CLEVELAND — The Washington Nationals could have pulled out a number of excuses to get them by had things gone astray Monday. They were fresh off a rain-riddled series finale in Atlanta, a game that included not one but two delays before they could claim a series finale in the evening hours Sunday. That set back their travel itinerary on an already late getaway game, and they didn’t arrive to their hotel in Cleveland until early Monday.
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But instead of dragging through Monday’s series opener against the Cleveland Guardians, they showed up in full force. The Nationals smashed six home runs, tying their season-high, as they beat the Guardians 10-2. They enter every game believing they can beat any team, and they did just that yet again against one of the best in the American League.
“This is just a flash of what this team can do,” pitcher Zack Littell said.
Washington, now 28-27, has a winning record for the first time since they were 3-2 on March 31. And this time, it wasn’t just James Wood and CJ Abrams who led the way, although they did play parts.
“It’s fun winning baseball games,” manager Blake Butera said. “Ultimately, the record doesn’t really matter until the end of the year. … At the end of the day, just happy with the win and happy with how we’re playing.”
The offensive onslaught started from the jump with a leadoff home run from Wood. That’s to be expected from him; he mashes balls left and right and now has 14 this season. But then it was Curtis Mead two batters later, who doesn’t have the same track record. He’s starting to show his potential, though, with everyday playing time as his slugging percentage (.496) and OPS (.852) both sit at career-highs.
Jacob Young followed with yet another home run to kick off the second inning. He spent the winter and early part of the season improving his bat speed, and now he has seven home runs in 52 games, compared with five in his previous 303. Luis García Jr., who had a double in the first inning, hit his home run later in the second to make it 6-0.
In the third, CJ Abrams, off to the best first half of his career, hit his 12th ball out of the park this year. That was enough to drive Guardian’s starter Tanner Bibee out of the game after the third inning after he allowed five home runs, tying a franchise record, but not enough to slow down the onslaught from the Nationals offense. In the fifth, Mead smashed a flyball just right of the left field foul pole for the first multi-home-run game of his career.
After running through the dugout collecting his high-fives, Mead turned around and fist-pumped himself as he headed back the other direction, basking in his accomplishment. And as he did so, fans stood up and headed for the exits. With the score now 8-2 and tip-off of Game Four of the Eastern Conference Finals just minutes away, Cleveland fans crossed the street or headed to nearby bars, hoping to have better luck at Rocket Arena than at Progressive Field. (That wasn’t looking likely either.)
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“Couldn’t be happier for him to get this opportunity and some runway to play and play a lot,” Butera said of Mead. “Some extended playing time, I think, goes a long way to one, help him get some confidence and two, get into that rhythm of everyday at-bats and hopefully build off the success.”
Washington added two more runs in the sixth. After Daylen Lile walked, Young hit a grounder for a base hit, and Drew Millas reached on a fielding error to load the bases. García Jr. then hit a grounder to send in two runs for his third hit of the day. He ultimately fell a triple short of the cycle, despite his best efforts to race a deep flyball in the eighth that almost hopped fair.
“It’s just so impressive, the at-bats from start to finish,” Butera said. “Coming out of the gates hot like that against an arm like Bibee is not easy, and the way we set the tone early on and gave our pitching some room to breathe a little bit there, and then they continue to pile it on outside of the first inning, made it that much easier for us.”
And while the pitching wasn’t the propellant like it was in Atlanta, they still allowed just two runs. PJ Poulin served as the opener, pitching the first two innings and allowing just one run, a solo home run by Rhys Hoskins. Zack Littell went the rest of the distance, covering seven innings while giving up just one run, saving the bullpen from needing to deploy an arm while the team is in the home stretch of 16 games without a day off.
Notes: The Nationals acquired left-handed pitcher Carson Palmquist from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for cash considerations and optioned him to Class AAA Rochester, the team announced
Palmquist, 25, made his MLB debut in 2025, pitching to an 8.91 ERA in 34 1/3 innings. He had a 7.20 ERA in 12 appearances in AAA this year.
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