The Nats Look To Keep Good Times Rolling Into 3 Game Set In Philly
The Washington Nationals continue their first road trip of the year, taking on the division rival Phillies
After getting knocked around Saturday to the tune of a 10-2 loss, the 2026 Nats showed a level of resilience hardly ever shown by the 2025 club, taking command early thanks to a 3-run shot by Joey Wiemer to defeat the Cubs 6-3 and win their first opening series since 2018. The story of the weekend was the aforementioned Wiemer, who had yet to record an out and is tied for the major league lead in fWAR with 0. 6, despite playing just 2 games compared to the other leaders, who have played 4.
The club now heads to Philadelphia, where they’ll take on the currently last-place Philadelphia Phillies (Have to take every opportunity you get to say that). The Phils won on opening day before dropping the final 2 games of their opening series, backed by a strong start by MacKenzie Gore in his Rangers debut yesterday, going 5 1/3 innings and allowing 2 runs. The trio of former Nats at the top of the Phillies lineup were all cold in the first series of the year, with Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber batting .
154, and Bryce Harper batting . 091. Game One – Saturday 6:40 PM EST WSH: LHP Foster Griffin PHI: RHP Taijuan Walker Griffin will make his Nationals debut tonight and his first big league appearance since 2022.
He showed promise in his 2 Spring Training starts (3 including the exhibition against team Venezuela), posting a 2. 53 FIP across 8 innings. Walker had a solid bounce-back 2025 season for the Phillies after getting roughed up to an ERA over 7 in 2024, posting a 4.