Breaking down the Washington Nationals road series win over the New York Mets
It's just been that type of season for the Mets.
After a 5-4 victory in Thursday's rubber match, the Nationals officially took home the series victory over their division rival. It was the second straight series Washington has taken, an accomplishment for a team that has outperformed expectations early in the season.
With the Mets defeated, let's take a look at three key takeaways from the Nats' conquest in New York.
1) The Nationals showed resilience
Washington may have taken the series, but the three-game slate couldn't have gotten off to a worse start.
In game one on Tuesday, the Nationals got clobbered, 8-0, with starter Zack Littell getting thumped and the offense being held to just three hits. Washington also surrendered four unearned runs, which is never a good sign for a defense.
But for as bad as Tuesday looked, the next day looked equally amazing.
The Nationals bounced back from being shut out in game one with a 14 run performance on Wednesday, with six separate players recording an RBI. Worth noting is the fact that young guns Brady House and James Wood led the way, with four and three runs batted in, respectively.
The Mets have been an easy team to beat up on so far in 2026, but it's always a good sign for a team to respond to a tough loss with such a huge win en route to a series victory.
2) Cade Cavalli is becoming a strikeout machine
Cavalli, the Nationals top starter, was electric again on Wednesday.
It wasn't his best game, as he gave allowed ten hitters to reach base in six innings of work, but Cavalli allowed just two earned runs and struck out ten batters for the second start in a row.
Cavalli becoming a swing-and-miss pitcher is a massively important development for Washington. For a team that has some serious issues on the mound, having a player with legitimate ace upside is a huge boon both now and into the future.
3) CJ Abrams breaks his slump
After a tough stretch of games, CJ Abrams had an excellent series capped off with a go-ahead two-run shot in the rubber match.
After being held hitless in the White Sox Series, Abrams broke out in New York with six knocks. He also drove in five runs, the most important of those coming via the big game three long ball.
The Nationals star shortstop was excellent early in the season, and seems to be returning to that form.