{"id":5593,"date":"2026-06-29T05:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T05:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5593"},"modified":"2026-06-29T05:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T05:05:09","slug":"nationals-win-series-vs-orioles-bouncing-back-from-tough-stretch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5593","title":{"rendered":"Nationals win series vs. Orioles, bouncing back from tough stretch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Luis Garc\u00eda Jr. got a soaking after his two-homer, five-RBI game against the Orioles. (Greg Fiume\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

BALTIMORE \u2014 On Thursday night, as the Washington Nationals drove from Nationals Park into Maryland, Jake Irvin stood up on the bus. Irvin and Luis Garc\u00eda Jr. are the only players who have been in the organization long enough to see the transition from the 2019 World Series title to the subsequent teardown.<\/p>

Read more Red Sox rally past Yankees 5-4 in 10 innings to complete 4-game sweep after Gray loses no-hit bid<\/a><\/p>\n

The Nationals appear to be returning to relevance, having hovered at or above .500 for the past month. But after losing three of four in heartbreaking fashion to the Philadelphia Phillies, they needed to get back on track to ensure that series didn\u2019t doom the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

While the coaches can do their part, Washington\u2019s team leaders will help turn the ship around. Irvin, who is on the injured list, did that by reminding his teammates to stick together \u2014 even though times were tough, he knew they were better than this. Garc\u00eda did it with his bat, hitting two home runs in the 6-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot to me,\u201d Garc\u00eda said through an interpreter. \u201cI\u2019ve been here in this organization for a long time. Being here present, being here for my teammates, that is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nationals, after back-to-back victories, walk away from the weekend with a series win and are just two games out of a National League wild-card spot. This weekend in Baltimore showed why \u201cresilience\u201d has been a popular word in Washington\u2019s clubhouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Phillies series was tough,\u201d said Zack Littell, who allowed two runs in five innings Sunday. \u201cNo one came out of that one feeling great about that. To come out here, win a couple of games, win a tight one as well, it feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda has seen the Nationals at their worst. So as the team was going through this rough patch, he didn\u2019t panic, and he helped ensure his teammates didn\u2019t either. That\u2019s translated into his play, too.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Garc\u00eda drove in two runs with a third-inning double, tying the game after Pete Alonso\u2019s two-run homer in the first. He hit his first home run in the fifth, a two-run shot to make it 5-2, and went deep again in the seventh inning.<\/p>\n

It was the sixth multihomer game of the season for Garc\u00eda, who is second in the majors with 11 long balls in June. He\u2019s at 16 homers through 85 games, just two away from tying the career high he set in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he\u2019s playing well like this, and he\u2019s able to be a voice, especially with what we\u2019ve gone through over these last couple of weeks, to give us a sense of calmness and confidence, then go out there and perform like that, it goes a long way,\u201d Nationals Manager Blake Butera said.<\/p>

Read more NBC bumps Yankees-Red Sox to stay with golf as Scheffler forces playoff<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Zack Littell earned the win with five innings of two-run ball. (Daniel Kucin Jr.\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Garc\u00eda has always been confident in his hitting abilities, but that\u2019s escalated to a new level this month. He\u2019s focused more on pitch selection, laying off tough pitches. That hasn\u2019t just aided his power: Garc\u00eda has earned five walks in June after taking six in the first two-plus months of the season. He\u2019s in a competition with catcher Keibert Ruiz to see who can walk more this season and currently has a five-walk lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s also motivation to work on that,\u201d Garc\u00eda said.<\/p>\n

The bullpen wasn\u2019t perfect this series, but the unit did show improvement from the Phillies series.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Brad Lord covered 2\u2154 innings and allowed one run, though the offense went dry in a 3-1 loss. In Saturday\u2019s 4-3 win, PJ Poulin and Orlando Ribalta each allowed a run in an eighth-inning blown save, but Clayton Beeter and Justin Lawrence put up zeroes in the ninth and 10th to help the Nationals secure the victory.<\/p>\n

After Littell\u2019s solid start Sunday, the bullpen was handed a 6-2 lead. Mitchell Parker retired the first five batters he faced on 19 pitches, but Jackson Holliday tagged him for a two-run homer to pull the Orioles within two.<\/p>\n

Parker then walked Taylor Ward on four pitches, the velocity on his four-seam fastball dropping from 95.1 mph to 89.1 mph during the plate appearance. He was removed from the game and walked off the mound with a trainer. Butera said Parker felt elbow tightness, and the Nationals have not determined the next steps yet.<\/p>\n

Richard Lovelady got the last out of the seventh, and PJ Poulin took the eighth, retiring the middle of the Orioles\u2019 order on 13 pitches.<\/p>\n

As part of the Nationals\u2019 quest to find someone who can handle the ninth, they plan to give players opportunities in different roles. So Poulin, who is usually opening for Littell, was sent back out to finish the game for the fifth time this year.<\/p>\n

He lived up to the moment. While he walked Coby Mayo with one out, he still faced the minimum \u2014 and secured his third save \u2014 after Leody Taveras grounded into a double play.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did a great job,\u201d Butera said. \u201cHe was cool as can be, didn\u2019t show any signs of nerves or being afraid or anything like that. He went out there and attacked hitters and did an outstanding job.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Freeman, Betts key big inning as Dodgers beat the Padres 4-2 to take 2 of 3 in the series<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington rebounds from a rough series against the Phillies as Luis Garc\u00eda homers twice in a win over Baltimore. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nNationals win series vs. Orioles, bouncing back from tough stretch - 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=5593\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nationals win series vs. Orioles, bouncing back from tough stretch - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Washington rebounds from a rough series against the Phillies as Luis Garc\u00eda homers twice in a win over Baltimore.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5593\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-29T05:05:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/05d8df6c3bbeb108718a5c01efe5b8ec-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1696\" \/>\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=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5593#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5593\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Nationals win series vs. Orioles, bouncing back from tough stretch\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-29T05:05:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5593\"},\"wordCount\":966,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5593#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a9529eb2f24d368d2aa2c90dc346a274-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5593#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5593\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5593\",\"name\":\"Nationals win series vs. Orioles, bouncing back from tough stretch - 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