Nats rely on biggest weakness to beat greatest foe
At 27-27, the Washington Nationals are a third of the way through the 2026 season, and the team has to be feeling good about where they are after taking two of three from the division-leading Atlanta Braves.
The Nats offense has carried the team for the majority of the year, but the series turned out to be a pitchers' duel for both teams despite the Nats and Braves coming into the game sporting the first and second-ranked offenses in MLB, respectively.
The Nats lost another heartbreaker in extra innings Friday night to begin the series with the Braves, scoring 3 runs in the 10th and 11th innings to win 5-4.
But then on Saturday and Sunday, the Nats did something they haven't been able to do all year: win games when the offense isn't clicking.
Pitching helps Nats topple Braves
Starting pitcher Jake Irvin, reliever Brad Lord and closer Richard Lovelady combined to blank the Braves across 9 innings of one-hit ball on Saturday. Then on Sunday, starter Foster Griffin went 6 innings and four relievers combined to get the final nine outs to seal a 2-1 victory.
Nats pitching walked a tightrope over disaster multiple times during the series, but on Sunday, Foster Griffin performed his best Houdini impersonation, getting out of a bases-loaded, 1-out jam in the bottom of the fourth unscathed.
Griffin's compatriots in the bullpen one-upped him by performing the same miracle in the 9th inning to deliver the win.
After a rain delay in the top of the 7th added an extra hour to the game's run time, the Braves didn't threaten much until the 9th. Meanwhile, the Nats added an insurance run in the 8th after James Wood walked to first, stole second, tagged third, and was driven home by pinch-hitting first baseman Luis Garcia Jr.
Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley led off the bottom of the 9th with singles, putting runners on first and third with no outs. Ozzie Albies didn't run on what could have been a sac fly to right field from Michael Harris Jr., but a sharp throw by Dylan Crews kept Albies on third with one out and runners on the corners.
Nats pitching, defense have been blind spot
Besides pitching, defense has been the Nats' biggest issue all season, and after committing an error in Saturday night's game, the team committed another in the bottom of the ninth when the usually sure-handed second baseman Nasim Nunez fumbled a for sure double play ball to gift the Braves their first run of the game and cut the lead in half.
Nats manager Blake Butera pulled his lefty closer Richard Lovelady and opted for righty Orlando Ribalta to get the final two outs, starting against righty Chadwick Tromp, who was pinch-hitting in the 9 hole. Ribalta struck out Tromp with a slider he buried a foot off the plate, then induced Ronald Acuna into a broken bat groundball to second that ended the threat and the series.
The Nats have relied on mashing the ball in 2026, but their pitching played the biggest role in securing their first win in Atlanta since May 2024.
Unfortunately, Jake Irvin landed on the 15-day DL with a back issue, so the team's pitching just took another hit. But if the staff can play even close to the level it did over the weekend, the team has some competitive ball to look forward to in the coming weeks.
Related: Nationals surprise everyone by knocking cover off ball in 2026
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This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 1:45 PM.