CJ Abrams reached base on 12-of-15 plate appearances as the Washington Nationals (9-10) squeezed out a series tie against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Nationals finished the series with two one-run wins on Tuesday and Thursday, but struggled in Monday and Wednesday’s losses. The Nationals finished with a run differential of -11 in the series despite the tie.

Nothing went right for the Nationals on Monday in their 16-5 loss. Nationals ace Cade Cavalli took the mound against superstar pitcher Paul Skenes, where he had his worst start of the season. 

Cavalli finished his outing after recording just four outs. He allowed four earned runs on three hits and three walks. He finished his outing with 48 pitches through his 1.1 innings. His ERA dipped to 4.60 after the loss. 

Skenes was great for the Pirates. He allowed only one hit, one earned run and one walk in six innings on the mound. 

Abrams was the only National to get a hit on Skenes, ripping a home run in the first inning. 

The Nationals’ day would get worse as former first-round pick Jackson Rutledge allowed seven earned runs in the sixth inning. Brad Lord would allow three earned runs as well before finishing the 10-run inning.

Jacob Young and Nasim Nuñez would bat in two RBIs each in the seventh inning.

The Nationals would come back from the brutal loss to win a close game on Tuesday. PJ Poulin started the game as an opener before Miles Mikolas took the mound. Poulin ended the first inning, allowing one run on a home run to Brandon Lowe.

The Nationals' offense also started the game hot, with the first five batters reaching. James Wood walked, Luis García Jr. walked, Brady House hit an RBI single, Daylen Lile hit an RBI single and CJ Abrams hit an RBI single. They would finish the first inning with three runs.

Mikolas has struggled through the start of the 2026 season. He entered the game with three recorded losses and a 12.41 ERA. He would once again struggle, allowing three earned runs in 3.1 innings pitched. 

The Nationals' offense would keep up the pace and score two more runs in the top of the third and fourth innings, one coming off Abrams second home run of the series. 

The Nationals would lead 5-4 after the fifth inning and would hold onto the lead for the rest of the game. 

Mitchell Parker pitched two innings out of the bullpen and struck out five of the eight batters he faced. He was credited with the win. 

Cionel Pérez, Clayton Beeter and Gus Varland would finish the game for the bullpen, allowing only one hit and two walks. 

The Nationals would lose on Wednesday after being shut out for the first time this season. Starting pitcher Jake Irvin allowed two runs in the first inning, which would be the last runs scored of the game. 

The Nationals' offense finished with only three hits. Abrams finished the game 1-for-1 with a walk and two hit-by-pitches. 

The Pirates used Mason Montgomery as an opener before Carmen Mlodzinski would go for six innings. Mlodzinski allowed only two hits and two walks. The Nationals would only reach base by a hit-by-pitch in the last two innings. 

Irvin pitched five innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits and three walks. His ERA has dipped back down to 6.16. Brad Lord pitched three scoreless innings out of the Nationals' bullpen and allowed only one hit. 

The Nationals would come back to split the series in extra innings on Thursday in an 8-7 win. 

Foster Griffin started on the mound for the Nationals and was scoreless through his first four innings. The fifth inning was his worst of the season so far, allowing four runs. 

He would finish with four earned runs off eight hits and a walk. Griffin also finished the game with seven strikeouts.  

The Nationals' offense bounced back after getting shut out on Wednesday. They finished the game with 10 hits, but used a lot of help from the Pirates to cash in their runs.

Of the eight runs the Nationals scored, only four of them were batted in. The Pirates finished the game with four errors. 

The bullpen would have another rough outing. Paxton Schultz finished with two earned runs in the sixth inning, which gave the Pirates a 6-5 lead. 

The Nationals would score two runs in the seventh inning. With bases loaded, the Nationals scored on a HBP and a wild pitch. 

Beeter would fail to secure the save, allowing one run and loading the bases before forcing extra innings. 

Wood had an RBI single in extra innings before Orlando Ribalta finished the side to secure the save.

CJ Abrams continues his dominance. CJ Abrams traveled to Pittsburgh, batting .321/.403/.566 with a .969 OPS. After reaching base on 12 of his 15 plate appearances against the Pirates with two home runs, two doubles and three RBIs, he is batting .371/.481/.710 with a 1.190 OPS. 

His .371 batting average is tied with Yandy Díaz at second in the MLB. His on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS are all second in the MLB behind Yordan Alvarez. CJ Abrams is playing like the second-best baseball player in the world through the first 19 games of 2026.

Abrams was also responsible for the series ending double play 

The Nationals continue to bounce back. The Nationals faced a crushing loss on Monday and responded with a three-run first inning on Tuesday. The bullpen looked strong on Tuesday and held together a one-run lead when the bats went cold.

They would once again face a crushing loss on Wednesday after being shut out for the first time this season, but they bounced back with the offense finishing with eight runs on 10 hits. 

The Nationals have continued to fight this season against teams that are all hoping to be playoff contenders. The Nationals have yet to play against a bad team and are sitting tied at second in the NL East with the Mariners. 

Brady House and Daylen Lile have both started to slow down. The two youngest players on the Nationals started the season on fire. 

Brady House had a .317 batting average with a .914 OPS after his first ten games. He has started to fall back down to reality. He was 3-for-14 in the series against the Pirates and is now batting .243 on the season. 

Daylen Lile was batting .409 in March with a 1.004 OPS, but has started to cool down in April. Through April, he is batting only .230 with a .254 OBP and a .516 OPS. He was able to put together a decent series against the Pirates, going 5-of-17 from the plate with an RBI. 

The pitching cannot find consistency. Foster Griffin and Cade Cavalli have been the Nationals' best pitchers this season, and both finished their outings with four earned runs. The pitching does not seem consistent at any level with this team. 

Brad Lord has been the best bullpen arm for the Nationals, and he allowed three earned runs in just two outs in Monday’s loss. 

With the bullpen continuously going through changes after both Cole Henry and Ken Waldichuk were placed on the injured list, the inconsistencies are likely to continue. 

 The Nationals now look forward to their series at home against the San Francisco Giants, starting on Friday at 6:45 p.m.