("@" = away game)
May 25, 2026 [LINK / comment]
Expectations were low for the Washington Nationals (then 25-26) as they arrived in Atlanta on Friday for a three-game series against the National League-leading Braves (then 35-16). In the Friday game, Miles Mikolas entered the game as the Nationals' pitcher in the 2nd inning, and allowed only 3 hits and no runs over 5 innings. The Braves scored twice to take the lead in the 7th inning, but then C.J. Abrams tied it with a solo homer. In the 10th inning, Abrams batted in two runs with a triple, but the Nats wasted the easy opportunity to tack on another run, and the Braves tied it in the bottom of the 10th. With 2 outs and 2 strikes in the bottom of the 11th, Chadwick Tromp (!?) singled in the winning run: Braves 5, Nats 4. D'oh!
After that disheartening wasted opportunity to prevail against the best team in baseball, the rest of the weekend didn't look good. But somehow the Nats kept their cool and ended up prevailing in two astonishing, high-tension pitchers' duels. On Saturday Jake Irvin went 5 full innings without giving up a hit, but had to exit the game due to a shoulder strain. (He was later put on on 15-day Injured List, replaced by P.J. Poulin, who was recalled from the Nats' minor league affiliate in Rochester.) Brad Lord came in from the bullpen in the 6th inning, and kept the Braves off the scoreboard for 3 innings, but the Braves managed to break the no-hitter. Richard Lovelady got the save in a 2-0 triumph. The game on Sunday was remarkably similar, with the Nats taking a 2-0 lead into the 9th inning, whereupon the Braves put together a rally with some "help" from young 2nd baseman Nasim Nuñez, who booted what should have been a game-ending double play. Perhaps unnerved, Richard Lovelady then walked the bases loaded, but fortunately his replacement Orlando Ribalta got out of the jam to win the game, 2-1. And that is how the Washington Nationals pulled back ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies to retake 2nd place in the NL East! Foster Griffin went 6 innings and got his 6th win of the season.
This Memorial Day weekend is an appropriate moment to step back and take a broader look at things, not only because it's a national holiday but also because many teams (I counted 10), including the Washington Nationals (now 27-27), are exactly one-third the way through the 2026 season. 54 is one third of 162. For a more thorough review of all this, read what Buster Olney and the other experts at espn.com have to say. Main takeaway: the standings situation now bears only a loose relationship from what the situation is going to be in late September.
The six divisional standings display a rather uneven spread among teams thus far in 2026. One thing that has stood out to even casual observers this year is the oddly skewed divisional standings, with all five teams in the National League Central Division consistently above the .500 mark. After a solid first six weeks, he Chicago Cubs have suddenly lost 9 in a row, enabling the Milwaukee Brewers to claim 1st place honors for the time being. In the NL West, the San Diego Padres are putting up a very stiff fight with the back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers, with the Arizona Diamondbacks not too far behind. But in the NL East, only Atlanta has had a winning record for most of this season. The All-Star rosters of the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets have simply not performed according to expectations. The last-place Mets in particular are a disaster thus far, with a 22-31 record that is barely above the ,400 "threshold of respectability."
Meanwhile, the American League is mostly rather mediocre, with the notable exception of the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays, currently in 1st place in the AL East. Momentarily both the AL Central and AL West had no teams above .500, which is incredible. The Cleveland Guardians have been on a hot streak lately, however, and enjoy a 4-game lead over the Chicago White Sox, who have improved tremendously over the past couple years. And on the west coast, the Sacramento Athletics continue to perform better than expected. The Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners were expected to repeat as postseason contenders this year, but that is very much in doubt in both cases.
Yesterday's Washington Post highlighted the Nationals' surprising offensive performance thus far in the 2026 season. Even with the low-scoring weekend games in Atlanta, they still lead the majors in total runs scored, with [296]. (Before tonight's game against the Indians it was 288.) The have been climbing up the ladder in terms of home runs as well, currently ranked #4, with [71] four-baggers!! (While I was writing this they hit [six] more homers, surging ahead of the Reds and the Dodgers from 7th place. And there are still [four] more innings to go in Cleveland!) [UPDATE: Final score: Nats 10, Guardians 2. Curtis Mead homered twice, while James Wood, Jacob Young, Luis Garcia, and C.J. Abrams homered once each. "Reliever" Zack Littell pitched the last 7 innings to get the win. Yet another success against a 1st-place team!]
The May 12 game in Cincinnati in which the Nationals hit six home runs got me to wondering how often they had hit so many four baggers in a single game. Most baseball fans would consult some database to find out, but not me! In additional to my spreadsheets of each Nats game since 2005 with the scores and home attendance, I also keep old-fashioned accounting-style green paper ledger pages with additional details such as win-loss records, place in the NL East standings, starting pitchers, home runs, and miscellaneous feats and goofs of note. Anyway, here is what I came up with. There's a possibility that it omits one or two games with 5 home runs, but I doubt it.
| Date | Nationals' score | Opposing team ("@" = away game) |
Opponents' score | Number of Nats home runs | Two (or more!) home runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 27, 2017 | 15 | MIL | 2 | 8 | B. Harper & R. Zimmerman |
| Aug. 18, 2019 | 16 | MIL | 8 | 8 | J. Soto, B. Dozier |
| June 29, 2018 | 17 | @PHI | 7 | 7 | J. Soto |
| May 20, 2011 | 17 | @BAL | 5 | 6 | J. Werth |
| Sept. 4, 2012 | 11 | CHC | 5 | 6 | A. Laroche |
| Sept. 5, 2012 | 9 | CHC | 1 | 6 | B. Harper |
| Aug. 29, 2014 | 8 | @SEA | 3 | 6 | W. Ramos |
| July 19, 2021 | 18 | MIA | 1 | 6 | J. Soto |
| June 3, 2022 | 8 | @CIN | 5 | 6 | L. Thomas (3!) |
| Sept. 26, 2025 |
9 | CHW | 10 | 6 | L. Garcia (3!) |
| May 12, 2026 | 10 | @CIN | 4 | 6 | L. Garcia & D. Lile |
| May 25, 2026 | 10 | @CLE | 2 | 6 | C. Mead |
| June 10, 2008 | 7 | @PIT | 6 | 5 | |
| Sept. 9, 2013 | 9 | @NYM | 0 | 5 | |
| May 24, 2016 | 7 | NYM | 4 | 5 | |
| June 2, 2017 | 13 | @OAK | 3 | 5 | |
| July 16, 2017 | 14 | @CIN | 4 | 5 | D. Murphy |
| July 31, 2018 | 25 | NYM | 4 | 5 | D. Murphy |
| Sept. 20, 2020 | 15 | @MIA | 0 | 5 | |
| May 31, 2023 | 10 | @LAD | 6 | 5 | K. Ruiz |
| Sept. 29, 2023 | 10 | @ATL | 6 | 5 | |
| May 18, 2025 | 10 | @BAL | 4 | 5 | C.J. Abrams |
NOTES: = Nats loss
I recently noticed that ABC plans to broadcast three MLB games this year, in each case an afternoon game on the same day that NBC will broadcast one of their Sunday night baseball games. Since ABC and ESPN are both owned by the Disney Corporation, this isn't really a big deal. This piqued my curiosity about network broadcasts of MLB games, and I have started doing a bit of historical research about that. One thing I learned is that Bob Costas, who was the play-by-play announcer for many games on NBC in the 1980s and 1990s, announced in 2024 that he was retiring as a sports announcer. It's a shame that it's too late for the ever-youthful, ever-enthusiastic baseball fan to be part of the rebirth of MLB games on NBC.