The Washington Nationals are on the cusp of dropping their third straight series
The season has appeared to officially flip for the Washington Nationals.
Tuesday night marked yet another humbling loss, pushing the losing streak to seven games as the Nationals look to avoid their third consecutive lost series when they meet the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night.
Washington was already dealt an expected blow after James Wood was placed on the ten day injured list with what manager Blake Butera described as a "subtle, mild oblique strain" -- and the rest of the lineup struggled to replace his production.
Dylan Crews would replace Wood in right field in the lineup starting on Tuesday, but he would be one of seven players who failed to record a hit on Tuesday night. In the end, the Nationals were shut out for the first time since April 28 against the New York Mets after failing to turn the five hits into a run to extend the slide.
Washington also finished 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position to move to 3-for-46 on the road trip, a deflating statistic for the one-time highest scoring offense across baseball.
The loss also moved the Nationals to five games below .500, the worst mark under the early stages of the Blake Butera era, with postseason aspirations all but dashed heading into the rest of August.
With Wood sidelined coupled with Foster Griffin, Luis Garcia Jr and Curtis Mead now all departed, whether the best has already materialized from the Nationals this season is a fair question, even if it came as they blew past preseason expectations.
Yet the struggles have come with the usual dependable offense faltering after amassing just 16 runs over the last seven games, a distant average from the MLB-leading 5.3 runs per game that have carried the Nationals through the 2026 regular season. Washington managed nearly double the number of strikeouts compared to hits in Monday's loss, adding another layer of frustration.
Though the trio of deals completed ahead of the trade deadline could alleviate some of the concerns and help the Nationals field a more competitive, complete roster beginning in 2027, what fan interest remains in an appearing struggling ball club will now be the question as CJ Abrams looks to build on his career year in the meantime.
Jake Irvin is set to take the mound on Wednesday night in hopes of not just ending the slide, but picking up his first win since being activated from the injured list last month.
