Powered by their slugging veteran pickups, the Washington Nationals got their first win of the season
The Washington Nationals got their first curly W of the 2025 season with a 5-1 win over the Phillies. They did it on the back of their powerful veterans and excellent starting pitching from Mitchell Parker.
Early on it was a pitchers duel. While Aaron Nola was cruising through the first few innings, Mitchell Parker was working his way in and out of trouble. Parker stranded two runners in the first and third inning and got a double play with men at first and second in the second inning. However, with Parker’s steady demeanor, it never felt like the Phillies were on the verge of a big inning despite all the base runners.
Nola absolutely breezed through the Nats lineup the first time around, only allowing one hit. In the fourth inning, it looked like more of the same with Luis Garcia Jr. and James Wood going down quickly. However, Nola opened the door when he hit Keibert Ruiz. After a hard hit single from the now red hot Nathaniel Lowe, Josh Bell came to the plate.
Bell rang the tower with a huge home run on a first pitch fastball that caught too much of the plate. Nola was dotting the corners most of the day, but he left this pitch out over the plate and Bell didn’t miss. I loved Josh in his first stint as a Nat, so seeing him get on the board is very fun. He had been working on getting into more power this offseason, and it worked in that at bat.
Armed with a three run lead, Parker began to pitch with more confidence. After a leadoff single in the fourth, the southpaw retired nine straight Phillies. After he got through the sixth, it was decision time for Davey. Leave Parker in, or go to the bullpen, which has been shaky to start the year.
With the Nats coming up in the top of the seventh, he had time to chew on it. With one out, Keibert Ruiz singled into right field to bring up Nathaniel Lowe. Lowe and behold, the Nats new first baseman had a wonderful at bat that was punctuated with a booming homer into left center. Lowe fought off multiple really good two strike pitches from Nola, and when the right hander finally made a mistake, he made him pay.
Later in the inning, Paul DeJong doubled into left to cap off his 3/3 day. DeJong has looked so steady with the glove, so him providing offense is a welcome sight. We know he will strike out a lot, but hopefully he can bring extra base hits with it.
Dylan Crews struck out to end the inning. Crews is in a real funk, and probably needs a day off tomorrow. After 8 straight strikeouts, it really looks like the youngster is pressing right now. His misplayed ball in the ninth was a play from a guy low on confidence.
With the Nats up 5-0, Davey’s decision was now a bit easier. He would ride with Parker, at least to start. However, Parker got into some trouble, allowing two hits. Jose A Ferrer would enter the game with one out. After he hit Kyle Schwarber, it looked like deja vu all over again. However, Ferrer got Alec Bohm to roll into a massive inning ending double play.
In the 8th, Jorge Lopez would come in and provide the Nats with the first drama free relief outing of the year. However, in the 9th, the drama would be back.
Davey turned to Brad Lord, who was making his MLB debut. Lord is a great story, but today was not his day. After allowing a leadoff hit, his control wavered, walking two straight. However, Kyle Finnegan would come in to save the day. A run scored on a fielders choice, but Finnegan did a great job limiting the damage and gave the Nats a 5-1 win.
This series had plenty of highs and lows, but it is so fun to see regular season baseball back. The starting rotation was excellent and the Nats have been hitting for power. However, the bullpen and Dylan Crews didn’t have the best opening weekend. Today, March 30th, the 2025 Washington Nationals got their first curly W.