With a walk-off home run, a new celebration and a Major League debut, it’s safe to say that it has been an eventful week for the Washington Nationals. The Nats continued to carry the momentum from their successful road trip last week — where they won four out of six games. Although the Nats were only victorious once in their three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates, including an embarrassing 16–1 loss, they finished off the week by claiming three out of four games played against the Chicago Cubs. Washington’s pitching and clutch hitting has been a leading factor in the team’s recent successes. Here’s what happened last week in Nationals baseball:

Walking the Plank

The Nationals’ first series of their homestand was against the National League leaders, the Pittsburgh Pirates. A rain-out on Friday, April 28th forced a doubleheader the next day, but the impromptu day off didn’t help the team against Pittsburgh. The pitching staff returned to their losing ways and produced disappointing results, with a 6–3 loss in the first game of the day followed by a humiliating 16–1 defeat in the evening. However, Washington avoided the sweep with a 7–2 win on Sunday, April 30, with another great Josiah Gray outing that powered the Nationals to their 10th win on the season. Third baseman Jeimer Candlario and center fielder Victor Robles provided the bulk of the offense, collecting two RBIs apiece. Chad Kuhls mediocre performance in Washington’s 16–1 loss on Saturday evening will be his last start for a while, as he is now on the 15-day injured list with foot metatarsalgia. 

Alex Calls Game

Washington emerged victorious in three of their four games against the Chicago Cubs. During Monday’s 5–1 loss, the only notable event was the introduction of the home run wig based off of the hair of the founding fathers. Lane Thomas was the first to don the wig after his solo home run in the bottom of the second inning. After this loss, the Nats quickly found their spark, winning three straight games in a row. An outstanding performance from former New York Met Trevor Williams and a clutch RBI single in the seventh inning by CJ Abrams propelled the Nats to a 4–1 victory. Due to pitcher Chad Kuhl’s visit to the injured list, 20th-ranked Nationals prospect Jake Irvin made his MLB debut in the third game of the series. After a rough first inning with an HBP and an RBI single by Seyia Suzuki, Irvin regained his focus and pitched three scoreless innings. Washington’s bullpen built off Irvin’s substantial work and shut out Chicago for the rest of the game. Abrams was the hero again, driving in the go-ahead run again in the seventh inning to lead Washington to back-to-back wins. In the series finale, Patrick Corbin gave his best performance of the season to go along with a second-inning home run from Lane Thomas that kept Washington in the game. Then in the ninth inning, outfielder Alex Call called the game with a solo walk-off home run to give the Nats their third straight win.

A Look Ahead

The Nationals hope to improve their road record from 7–6 in their upcoming six-game road trip out west. Their first road game will be on May 5, kicking off a three-game series against the second-place team in the N.L. West, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Next, the Nats will face the San Francisco Giants in a three-game series starting May 8. Both teams rank toward the bottom of the league in team pitching, so the Nats have a great opportunity to stay hot at the plate.