Bats Go Quiet, Washington Nationals Fall 6-1 vs. Milwaukee Brewers

The struggle at home continues for the Washington Nationals after opening the six game homestand with another loss, this time a 6-1 defeat against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. Jake Irvin went five innings in the loss, moving to 1-4 on the season, after allowing six hits and three earned runs while tossing five strikeouts and giving up four walks. Meanwhile, James Wood was one of two players to post a pair of strikeouts in the loss while the Nationals finished with just two hits against 13 strikeouts as a team in the loss.

Yet the start of the Brewers' scoring materialized into the first inning partially due to Drew Millas. After Irvin gave up a double into right field to open the game, a wild pitch sailed past Millas despite Millas not realizing the ball got away from him, getting the Brewers leadoff batter to cross the plate to put the Nationals in an early deficit. The Brewers added to it in the third inning after an RBI single drove in one of two batters that Irvin walked let on base, putting the second run on the board that proved to already be enough to hand Washington its 11th loss at home.

Irvin's final inning led to two more runs after Irvin led three consecutive batters reach base reach base before a two out double into right filed extended the deficit to 4-0. The Nationals, meanwhile, would draw two walks and post just one hit through the first six innings. They would capitalize on the pitching change in the bottom of the seventh after CJ Abrams walked then Daylen Lile doubled into left field to put runners on the corners, giving Brady House a chance to drive in a sacrifice ground ball to drive in Washington's first and only run of the game.

With Andre Granillo on the mound in the eighth inning, the Brewers added a two-run RBI for the game's final runs in the eventual 6-1 loss. With the Nationals moving to 15-18 overall and just 3-11 at Nationals Park in 2026, the Nationals will look to rebound in game two on Saturday with first pitch set for 4:05 PM. Foster Griffin is set to take the mound where arguably the Nationals' best pitcher will look to guide Washington to its fourth home win of the season and first win at home since April 21 against the Atlanta Braves.