The Washington Nationals limped into the All-Star break after being swept by the New York Yankees, blowing late leads in all three games.
The “summer of possibilities” lost momentum as Washington surrendered 10 of the 14 runs it allowed during the series after the seventh inning. The Nationals enter the break at 48-49, below .500, with a major league-leading 28 blown saves. The MLB record for blown saves in a season is 36, set by the Chicago White Sox in 2024.
The bullpen’s struggles have overshadowed what has otherwise been an impressive first half from several Nationals hitters.
James Wood continues to headline the offense with 89 runs scored, while Luis Garcia has hit 20 home runs and C.J. Abrams has driven in 67 runs. Curtis Mead and Daylen Lile have also produced career-best power and run production, while Jacob Young has posted standout numbers in triples and home runs. Nasim Nuñez, José Tena and Jorbit Vivas have all maintained strong starts through the season’s first half.
The second half will determine whether those performances continue, but continued bullpen collapses could make those efforts meaningless.
Digesting the division: Atlanta (55-40) dropped its series in St. Louis but avoided a sweep with Sunday’s comeback victory over the Cardinals.
Philadelphia (54-43) continues to get dominant pitching from Cristopher Sánchez, who is tied for the major league lead with 14 quality starts. He also is tied for second with 11 wins and ranks third with 144 strikeouts.
Miami (52-45) has leaned on Sandy Alcantara, who also has 14 quality starts and is tied for fifth in the majors with 10 wins.
Washington (48-49) has slipped further behind in the playoff race, while the New York Mets (40-57) appear headed toward selling at the trade deadline.
Break up the Birds: The Orioles (46-51) head into the All-Star break riding a four-game winning streak and have climbed out of last place in the AL East.
Baltimore now trails a surging Boston club that has won nine straight. The Orioles will visit the Red Sox in their second series after the All-Star break.
Diamond King: Wood continued his historic season by hitting .500 with five home runs and eight RBIs last week.
His 11 runs scored pushed his season total to a career-high 89 before the All-Star break. He also hit his ninth and 10th leadoff home runs of the season over the weekend, setting a Nationals franchise record with more than 40% of the season still to play.
Last week’s heroes: C.J. Abrams batted .364 with two homers and six RBI, while Curtis Mead went .409 at the plate with three homers and five RBI. Foster Griffin struck out nine over seven innings to post his tenth win of the season. Zack Littell allowed one run over four innings.
Last week’s humbled: Miles Mikolas allowed seven runs over ten innings, while Andrew Alvarez coughed up eight runs over 7.2 frames and Cole Henry surrendered four runs over 1.2 innings. Jorbit Vivas hit .125 while Daylen Lile batted .091 and Dylan Crews went .050 at the plate.
Game to watch: The Nationals return from the All-Star break Thursday with a road series against the Athletics in Sacramento.
A fast start after the break will be important, but after a first half defined by late-inning collapses, finishing games may be the bigger challenge.
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