The Washington Nationals have now won three consecutive road series to stay above .500 in 2026
Despite dropping Wednesday’s final game, the Nationals escaped with a 2-1 series victory over the Cleveland Guardians to reach and remain above .500 on the season.
Washington came into the series at an even 27-27, and now sit at 29-28. The last time the Nationals finished a game above .500 this late in the season was July 1, 2021.
With the team returning from Cleveland for a six-game home stand, let’s take a look at the biggest takeaways from the series.
Pitching was solid throughout, even in the loss
For a team that has had its fare share of issues on the mound, Washington was extremely solid in their series against Cleveland.
In game one rout, Zack Littell and PJ Poulin combined to give up just two earned runs, allowing ten men on base and striking out seven (all of the strikeouts came from the hand of Littell). Game two saw an excellent performance from Cade Cavalli, who gave up one run and struck out seven in six innings — Mitchell Parker struggled a bit, giving up two runs in three innings, but the team still won the game 6-3.
Even in the game three 3-2 loss, only one of the runs surrendered was earned. That one run was credited to Richard Lovelady, while the other five pitchers who saw the mound Wednesday did not surrender an earned run.
James Wood is on an outrageous tear
Any concerns Nationals fans had about James Wood earlier in the season have been thoroughly erased.
Wood is hitting a stunning .436 in his last ten games, and he was somehow even better in Cleveland. Wood was 8-12 in the series with two home runs and a double, plus two walks.
The young Nats outfielder is becoming one of the most dominant offensive forces in baseball.
Can the Nats… make the playoffs?
The Nationals have been far more successful this season than even some of the most optimistic fans would have projected.
With the team sitting above .500, Baseball Reference gives Washington a 15.4% chance to finish out this season with a postseason berth. Their projection system shows that 30 days ago, those odds sat at just 0.8%.
The eye test clearly confirms this is the best Washington team in years. The offense has been stellar, leading the league in runs per game, and even the pitching is coming around.
The last time the Nationals made the postseason was all the way back in 2019, when they won it all and took down the Astros for the World Series title. Does this year’s team have some of that magic?
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