{"id":578,"date":"2026-05-17T10:34:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T10:34:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=578"},"modified":"2026-05-17T10:34:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T10:34:38","slug":"at-long-last-nationals-climb-back-to-500-with-rout-of-orioles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=578","title":{"rendered":"At long last, Nationals climb back to .500 with rout of Orioles"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nationals finally reached that mark with a 13-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles after 15 consecutive losses, when they were one game below .500.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Once a darling of the GOP\u2019s \u2018Never Trump\u2019 wing, this Republican decided he\u2019s done<\/a><\/p>\n

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Keibert Ruiz of the Washington Nationals celebrates as he runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run off Baltimore Orioles pitcher Chris Bassitt on Saturday. (Terrance Williams\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Washington Nationals Manager Blake Butera has downplayed the significance of reaching .500. He wants more, he\u2019s said, and he thinks his team can do that.<\/p>\n

Yet on Saturday, after the Nationals finally reached that mark with a 13-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles after 15 consecutive losses when they were one game below .500, Butera took a moment to acknowledge that milestone and the fans who have stuck by them.<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t been an easy five years as the team has undergone a seemingly never-ending rebuild. But now, in front of sold-out crowds on back-to-back nights, the Nationals are 23-23. And on Sunday, they have a chance not only to go for the sweep, but also to have a winning record on May 16 or later for the first time since 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we want our record to be even better than .500,\u201d Butera said. \u201cIt\u2019s a cool accomplishment to get to .500 at this point in the season, playing the type of schedule we\u2019ve played to this point. Hopefully, we can build off this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nationals accomplished this feat on Saturday with a complete, clean game for the second day in a row, a consistency that has been hard to come by for this team. Cade Cavalli pitched 6\u2153 innings, allowing three runs while striking out eight. Keibert Ruiz had a career-high five RBIs and helped execute a double steal \u2014 a play, he said, of which he was especially proud. Brady House had two extra-base hits off the bench, becoming just the fifth player in Nationals history to do so.<\/p>\n

And the defense not only escaped without committing any errors, but also put on a series of game-changing plays, including a stellar diving catch and throw from CJ Abrams, an extra-base hit robbery from Jacob Young and a sliding catch from Daylen Lile.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we\u2019ve made some mistakes early on that we\u2019ve been frustrated with and wanted to clean,\u201d Butera said. \u201cAt some point, it\u2019s going to click. It\u2019s good to see a couple of games in a row where we put it all together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cavalli shut the Orioles out for the first six innings, pitching into the seventh for the first time this season. His curveball and sweeper were both landing consistently in the strike zone, and his changeup and sinker were also working for him.<\/p>

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It was in the seventh, though, that he started to run out of steam. Samuel Basallo and Tyler O\u2019Neill hit back-to-back home runs, then Leody Taveras singled. Cavalli came close to giving up another \u2014 Coby Mayo sailed a ball just left of the foul pole, resulting in a lengthy review but not another run. Cavalli eventually got Mayo to strike out on a sweeper to end his day.<\/p>\n

With PJ Poulin on the mound, the Orioles added one more run in the seventh to narrow the Nationals\u2019 lead to 4-3.<\/p>\n

The Nationals got offense early in the game from Ruiz on a three-run home run in the second inning and from Abrams, who doubled to drive in a run in the third. But, although they maintained a one-run lead, they needed a big inning to change the momentum back in the bottom of the seventh.<\/p>\n

They did just that \u2014 and more. The Nationals scored seven runs in the bottom of the seventh, nearly every hitter contributing as they batted around the order. Young homered, his fourth of the season. Nasim Nu\u00f1ez and Ruiz pulled off a double steal. House doubled, and Joey Wiemer, James Wood, Lile and Abrams all found themselves on base.<\/p>\n

By the time the inning ended, the Nationals had batted around their lineup and had an 11-3 lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one of the cooler innings of the year, I think,\u201d Young said. \u201cJust to be punched back in the mouth a little bit there, a lot of momentum, just a long inning in general. We got out of it with the lead, which was huge by the pitchers just to keep us in there, and then huge at-bat off the bench by Brady to get the momentum going, and then it kind of just spiraled from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

House added a two-run home run in the eighth to cap off the victory. The Nationals, at long last, are at .500.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe win together, we lose together, we\u2019re here every day together,\u201d House said. \u201cI would do anything for these guys, and I\u2019m excited and proud to play with them.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Photos from the 151st Preakness Stakes<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Nationals finally reached that mark with a 13-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles after 15 consecutive losses, when they were one game below .500.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nAt long last, Nationals climb back to .500 with rout of Orioles - 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=578\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"At long last, Nationals climb back to .500 with rout of Orioles - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Nationals finally reached that mark with a 13-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles after 15 consecutive losses, when they were one game below .500.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=578\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-17T10:34:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/eebf10f1b96ef33a04ae8b99fa292f05-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=578#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=578\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"At long last, Nationals climb back to .500 with rout of Orioles\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-17T10:34:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=578\"},\"wordCount\":846,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=578#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/eebf10f1b96ef33a04ae8b99fa292f05-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=578#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=578\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=578\",\"name\":\"At long last, Nationals climb back to .500 with rout of Orioles - 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