{"id":4179,"date":"2026-06-18T07:34:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4179"},"modified":"2026-06-18T07:34:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:34:22","slug":"nationals-offense-sputters-with-royals-series-sweep-in-sight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4179","title":{"rendered":"Nationals\u2019 offense sputters with Royals series sweep in sight"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Nationals starting pitcher Zack Littell struggled out of the gate on Wednesday. (John Mcdonnell\/Ap Photo\/John Mcdonnell)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

When James Wood misread the ball in the sixth inning, the type of mistake the right fielder has mostly avoided as the Washington Nationals have mashed their way to MLB relevance in recent weeks, the day settled on its identity.<\/p>

Read more Jayden Daniels says he has \u2018a long way to go\u2019 with Commanders\u2019 new offense<\/a><\/p>\n

The Royals had already homered over and over and over and, for good measure, over in the first three innings. The misplay by Wood allowed Kansas City\u2019s John Rave to sprint out a triple, which give the Royals a five-run lead after a sacrifice bunt.<\/p>\n

As the Nationals finished Tuesday night four games above .500 for the first time since 2019, facility employees debated in the tunnel whether they need to start planning to work in October. A win Wednesday would\u2019ve been the Nats\u2019 fifth in a row, a feat they\u2019ve achieved only four times since that mystical World Series.<\/p>\n

But in a 6-2 loss to the Royals on Wednesday afternoon, the Washington never looked quite in rhythm. Not even Wood, who has led Washington\u2019s rise with 20 home runs and a true all-star campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery game matters,\u201d Nationals Manager Blake Butera said. \u201cSo, leaving here without finishing the series [means] we didn\u2019t finish our business.\u201d<\/p>\n

If nothing else, it became clear immediately.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Royals starting pitcher Luinder Avila slowed down the Nationals, including James Wood, on Wednesday. (John McDonnell\/AP Photo\/John McDonnell)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Righty Zack Littell took the mound having allowed only six runs over his previous four starts, a big improvement from the 7.85 ERA he finished April with. Littell left a ball too far over the plate, and Kansas City\u2019s leadoff hitter, Carter Jensen, planted it beyond the right field wall. Rave went deep in the second, along with former Nat Lane Thomas and Michael Massey in the third. The rest of the runs wandered in during the sixth with Wood\u2019s mishap and a botched coverage of a sacrifice bunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have days like this, you kind of have to just buckle down and say we\u2019re just gonna compete,\u201d Littell said. \u201cFrankly, I\u2019ve been kind of due for one.\u201d<\/p>\n

His 20 home runs allowed this year lead MLB, though, which may remain a hitch in the Nationals\u2019 postseason dreams. Their pitching, embodied by Littell\u2019s April to June swing, has massively improved. But it is still in the bottom third of MLB via most metrics, preventing the Nats from sweeping a series since April.<\/p>

Read more Colombia\u2019s Luis Diaz stars in World Cup debut, less than 3 years after his parents\u2019 kidnapping<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, despite a bullpen that remains shaky and a defense that\u2019s allowed the second-most runs in MLB this year (an eye-popping 5.3 per game) Washington has won nine of its past 11 series. The Nats practice some sort of yin and yang, in which their offense simultaneously leads the majors in runs with 405. They added another 13 in their first two victories against the Royals, and, in a way, those wins were inspiring because of who they didn\u2019t include.<\/p>\n

Neither Wood nor CJ Abrams helped their cause with four combined hits this week. Wood went 0 for 4 on Wednesday to accompany his fielding slip-up, grounding into a double play to end his day.<\/p>\n

Yet in their wake, the rest of the Nats\u2019 lineup found some footing. After entering the week among the MLB\u2019s worst batters by average, Nasim Nu\u00f1ez had two triples and three runs on Tuesday and another two hits on Wednesday, all out of the No. 9 hole. Dylan Crews also registered a hit and an RBI and had a would-be double that was reviewed and called an out, to the \u201cTarp\u2019s Off\u201d band\u2019s dismay.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, the Nats\u2019 offense scuttled to a halt with Kansas City starter Luinder Avila pushing 5 2\/3 innings and only giving up one earned run.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe pitched well,\u201d Wood reasoned after the game. \u201cI just don\u2019t think we executed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet another series victory, no matter its harsh final tune, is noteworthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to finish out and close out the series on the line,\u201d Wood said. \u201cBut, yeah, I feel like we played two really good games, and I feel we\u2019ll carry that into Tampa.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Bichette has 3 hits, McLean strikes out 9 as Mets beat Reds to avoid series sweep<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pitcher Zack Littell allowed four home runs in the first three innings of a 6-2 loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nNationals\u2019 offense sputters with Royals series sweep in sight - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4179\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nationals\u2019 offense sputters with Royals series sweep in sight - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pitcher Zack Littell allowed four home runs in the first three innings of a 6-2 loss.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4179\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-18T07:34:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/25db809bbe0fe216e41f5e2daefa59ab-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4179#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4179\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Nationals\u2019 offense sputters with Royals series sweep in sight\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T07:34:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4179\"},\"wordCount\":750,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4179#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/522051026e6a5d65454f8cbccf209c08-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4179#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4179\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4179\",\"name\":\"Nationals\u2019 offense sputters with Royals series sweep in sight - 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