The Washington Nationals fell behind, 9-0, in Monday's loss against the Detroit Tigers
The winning ways have come to a scratching halt after Washington Nationals opened the final road series of the 2026 regular season in the loss column after the Detroit Tigers took a 9-2 finish on Monday night.
Yet the loss featured a welcomed sight for Washington after left handed pitcher DJ Herz made his first MLB appearance in nearly two years, just hours after the team officially called him up. The bad news is the start went far from how the 25 year old had hoped it would go after allowing four earned runs and five hits while tossing four strikeouts across 63 pitches and four innings.
Herz recorded the loss while Luis Perales and Josiah Gray pitched two innings each with Perales allowing the remaining five earned runs in the loss. Jacob Young went 2-for-3 in the loss, though the Nationals accounted for just five hits after being held scoreless for the bulk of the loss.
The Nationals fell behind early after Herz allowed three of his first four batters faced to reach base as the Tigers moved ahead, 2-0, before consecutive strikeouts then ended the inning. Detroit then added to it in the fourth inning after Herz allowed a walk before giving up a 426 foot home run two batters later, doubling the Nationals' deficit, in Herz' final inning during his appearance.
With Perales on the mound, the Tigers managed five consecutive hits featuring a pair of two run home runs with the game all but decided to push the score to 9-0.
Washington managed to break up the shutout in the seventh inning after James Wood managed to get on base with a single into center, his lone hit of the night. After a strikeout courtesy of Daylen Lile, Yohandy Morales then took the first pitch, a 95 mph sinker, 349 feet for what proved to be the game's final two runs to clear the bases. Yet that managed to be it after a Nasim Nunez groundout ended the inning before two groundouts and a strikeout closed any hope of a comeback in the ninth inning.
After moving to 73-84 overall, the Nationals will look to even the series on Tuesday night when the two teams meet for a 6:40 PM first pitch. Jackson Kent is set to take the mound with a chance to pick up consecutive wins for the first time in his MLB career.
