{"id":8892,"date":"2026-08-09T17:34:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T17:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8892"},"modified":"2026-08-09T17:34:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T17:34:34","slug":"andrew-alvarez-helps-nationals-pull-it-together-for-win-over-reds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8892","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Alvarez helps Nationals pull it together for win over Reds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The left-hander, a former protege of the departed Foster Griffin, delivered a solid performance in Washington\u2019s 8-2 victory over Cincinnati.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"\"
Washington Nationals pitcher Andrew Alvarez during the second inning against Cincinnati on Saturday. (Nick Wass\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Washington Nationals were in danger of letting another winnable game slip away at the hands of their ever-frightful bullpen. But they held on, and the offense put together quality at-bats to beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-2, on Saturday.<\/p>\n

With that victory at Nationals Park, Washington wins the series and is in position to wrap up a sweep Sunday. The Nationals (58-61) also continued their steady climb back toward .500, a mark they fell under after a 1-7 road trip that took them out of wild card contention and pushed them to sell at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing on the road for eight games against two really good teams, back-to-back four-game series is not easy, and when it\u2019s not going your way, you\u2019re looking for some support, some positivity,\u201d Manager Blake Butera said. \u201cWhen you come back home and play in front of the crowd we had last night with the rain delay and then the crowd we had tonight, which was awesome as well, just provides that spark that we needed. It gives our guys some confidence that we can play well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The season isn\u2019t over yet \u2014 and Saturday\u2019s complete win was a reminder of the potential this young team has. Several players contributed, beginning with Jos\u00e9 Tena. He led off the third inning with a single, then CJ Abrams doubled to move Tena to third. Abimelec Ortiz\u2019s groundball sneaked through the left side, and Tena and Abrams scored to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead.<\/p>\n

Andrew Alvarez, meanwhile, held the Reds scoreless through the first five innings. The left-handed rookie was coming off the best start of his career, pitching a career-high 6\u2153 innings while holding the Philadelphia Phillies to just two runs on three hits Monday.<\/p>\n

His breakthrough couldn\u2019t have come at a better time for the Nationals. With Foster Griffin \u2014 whom Alvarez credits with teaching him how to prepare and be efficient \u2014 traded and Zack Littell designated for assignment last week, the already-thin pitching depth is even slimmer. That means there\u2019s room for Alvarez to get consistent starts and put himself in a position to earn a spot in the rotation next year, too. Jake Irvin, Cade Cavalli and Connelly Early are the only starters currently penciled in to the 2027 roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bummer losing both,\u201d Alvarez said. \u201cIt\u2019s never easy seeing the team split apart. I\u2019m just going to continue to go day by day and work hard. Each day, we\u2019re just going to go out there and give it all we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the sixth inning Saturday, Alvarez got Elly De La Cruz to ground out, then gave up a single to Sal Stewart, just the third hit for Cincinnati. With a narrow 2-0 lead and right-handed hitter Dane Myers due up, Butera decided to remove Alvarez for righty Max Kranick.<\/p>\n

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Alvarez was at 73 pitches, and that\u2019s the point where the team has noticed he loses command. Still, Butera said he was happy with how far Alvarez was able to go Saturday by limiting how many deep counts he got into. He also walked just one batter, an improvement after issuing three walks in each of his previous three starts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I did well just attacking the zone, getting a lot of early strikes was super great for me,\u201d Alvarez said.<\/p>\n

Kranick got Myers to pop out on a hanging slider, but Eugenio Su\u00e1rez didn\u2019t miss a hanging fastball, crushing a two-run homer to tie the game for the Reds.<\/p>\n

This was where the game could have taken a turn for the worse for the Nationals. Instead, they responded with a four-run sixth inning.<\/p>\n

Dylan Crews kicked it off with a double two pitches after successfully challenging a called third strike. Daylen Lile\u2019s RBI single gave the Nationals the lead back, then Keibert Ruiz doubled and Nasim Nu\u00f1ez walked to load the bases and end Reds starter Chase Burns\u2019s day.<\/p>\n

Pinch hitter Andr\u00e9s Chaparro ripped a double to the left field line, bringing in Lile and Ruiz. Nu\u00f1ez attempted to score as well but was called out at home. The Nationals added one more run off a single from Jacob Young to make it 6-2.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge,\u201d Butera said of the four-run response. \u201cObviously they grabbed the momentum back with that two-run homer to tie it there. So to be able to go out there in the bottom half of the inning, with Burns still on the mound. \u2026 Crewsy getting it started, I think really sparked the offense. Just incredible at-bats right after Crewsy to continue that inning.\u201d<\/p>\n

At times this season, that\u2019s been far too small for the bullpen to hold on to. But on Saturday, Yovanny Cruz and Clayton Beeter got through the seventh and eighth innings without any issues. In the bottom of the eighth, Chaparro and Abrams added RBI singles to make it 8-2, and Max Cosgrove pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to wrap up the win.<\/p>\n

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The left-hander, a former prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of the departed Foster Griffin, delivered a solid performance in Washington\u2019s 8-2 victory over Cincinnati.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nAndrew Alvarez helps Nationals pull it together for win over Reds - 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=8892\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Andrew Alvarez helps Nationals pull it together for win over Reds - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The left-hander, a former prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of the departed Foster Griffin, delivered a solid performance in Washington\u2019s 8-2 victory over Cincinnati.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8892\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-09T17:34:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\/wapo\/HDHQ7GETSII7DH64BJZFZGE2PM.jpg\" \/>\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=8892#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8892\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Andrew Alvarez helps Nationals pull it together for win over Reds\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-09T17:34:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8892\"},\"wordCount\":928,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8892#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\\\/wapo\\\/HDHQ7GETSII7DH64BJZFZGE2PM.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8892#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8892\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8892\",\"name\":\"Andrew Alvarez helps Nationals pull it together for win over Reds - 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