

What’s Next?

As if this weekend wasn’t exciting enough, the ride is only just beginning. The Nationals are currently 54-52, just one game out of a playoff spot with a huge week ahead. The Blue Jays have been falling further out of contention in the American League playoff picture and will be flying to DC tonight with their hopes hanging on by a thread. The Nats will have a chance to potentially put their playoff hopes to bed over a three-game series that will begin tomorrow night at 6:45. But putting Toronto’s situation aside, the Nats are jockeying with up to five teams for this final playoff spot, and the games this week against Toronto and Atlanta will have a profound effect on who we might see traded to and from Washington over the next ten days. They keep winning, and we may see plenty more than just Connelly Early coming in to boost this big league roster, while a bad week could put all of those plans up in the air.

As if this wasn’t enough of a reason to be locked into this series, the Blue Jays will be sending Max Scherzer to the mound tomorrow night against the Nationals for his first outing off the IL. The biggest series of the year so far will begin with the Nats welcoming their all-time best pitcher back to DC, and he will face off against Andrew Alvarez (2-3, 4.22 ERA), who is in need of a bounceback outing after what’s been a rocky stretch for him lately.

Ryan’s Rant (A positive one this time)

I just want to take a minute to share a realization I had during today’s game, and a message I think we can all take away from it. I’m 20 years old and have been watching this team avidly since I was 8. Growing up, it was easy to hang onto every game like it was life or death because I never had anything else going on, and every game meant a ton more because they were always good, always fighting for a playoff spot. I have completely forgotten what that felt like, and at first it made me sad. But watching this game today, specifically in the fifth inning when Wood and Abrams both went yard, I realized we are right back into the shoes we used to wear every year when I was a kid.

And as I thought further, I realized just how excited I was and just how easy it is now to forget about everything going on around me. As a 20-year-old, I can’t in good conscience spend my every minute thinking about this team like I did growing up, but I realized that’s exactly what I’ve done this weekend, and it’s been amazing. For lack of a better term, I feel like a kid again. To be watching meaningful baseball, to get to hang onto every pitch like the season depends on it, because it does, is a privilege. A privilege that we as a fanbase may have taken for granted during the 2012-2019 run. But for the first time since that night in Houston, I feel myself again being revived by a playoff race that once again my team is a part of, and that’s a rush, a feeling that can’t be put into words.

Regardless of what happens in the next week, the next month, the next two months, we owe a debt of appreciation to Blake Butera, Paul Toboni, Mike DeBartolo, every player that’s worn the jersey this season, and so many others. I don’t care what happens from here (Okay, yes I do), we get to turn on our TVs and watch meaningful baseball for the rest of the season, and NOBODY saw that happening this year. I invite you all to remember what it felt like in 2019, and allow yourselves to be excited again, be optimistic again. We probably won’t win the World Series, but we’re going to get a lot closer than any of us imagined in March. Enjoy this stretch, everyone; be free to feel like children again. This game isn’t just a pastime; it’s a joy, and I want us all to be joyous over what we’re witnessing.

Down on the Farm

AAA Rochester

• 5-4 win today at Buffalo
• Andry Lara: 3 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts (5.80 ERA)
• Phillip Glasser: 2-4, RBI, walk (.306 BA, .731 OPS)
• Abi Ortiz: 2 walks (.237 BA, .832 OPS)
• Andrew Pinckney: 1-4, double, RBI, walk (.284 BA, .807 OPS)
• Joey Wiemer: 2-4, 2 doubles, RBI (.212 BA, .571 OPS)
• Leandro Pineda: 1-3, triple, walk (.500 BA, 1.404 OPS)
• Tomorrow: Off-day

AA Harrisburg

• 6-2 loss today versus Reading
• Yoel Tejeda (AA debut): 5 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts
• Sam Petersen: 1-4, double, walk (.241 BA, .802 OPS)
• Brandon Boissiere: 1-3, double, RBI, walk (.277 BA, .847 OPS)
• Sam Brown: 1-4, double, RBI (.235 BA, .675 OPS)
• Tomorrow: Off-day

High-A Wilmington

• 6-4 win today versus Hudson Valley (10 innings)
• Bryan Polanco: 3.2 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts (5.48 ERA)
• Eli Willits: 0-1, 2 walks, RBI (.232 BA, .862 OPS)
• Ronny Cruz: 1-3, triple, walk (.220 BA, .636 OPS)
• Jacob Walsh: 1-5, home run (8, was a walk-off home run), 2 RBIs (.246 BA, .773 OPS)
• Teo Banks: 3-4, home run (4), RBI, double (.256 BA, .730 OPS)
• Miguel Villarroel: 2-4, double (.250 BA, .859 OPS)
• Tomorrow: Off-day

Low-A Fredericksburg

• 2-1 loss today versus Fayetteville
• Alexander Meckley: 4 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts (4.41 ERA)
• Gabriel Hughes: 3 perfect innings, 5 strikeouts (4.84 ERA)
• Juan Cruz: 1-4, triple (.281 BA, .858 OPS)
• Tomorrow: Off-day