Joey Wiemer has now reached base in each of his first seven at bats, fueling the Washington Nationals to a 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs, winning the first series of the season.
For the second time this season, outfielder Joey Wiemer proved to be the star for the Washington Nationals on Sunday afternoon in a 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday afternoon to take two of three games in the first series of the season.
After going 3-for-3 on Opening Day including a home run, Wiemer followed it up with another perfect outing where he went 3-for-3 with another home run, this time a three-run shot, and triple while also drawing a walk.
While he finished a double away from hitting for the cycle, he made other history as Wiemer became the first player since Jeremy Hazelbaker of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017 to reach base in every at bat to begin a tenure with a club, tying the longest stretch in MLB history. Wiemer, now proving to be an early impact addition for a Nationals team that had hitting questions ahead of the regular season, signed with the Nationals back on Jan. 5, his sixth club since 2020, after being designated for assignment a month prior by the San Francisco Giants.
Jake Irvin drew his first start of the regular season where he tossed seven strikeouts and allowed a pair of earned runs in five innings, but he also gave up back to back solo home runs in the fourth inning that made it a one run game, a discouraging development after giving up a league leading 38 home runs in 2025.
But Wiemer's home run in the opening frame proved to be a critical one in the end, capitalizing after Brady House and Daylen Lile singled in consecutive at bats to set up the key play.
Wiemer then kept it going after opening the eighth inning with a single into left field for his sixth hit in two games, but he'd be called out after Nasim Nunez grounded to second base. But Keibert Ruiz joined in on the fun, blasting a 373 foot home run into left field to bring Nunez home and push Washington ahead, 6-2.
With Cionel Perez on the mound, Chicago then answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning for what proved to be the final run of the game.
Now 2-1, the Nationals will remain on the road and begin divisional play when they take on the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, March 30 for a 6:40 PM opening pitch.