Perhaps the NL East is not the friendliest neighborhood for the Washington Nationals.
For all of their success this year, the Nats are 11-30 against division opponents. They were swept by Miami this past weekend after dropping all three games to the New York Mets the previous weekend.
The skid has seen Washington lose nine of its last 11 games and drift dangerously close to the division cellar. The Nationals lead the suddenly surging Mets by just a game and a half.
While the Nats may have slumped in the second half of the season, two players have surged: Andres Chaparro is hitting .304 with seven homers and 25 RBIs in 27 games since the midsummer classic. For those doing the math, that’s a 42-homer, 150-RBI pace over 162 games. Meanwhile, Cade Cavalli is 6-1 with a 1.84 ERA over the same stretch.
Unfortunately, bats lost through trades and injuries have short-circuited what had been the best offense in the majors for much of the season. The latest blow came when CJ Abrams tweaked an ankle and landed on the injured list this past weekend.
There is some good news: The Nationals host Colorado of the NL West this week before resuming divisional play Friday night.
Digesting the Division: Atlanta (76-55) dropped two of three to Milwaukee in a potential playoff preview but still leads Philadelphia (73-58), despite the Phillies’ nine-game winning streak.
We talk a lot about a lineup featuring Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper, but the Phillies have remained in contention thanks in large part to a pitching staff that ranks third in MLB in quality starts.
Miami (67-64) is riding high again after sweeping Washington, just days after getting swept by Philadelphia.
Washington (61-71) is 10 games under .500 for the first time this season, while the New York Mets (59-72) have caught fire with 12 wins in their last 18 games. In the absence of Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor has stepped up with seven homers and 20 RBIs since the All-Star break.
O’s Woes: You can call them the Rays, but lately you can also say the Orioles have Tampa Bay’s number. The Birds took five of seven from the AL East leaders, missing out on a pair of potential sweeps by dropping the series finales. Unfortunately, they also were swept by the New York Yankees and now sit two games out of the American League’s final playoff spot.
Just as importantly, Baltimore is now finished with Tampa Bay this season and begins a nine-game road trip.
Diamond King: Cade Cavalli struck out 11 over six scoreless innings in the Nationals’ lone win last week and has been the only Washington pitcher credited with a victory since Aug. 9 (Will Dion is the trivia answer). Even while pitching for a diminished team, Cavalli owns a 1.73 ERA in August. Every one of his starts from here on out is must-see.
Last Week’s Heroes: Will Dion tossed four scoreless innings, while Andrew Alvarez was a hard-luck loser after allowing just one run over five innings. Andres Chaparro hit .337 with a homer and three RBIs while scoring three runs. Keibert Ruiz batted .385 with a homer and two RBIs. Those were the only two Nationals to drive in more than one run all week.
Last Week’s Humbled: It’s tough to produce RBIs when one-third of your lineup is hitting below .100. Nasim Nunez batted .095, Jacob Young hit .071 and Jorbit Vivas batted .045. Jake Irvin allowed four runs over six innings in his start, while rookie Jackson Kent surrendered eight runs over 8.1 innings across two starts. Tom Cosgrove gave up three runs in 1.1 innings.
Game to Watch: Cade Cavalli is scheduled to start twice this week, and I’m picking Saturday’s matchup against Miami. He’ll face Jackson Junk, who despite the awesome name, owns a middling 4.37 ERA. It’s also the last Saturday before college football begins in earnest. Yes, Virginia plays in Week Zero, but still.
Nationals Notebook: Meltdown in Miami 2026
IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-08-24 14:42:50
Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
