Washington Nationals Officially Set MLB Blown Save Record

The inevitable has been made official: the Washington Nationals now stand alone atop an infamous MLB record.

The Nationals officially dropped its second consecutive series and sixth game in a row after the San Diego Padres took a 5-4 finish on Tuesday night. How it happened is a fitting reality for the Nationals, who have no doubt about what the biggest weakness is on the 2026 roster.

After taking a 4-1 lead into the eighth inning, Jared Simpson took the mound for his second appearance in as many nights and third ever in the MLB, but the Padres would mount a comeback that the 26 year old left hander was unable to slow.

Simpson walked his first two batters faced before a wild pitch advanced both runners to second and third, only before a seven pitch at bat then loaded the bases with no outs. Manager Blake Butera would then turn to Erik Tolman to get out of the jam, but it wouldn't matter. A sac fly would bring in the Padres first run of the inning, and after a wild pitch allowed the runner to advance from first to second, a single courtesy of Manny Machado brought it two more runs during the next at bat to tie the game at four. Tolman was able to secure the second out of the inning thanks to a pop out, but that would be a short-term win after a two out single into right field delivered the go-ahead run in a night that ended in an all too familiar feeling for the Nationals.

The Nationals were not able to mount any late inning comeback, instead going down in order in the top of the ninth after Daylen Lile grounded out, Yohany Morales struck out then Jacob Young flied out to right field to end the humbling road loss. For a team that was once road warriors to begin the regular season, Washington fell further from .500 with the team now sitting 34-40 in road games this season, but with a pitching staff that has struggled to show much of anything for the majority of 2026, the bigger problems are crystal clear for president of baseball operations Paul Toboni to address this offseason.

Washington, now sitting 13 games below .500 overall with 15 regular season games left, will look to avoid being swept for the second straight series when the two teams meet on Wednesday afternoon with Jackson Kent set to take the mound. First pitch is set for 4:10 PM.