The 2017 Washington Nationals season was the Nationals' 13th season as the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

franchise of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...

, the 10th season at

Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Home to Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals since its completion in 2008, it was the first LEED-certified green major profe ...

, and the 49th since the original team was started in

Montreal, Quebec, Canada Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

. They won the

National League East The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

division title for the fourth time in six years but were defeated by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

in the Division Series. As of

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, this represents the most recent NL East title for the Nationals.

Offseason

Team news

The

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

announced in October 2016 that their entire coaching staff would return for the 2017 season, led by manager

Dusty Baker Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker Jr. (born June 15, 1949) is an American baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Houston Astros in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in the MLB for 19 seasons, most notably with the Lo ...

. The team lost several players to free agency after the 2016 season, including right-handed relief pitcher Matt Belisle, left-handed reliever

Sean Burnett Sean Richard Burnett (born September 17, 1982) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Washington Nationals. Amateur care ...

, infielder

Stephen Drew Stephen Oris Drew (born March 16, 1983) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Washington Na ...

, outfielder Chris Heisey, right-handed pitcher

Mat Latos Mathew Adam Latos ( ; born December 9, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padre ...

, closer Mark Melancon, catcher

Wilson Ramos Wilson Abraham Ramos Campos (born August 10, 1987), nicknamed "The Buffalo", is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Washington Nationals ...

, and left-handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski. Additionally, the Nationals chose not to exercise their 2017 option on right-handed pitcher

Yusmeiro Petit Yusmeiro Alberto Petit (; born November 22, 1984) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Washi ...

, who also became a free agent, and injured right-handed reliever Aaron Barrett declined an outright assignment to the minors and elected free agency as well. The team did not extend a qualifying offer to any of its free agents. Ramos was considered a likely candidate for a qualifying offer, but due to an injury late in the 2016 season expected to sideline him for part of the 2017 season, he did not receive one; he ultimately signed a two-year deal with the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

. Outfielder Ben Revere was eligible for arbitration, but after an injury-plagued and offensively dismal season, he was not tendered a new contract and became a free agent; he later signed a one-year deal with the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ...

for less than he was due to earn through the arbitration process. The Nationals extended one-year contracts for the 2017 season to all of their other arbitration-eligible players: shortstop Danny Espinosa (who ended up being traded before arbitration to the

), right fielder

Bryce Harper Bryce Aron Max Harper (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to his arrival in Philadelphia, Harper played for the Wash ...

, catcher Jose Lobaton, third baseman

Anthony Rendon Anthony Michael Rendon (, ; born June 6, 1990) is an American baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the Washington Nationals and was a member of the Nationals' 2019 World S ...

, and right-handed pitcher

Tanner Roark Tanner B. Roark ( ; born October 5, 1986) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics, and Toronto Blue Jays ...

. Heisey and Drew both signed new one-year contracts with the Nationals as well. At various times during the off-season, the Nationals were linked in trade talks to the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

for left-handed starting pitcher

Chris Sale Christopher Allen Sale (born March 30, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox, with whom he made his major league debut ...

(ultimately traded to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

) and right-handed reliever David Robertson, the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

for center fielder

Andrew McCutchen Andrew Stefan McCutchen (born October 10, 1986) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees, Philadel ...

, the

for left-handed reliever Álex Colomé, and the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

for second baseman Brian Dozier, among other players. The Nationals also reportedly made an attempt to re-sign Melancon, who instead signed with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

, and to sign right-handed reliever Kenley Jansen, a free agent who ended up returning to the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League West, West division. Established in 1883 i ...

. They also were reported to have interest in other free agents, including right-handed pitchers Tyson Ross (ultimately signed by the Texas Rangers),

Greg Holland Gregory Scott Holland (born November 20, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington N ...

(ultimately signed by the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

), and

Sergio Romo Sergio Francisco Romo (born March 4, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League. He has previously played in MLB for the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, Mi ...

(ultimately signed by the Dodgers). The Nationals made one major trade during the off-season, dealing top pitching prospects Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López and 2016 first-round draft pick

Dane Dunning Dane Anthony Dunning (born December 20, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2020. Career Amateur career After graduating ...

to the White Sox for Adam Eaton, an outfielder with team control through the 2021 season. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' reported after the trade that the Nationals had become pessimistic after observing Giolito in 2016, including his first major league appearances, that the consensus top right-handed pitching prospect in baseball would end up developing as they had originally expected. In trading Espinosa, who was reportedly unhappy about Eaton's acquisition as it was expected to mean center fielder

Trea Turner Trea Vance Turner (born June 30, 1993) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers. Turner ...

would become the 2017 starting shortstop, the Nationals acquired pitching prospects Austin L. Adams and

Kyle McGowin Kyle Keston McGowin (born November 27, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals. Amateur career McGowin is from Sag Harbor, New York. He att ...

from the Angels. Two other minor trades during the off-season sent lower-ranked prospects to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

and Tampa Bay Rays for catcher and former Nationals top prospect Derek Norris and left-handed relief pitcher Enny Romero, respectively. Norris was ultimately released during spring training after the Nationals signed catcher

Matt Wieters Matthew Richard Wieters (; born May 21, 1986) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals, and St. Louis Cardinals. Wieters played college basebal ...

out of free agency.

Transactions

*November 19, 2016: The Nationals signed outfielder Chris Heisey to a one-year major league deal. *November 20, 2016: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcher Derek Eitel, infielder

Corban Joseph Corban Reece Joseph (born October 28, 1988) is an American professional baseball second baseman who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Oakland Athletics, San Franc ...

, left-handed pitcher Braulio Lara, and infielder/outfielder Brandon Snyder to minor league deals with invitations to spring training. *November 21, 2016: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcher Dustin Antolin to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. *November 23, 2016: The Nationals acquired right-handed pitcher Jimmy Cordero from the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

for minor league pitcher Mario Sanchez. *December 2, 2016: The Nationals acquired catcher Derek Norris from the

for minor league pitcher Pedro Avila. *December 7, 2016: The Nationals acquired outfielder Adam Eaton from the

for right-handed pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez and minor league pitcher

. *December 10, 2016: The Nationals acquired right-handed pitcher Austin L. Adams and minor league pitcher

from the

for shortstop Danny Espinosa. *December 13, 2016: The Nationals signed infielder Emmanuel Burriss, right-handed pitchers Mike Broadway and

Jacob Turner Jacob Edward Turner (born May 21, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, and Washington Nationals. He also played in th ...

, and left-handed pitcher Tim Collins to minor league deals with invitations to spring training. *January 26, 2017: The Nationals signed infielder

to a one-year major league deal. *January 27, 2017: The Nationals signed infielder

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Recording prolifically for Blue Note Records as both leader and sideman, Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, and Latin-tinged idioms ...

to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. *January 28, 2017: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcher Vance Worley to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. *January 31, 2017: The Nationals signed right-handed pitchers

Matt Albers Matthew James Albers (born January 20, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Indians, Chica ...

and

Joe Nathan Joseph Michael Nathan (born November 22, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago Cu ...

to minor league deals with invitations to spring training. *February 3, 2017: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcher

Jeremy Guthrie Jeremy Shane Guthrie (born April 8, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, and Washington Nation ...

to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. *February 7, 2017: The Nationals acquired left-handed pitcher Enny Romero from the

for minor league pitcher Jeffrey Rosa. *February 15, 2017: The Nationals signed first baseman

Adam Lind Adam Alan Lind (born July 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals. Lind has a ...

to a one-year major league deal. *February 24, 2017: The Nationals signed catcher

to a two-year major league deal. *March 2, 2017: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcher

Joe Blanton Joseph Matthew Blanton (born December 11, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Kansas City Royals, Pi ...

to a one-year major league deal; catcher Spencer Kieboom was designated for assignment and sent outright to the minor leagues to clear space on the roster. *March 15, 2017: The Nationals released catcher Derek Norris from a major league deal. *March 27, 2017: The Nationals released right-handed pitchers

and

from minor league deals. *March 29, 2017: The Nationals released right-handed pitcher Vance Worley from a minor league deal. *March 30, 2017: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcher

to a new minor league deal. *March 31, 2017: The Nationals sent first baseman Clint Robinson outright to the minor leagues.

Spring training

For 2017, the Nationals moved to a new spring training facility at

The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches is a baseball park located in West Palm Beach, Florida. The stadium has a capacity of 6,500 people in fixed seats with room for 1,000 more on the outfield berm. The stadium hosts the Houston Astros and Washington N ...

, in

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

, which they share with the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

. Projected to cost US$135 million, the construction of the ballpark and training facilities actually cost US$150 million.Castillo, Jorge, "Nationals christen their new spring home with a walk-off win," washingtonpost.com, February 28, 2017, 5:49 p.m. EST.
/ref> The new facility provided each team with two major-league-size practice fields, four-minor-league-size practice fields, an agility field, a half field,

batting cage A batting cage (or tunnel) is an enclosed area for baseball or softball players to practice the skill of batting. The optimal material for batting cages is netting, and they are typically rectangular in shape. Chain-link fence is not required bu ...

s, and

pitching mound A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

s, and centered around a new baseball stadium with 6,400 ticketed seats and 1,250 berm seats. The move from their former spring training home, Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Florida, placed the Nationals far closer to other teams during spring training, facilitating travel for spring training games. Construction of the new facility was rushed so that it could be completed in 16 months. Nationals pitchers and catchers officially reported for spring training at the new facility on February 14, followed by the rest of the players on February 17. Construction was not yet complete, but the Nationals were able to prioritize the parts of the facilities most important to spring training so that it met their needs by the reporting dates. Washington began its schedule of spring training games on February 25 with three straight road games. With construction crews still putting the finishing touches on the stadium during the morning, the Nationals and Astros opened the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches with their first game there on February 28, with the Nationals playing as the home team at the shared facility.

Commissioner of Baseball The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...

Rob Manfred Robert Dean Manfred Jr. (born September 28, 1958) is an American lawyer and business executive who is serving as the tenth commissioner of Major League Baseball. He previously served as MLB's chief operating officer. Manfred succeeded Bud Selig a ...

cut a ceremonial ribbon, and a helicopter flyover took place during the opening ceremonies. Before a crowd of 5,897, Nationals non-roster invitee

threw the first pitch at 1:07 p.m. EST, to Astros first baseman

Marwin González Marwin Javier González (born March 14, 1989) is a Venezuelan professional baseball utility player for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). González was signed as an international free agent by the Chicago Cubs in 2005. He ...

, whom he eventually struck out. In the bottom of the first inning, second baseman Daniel Murphy doubled for the first hit in the ballpark's history, and a few minutes later scored its first run when right fielder

doubled to drive him home. In the top of the fourth inning, Astros

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by t ...

Carlos Beltrán Carlos Iván Beltrán (; born April 24, 1977) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1998 to 2017 for the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, San Fran ...

hit the stadium's first home run, and catcher Derek Norris hit the first Nationals home run in the park's history in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, outfielder

Michael A. Taylor Michael Anthony Taylor (born March 26, 1991) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Taylor was drafted in the sixth round (172nd overall) of the 2009 MLB draft by the Washingt ...

hit a walk-off solo home run to give the Nationals a 4–3 victory in their first game at their new spring training home. The facility's name changed the following season, becoming FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches after the Astros and Nationals signed a 12-year deal for the naming rights to the stadium on February 16, 2018, with FITTEAM, an event brand partnership and

organic products An organic product is made from materials produced by organic agriculture. Most well known organic products are organic food items, however clothing and personal care items can also be made with organic agriculture. Many countries have strict c ...

firm in

Palm Beach Gardens Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County in the U.S. state of Florida, 77 miles north of downtown Miami. , the population was 59,182. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6 ...

, Florida.

World Baseball Classic

Eight Nationals, including five participants in major league camp, were granted leave from spring training to participate in the

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts ...

. Starting pitcher

and second baseman Daniel Murphy played for Team USA, reliever Enny Romero played for Team Dominican Republic (eliminated in the second round), reliever Óliver Pérez played for Team Mexico (eliminated in the first round), minor league catcher

Nick Rickles Nicholas Jay Rickles (born February 2, 1990) is an American-Israeli coach for the Milwaukee Brewers organization, and a former professional minor league and current Team Israel baseball catcher.R.C. Orlan played for Team Israel (eliminated in the first round), and minor league catcher Jhonatan Solano and minor league infielder

Adrián Sánchez Adrián Sánchez may refer to: * Adrián Sánchez (baseball) (born 1990), Colombian baseball player * Adrián Sánchez (footballer) (born 1999), Argentine footballer {{hndis, Sanchez, Adrian ...

played for

Team Colombia Team Colombia (''Equipo Colombia'') is a conservative political party in Colombia. At the last legislative elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple indivi ...

(eliminated in the first round). Reliever

Rafael Martin Rafael Martín Romero (born May 16, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals. Early life Martin was born in California but spent parts of his child ...

was slated to be available for Mexico if it reached the second round, but due to a controversial scoring decision, it failed to do so. Catcher Spencer Kieboom was listed on the preliminary roster for Team Netherlands but was left off the final announced roster for the World Baseball Classic. Starting pitcher

Max Scherzer Maxwell Martin Scherzer (born July 27, 1984) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, and L ...

was originally expected to play for the United States in the tournament, but he withdrew after announcing a stress fracture in the ring finger of his right hand in January. Team USA won the tournament, with Roark turning in a strong four-inning start in the semifinal against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. Murphy received only two starts and six at-bats during the tournament, to the frustration of Nationals manager

, who said he thought it was "hurting" both his players to spend most of their time during the World Baseball Classic on the bench. Of Murphy, he said, "How are you going to get your stuff together when you're not playing?" Roark had not planned to stay for the entire tournament, but he elected to stay on the roster in order to make a promised start in the championship round. He told ''

'', "Fortunately, it was all three rounds to win the gold, which is amazing to be a part of." Murphy said he spent his time on the team drilling and talking with USA teammates

Ian Kinsler Ian Michael Kinsler ( he, איאן קינסלר; born June 22, 1982) is an American-Israeli former professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for ...

and

Paul Goldschmidt Paul Edward Goldschmidt (born September 10, 1987) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Lightly recruited out of The Woodlands High School in The Woodlands, Texas, Golds ...

about fielding and hitting.

Regular season

Opening Day

Opening Day lineup

The Nationals began their 2017 season at home against the division rival

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fra ...

. Marlins starter

Edinson Vólquez Edinson Vólquez (; born July 3, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City R ...

pitched effectively, making heavy use of his changeup to bamboozle Nationals hitters and working out of jams in the first and fourth innings. He gave up four hits and a walk and allowed no runs while striking out six, but he left the game after five innings.

Stephen Strasburg Stephen James Strasburg (; born July 20, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Strasburg was selected by Washington with the first overall pick in the 2009 Major League ...

was efficient as the Opening Day starter for the Nationals, but the Marlins took the lead in the top of the fourth inning, with right fielder

Giancarlo Stanton Giancarlo Cruz-Michael Stanton (born November 8, 1989), formerly known as Mike Stanton, is an American professional baseball designated hitter and outfielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2010 a ...

driving in catcher

J. T. Realmuto Jacob Tyler Realmuto ( ; born March 18, 1991) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Between 2014 and 2018, he played in MLB for the Miami Marlins. Realmuto was born in Del C ...

with a double and then scoring on a single by Marcell Ozuna. The lead was cut in half as Nationals right fielder

hit his fifth career Opening Day home run to right field off Marlins reliever David Phelps in the sixth inning with no one on base, and then Phelps gave up the lead entirely in the bottom of the seventh inning, as pinch-hitter

homered to center field after a two-out single by catcher

—both players new additions to the Nationals who signed late in the off-season, with Lind making his first plate appearance with Washington. Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy made the score 4–2 with an RBI single in the eighth off Marlins reliever Junichi Tazawa, in Tazawa's first appearance for Miami, but another new Marlin, submariner

Brad Ziegler Brad Gregory Ziegler (born October 10, 1979) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox, and Miami Marlins. Ziegler was one of th ...

, worked out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam without letting in another run, striking out left fielder

Jayson Werth Jayson Richard Gowan Werth (born May 20, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2002 to 2017. His 15-season career was split among the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, P ...

and inducing third baseman

to ground into a double play, Drew's second of the game.

Blake Treinen Blake M. Treinen (, born June 30, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Baker Wildcats and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits baseball te ...

, named the Nationals' new closer two days before Opening Day, came on for a save situation in the top of the ninth inning and retired the Marlins in order on a popout and two strikeouts, earning his second career save. Strasburg collected the win and Phelps was collared with the loss. Two players who had originally been expected to make their season debuts on Opening Day for the Nationals sat out the game: starting pitcher

, who had pitched on Opening Day for Washington in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, was moved back in the rotation after getting a late start to spring training due to a fractured knuckle, and regular third baseman

was held out with a calf contusion he suffered during the last week of spring training.

Season standings

National League East

National League Wild Card

Record vs. opponents

April

The Nationals started their season by taking two out of three in a series at home against the

, a division rival in the

. The team began their 2017 campaign with an unusual roster configuration of 14 position players and 11 pitchers, but they reverted to a more typical 13-and-12 split by purchasing the contract of right-handed pitcher

for a start on April 8 at

Citizens Bank Park Citizens Bank Park is a baseball stadium located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the city's South Philadelphia Sports Complex. It is the home playing field of the Philadelphia Phillies, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise. The ...

against the rival

and optioning outfielder

to Class-AAA

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

. After Guthrie gave up 10 earned runs and got just two outs — statistically the worst start in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

–Washington franchise history, and only the fourth time in the past 100 years a pitcher had allowed double-digit earned runs without recording at least three outs — en route to a 17–3 loss, the spot starter was designated for assignment the next morning, and the Nationals selected the contract of minor league reliever

. Both the Nationals' starting shortstop,

, and his primary backup,

, were placed on the 10-day disabled list with strained hamstrings within days of one another. The team recalled Taylor on April 10 and purchased the contract of utility infielder

on April 12, making Green the third non-roster invitee to the Nationals' spring training in

(after Guthrie, who was removed from the roster after less than 24 hours, and Albers) added to the roster during the month. Turner was activated on April 21 for a game against the division rival

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

, and Green was designated for assignment; in his return, as a pinch-hitter, Turner had the game-winning RBI in a 4–3 victory when he took a bases-loaded walk in the 11th inning. On the pitching side of the ledger, left-handed reliever

Sammy Solis Sammy is a nickname, frequently for people named Samuel, and also an English spelling of the Arabic name Sami. People Music * Sammy Adams (born 1987), American rapper and songwriter *Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), American songwriter *Sammy Davis Jr. ( ...

was placed on the disabled list with elbow inflammation on April 19, and the Nationals called up Joe Ross to start against the division rival

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

; Washington won that game 14–4 on the back of two grand slams, struck by right fielder

and first baseman

Ryan Zimmerman Ryan Wallace Zimmerman (born September 28, 1984) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and third baseman who played 16 seasons for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Zimmerman graduated from Kellam Hig ...

, in a 20-hit effort and Ross earned the win. The struggles of newly minted closer

in the ninth inning prompted manager

to announce on April 19 that closing duties would be shared between relievers

Shawn Kelley Shawn Andrew Kelley (born April 26, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners from 2009 to 2012, New York Yankees from 2013 to 2014, San Diego Padres in 2015, Was ...

and

Koda Glover Koda James Glover (born April 13, 1993) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals. He is of Cherokee and Sioux descent. Early life and career Glover was born i ...

. Baker said concerns about Kelley's resiliency, due to a twice-repaired elbow,

previously underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's ...

as a college pitcher at

Austin Peay State University Austin Peay State University () is a public university in Clarksville, Tennessee. Standing on a site occupied by a succession of educational institutions since 1845, the precursor of the university was established in 1927 and named for then-sit ...

in 2003 and while in the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

organization in 2010. (Se
Waldstein, David, "Rare 2nd Operation Saved Yankee Pitcher's Career," ''The New York Times'', August 31, 2013
) and Glover's lack of experience, as a rookie without a career save, kept the team from giving either one the sole job of closer. Glover earned his first career save on April 22, coming into the ninth inning with two outs and retiring the only batter he faced. However, he landed on the disabled list with a left hip impingement on April 26, and left-handed reliever Matt Grace was recalled. The Nationals placed starter

on the paternity list on April 24, with the right-hander anticipating the birth of his second child, and made

the fourth spring training non-roster invitee (after Guthrie, Albers, and Green) to crack the team's active roster in the month of April. Turner, a right-handed pitcher whose contract was selected from Class-AAA Syracuse, was given the opportunity to start against the

in the first of a four-game set at

Coors Field Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995, the park is located in Denver's Lower Downtown neighborhood, two blocks from Union Station. The ...

. Although Turner supplied a quality start, giving up three earned runs over six innings, and left the game with a lead, the Rockies scored five unanswered runs off the Nationals' bullpen for an 8–4 finish. The game ended up being the only one the Nationals lost on their 10-game roadtrip, with their 9–1 run through series visiting the Braves, Mets, and Rockies standing as the best such mark in team history. On April 25, Trea Turner

hit for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League B ...

for the first time in his career, cracking a two-run home run off Rockies reliever Jordan Lyles in the sixth inning and rounding out his four-hit night with a bases-clearing triple in the seventh inning as the Nationals won a high-scoring 15–12 contest. In an emphatic finish to the trip, on April 27, the Nationals defeated the Rockies 16–5, with the winning margin of 11 runs being supplied entirely in the seventh inning — the most runs the Montreal–Washington franchise had scored in an inning in almost 20 years.The

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in ...

set the all-time franchise record in their 1997 season on May 7, when they scored 13 runs against the

in the sixth inning en route to a 19–3 win. (Se
Etkin, Jack, "Washington Nationals use 11-run inning to rout Colorado Rockies," UPI, April 27, 2017
) Strasburg was also reactivated on April 27 and Grace was optioned back to Class-AAA Syracuse, with Jacob Turner reassigned to the bullpen after his spot start. The team suffered a serious blow when center fielder Adam Eaton, acquired in the off-season in a trade with the

, stepped awkwardly on first base beating out an infield single in the ninth inning at

against the Mets on April 28. Eaton had to be carried off the field, and an MRI showed he had torn his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formati ...

and knee meniscus and sprained his ankle. The injuries were expected to rule him out for the season, although Eaton said he would work as hard as he could to return in time for the playoffs. The Nationals called up outfielder Rafael Bautista to replace Eaton on the active roster. Despite losing Eaton and dropping the first two games of the three-game series against the Mets, the Nationals capped the month with a historic performance against their New York rivals on April 30, scoring in every inning but the second and winning 23–5 — the first time an MLB team had scored 23 or more runs in a game in nearly 10 yearsThe most recent time a team had scored at least 23 runs in a game was August 22, 2007, when the Texas Rangers notched a record-setting 30–3 win over the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. (Se
"The unlikeliest amazing day of all time? Anthony Rendon delivers," ESPN, April 30, 2017
) The 23 runs were also the second-highest total the Mets had ever given up in a game, exceeded only by 26 runs the

scored against them on June 11, 1985. (Se
Castillo, Jorge, "Anthony Rendon's historic day and the Nationals’ historic month by the numbers," washingtonpost.com, April 30, 2017
) — and benefiting from a stellar performance from third baseman

. Rendon had never had more than four RBIs in a game before, and during his 95 plate appearances of the season prior to April 30 had not a hit a home run and had driven in only five runs, but on April 30 he set a Montreal-Washington franchise record for runs batted in in a single game with 10,The previous Montreal-Washington franchise record was set by Josh Willingham, with eight runs batted in for the

on July 27, 2009, against the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

on two grand slam home runs. (Se
Ladson, Bill, "Two slams from Willingham vault Nats," MLB.com, July 28, 2009
)Rendon′s 10 RBIs on April 30 were the most in a single MLB game since August 21, 2007, when

Garret Anderson Garret Joseph Anderson (born June 30, 1972) is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the California / Anaheim Angels / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Atlanta Braves, and Los Angele ...

of the

drove in 10 runs against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

. (Se
Monagan, Matt, "Here's how Anthony Rendon's 10-RBI game stacks up in history," mlb.com, April 30, 2017
) hitting three home runs and a three-run double while going 6-for-6 and scoring five runs.

's 6-for-6 performance with 10 RBIs made him just the second player in major league history to record a hit in every at-bat while batting in a double-digit number of runs. The feat was first accomplished by Jim Bottomley of the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in their 1924 season, when he went 6-for-6 with 12 RBIs against the

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Califor ...

on September 16 in a 17–3 win, setting the major league record for RBIs in a game. (Se
Schuster, Blake, "Anthony Rendon's 10 RBIs didn't even account for half of the Nationals total on Sunday," Yahoo! Sports, April 30, 2017
) Rendon became one of only six Major League Baseball players to go 6-for-6 and hit three home runs in a game, only the second player in history to do it while also driving in at least 10 runs,The only other player to go 6-for-6 and hit three home runs and drive in 10 runs in a single game was Walker Cooper for the 1949 Cincinnati Reds. (Se
Castillo, Jorge, "Anthony Rendon's historic day and the Nationals’ historic month by the numbers," washingtonpost.com, April 30, 2017
) and only the 13th player in history with at least 10 RBIs in a game. He also became only the fifth Nationals player to hit three home runs in agame, joining

Adam Dunn Adam Troy Dunn (born November 9, 1979), nicknamed "Big Donkey", is an American former professional baseball left fielder and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks, Washington Na ...

, Bryce Harper,

Alfonso Soriano Alfonso Guilleard Soriano (born January 7, 1976) is a Dominican former professional baseball left fielder and second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Washington Nationals, and Chicago Cu ...

, and Ryan Zimmerman. Bautista also made his major league debut in the game, batting twice against

Kevin Plawecki Kevin Jeffrey Plawecki (; born February 26, 1991) is an American professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox and Texas Ranger ...

, a catcher making his first-ever major league appearance as a pitcher, and going 0-for-2. Plawecki pitched two innings for the Mets, retiring the side in order in the seventh inning before giving up four runs in the eighth inning, allowing solo home runs by Harper and Rendon and a two-run pinch-hit home run by

. The game's 23 runs and seven home runs were both Nationals records, and the Nationals tied the single-game club record for hits with 23. (Coincidentally, on the same day as the Nationals' 23–5 win, the team's Class-A Full Season affiliate, the

Hagerstown Suns The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They played their home ga ...

, also won by 18 runs as they defeated the

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends hav ...

22–4. Like Rendon for Washington, top Nationals infield prospect Carter Kieboom hit three home runs for Hagerstown in that game. The Suns set a

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

record with 30 hits in the game.) Overcoming their injuries, the Nationals wrapped up April with a 17–8 record, the best in the major leagues, and finished the month five games ahead of both the Marlins and the Phillies in the National League East. The Nationals became the first team in MLB history to score at least 14 runs in a game five times in April. They scored 170 runs, a club record for a calendar month and 31 more runs than the next-best team, the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

, even though the Diamondbacks played one more game. The Nationals averaged an MLB-high 6.8 runs per game during April,Castillo, Jorge, "Ryan Zimmerman named National League player of the week," washingtonpost.com, May 1, 2017.
/ref> 1.2 runs per game better than any other team, and finished the month leading MLB in hits (with 265), walks (with 102), team on-base percentage (at .369), team slugging percentage (at .510), and doubles (with 58), and second in MLB in home runs with 45. In his 90 plate appearances during April, Zimmerman set a new Nationals record for runs batted in during a month with 29, and he finished April leading the MLB in several categories.Ryan Zimmerman led the major leagues in hits (with 37), extra-base hits (with 19), batting average (at .420), slugging percentage (at .886), on-base-plus-slugging percentage (at 1.345), weighted runs created plus (wRC+) at 244, and RBIs (with 29) and tied for the MLB lead in home runs (with 11). Additionally, he tied for second in MLB for multi-hit games (with 12), and ranked sixth in the major leagues in on-base percentage at .458. (See als
Kramer, Daniel, "Big April nets Zimmerman NL monthly honor," mlb.com, May 3, 2017
an
Castillo, Jorge, "Ryan Zimmerman named National League player of the month," washingtonpost.com, May 3, 2017
) Zimmerman was announced on May 1 as National League player of the week for the last week of April, during which he played and hit safely in all six games, had two or more hits in four of them, and drove in more than one run in five games. During the week, he batted .500 (13-for-26), and had two doubles, five home runs, and 13 RBIs and scored 11 runs. He hit safely in each of them, had at least two hits in four, and drove in multiple runs in five. It was his fourth National League player of the week award and first since July 2012. On May 3, he was named

National League Player of the Month In Major League Baseball (MLB), the Player of the Month Award is given monthly during the regular season to two outstanding players, one each in the National League (NL) and American League (AL). The NL first awarded the honor during the season, ...

for April, the first time he had received the award. It was the seventh time a Nationals player had won the award, and the fourth time a National had received the award in the last seven times it had been awarded. Meanwhile, Harper set an MLB record for the most runs scored in April with 32.The previous record was set by Larry Walker of the

, who scored 29 runs in

April 1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic (1997 film), Titanic'', the List of highest-grossing films, highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; ...

. (Se
Baer, Bill, "Bryce Harper sets April record for runs scored," NBC Sports, April 30, 2017
) He finished the month leading the MLB in on-base percentage at .509. Despite the team's winning ways in April, the bullpen was a source of problems all month, with its combined 5.70 ERA ranking as the highest in the National League during April. Nationals relievers pitched in all 25 games in April and gave up runs in 19 of them. Although Nationals relievers issued a National League-lowest 2.93 walks per nine innings and threw a higher percentage of their pitches in the strike zone than any other MLB bullpen by a full two percentage points, they also threw the fourth-lowest number of first-pitch strikes among MLB bullpens, suggesting problems with command in the strike zone. Much of the bullpen's struggles came from relievers giving up 1.86 home runs per nine innings, a rate one full home run higher than the previous season's.

May

The Nationals optioned starter Joe Ross to Class-AAA

on May 1, following consecutive starts in which he failed to pitch five full innings, and called up pitcher A. J. Cole. Closer

landed on the 10-day disabled list on May 5 with a lower back strain and reliever Matt Grace was recalled from Class-AAA Syracuse. With both Kelley and alternate closer

on the shelf with injuries, reliever

was called upon to close out a 4–2 game against the division rival

on May 5. Albers hit the leadoff batter with a pitch but retired the next three to finally earn his first career save.Albers was an oddity among relief pitchers: Entering the May 5 game, he had played 16 seasons of professional baseball, 12 of them at the major-league level and 10 of those as a full-time reliever, without ever earning a save, despite appearing in 592 professional baseball games, including 460 games at the major-league level and 436 major-league relief appearances, and despite finishing 102 major-league games; only Ryan Webb, with 105 major-league games finished, had finished more major-league games without ever earning a save. (Se
Zuckerman, Mark, "After 461 appearances, Albers finally gets to save the game," masnsports.com, May 6, 2017
) Albers finished the game having given up no runs, no walks, and only four hits in innings pitched in 2017. On May 6 in a 6–2 victory at Philadelphia, outfielder Rafael Bautista made his first career start (playing right field) and notched his first career hit, a single through the infield off Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez. Bautista was optioned back to Syracuse on May 8, with the Nationals recalling outfielder

Brian Goodwin Brian Carey Goodwin (25 March 1931 – 15 July 2009) (St Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada - Torbay, Devon, UK) was a Canadian mathematician and biologist, a Professor Emeritus at the Open University and a founder of theoretical biology and ...

to take his place on the bench. After being swept in two games at

Oriole Park at Camden Yards The Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early ...

against their

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

"natural rival", the

, the Nationals rallied as the annual home-and-home "

Beltway Series The Beltway Series, promoted by the teams as "The Battle of the Beltways," is the Major League Baseball (MLB) interleague rivalry series played between the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals. The Orioles are a member of the American Leag ...

" came to Washington, coming from behind on May 10 to win on a walk-off single by former Orioles catcher

. The series finale on May 11 was rained out — it was rescheduled for June 8 — as was the next day's game against the Phillies, which was rescheduled for May 14 as part of a day-night Sunday doubleheader. Glover and Kelley were activated from the disabled list on May 12, with Cole and Grace being optioned to Syracuse, but Grace returned days later after reliever

was placed on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation on May 17 after a string of poor performances out of the bullpen. On May 13, the Nationals announced they had reached a one-year deal for the 2018 season with right fielder

at $21.625 million — the highest salary for an arbitration-eligible player in MLB historyJanes, Chelsea, and Jorge Castillo, "Nationals and Bryce Harper reach deal for 2018, taking arbitration off the table," washingtonpost.com, May 13, 2017, 6:13 p.m. EDT.
/ref>Prior to Harper′s May 2017 arbitration deal, the largest deal for an arbitration-eligible MLB player had been for a $20.1 million annual salary for center fielder

Mike Trout Michael Nelson Trout (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). Trout is a ten-time MLB All-Star, three-time American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MV ...

as part of his six-year contract extension with the

in 2014, while the highest one-year deal for an arbitration-eligible MLB player had been $19.8 million for pitcher David Price with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

in 2015. (Se
Janes, Chelsea, and Jorge Castillo, "Nationals and Bryce Harper reach deal for 2018, taking arbitration off the table," ''The Washington Post'', May 13, 2017
) — effectively buying out Harper's final year of arbitration eligibility; it was a raise of about $8 million over his 2017 salary.Harper′s 2017 salary, agreed to via arbitration in January 2017, was $13.625 million. (Se
Janes, Chelsea, "Bryce Harper settles for $13.625 million; Rendon will make $5.8 million," ''The Washington Post'', January 13, 2017
an
Janes, Chelsea, and Jorge Castillo, "Nationals and Bryce Harper reach deal for 2018, taking arbitration off the table," ''The Washington Post'', May 13, 2017
) That night, Harper hit a two-run walk-off home run to defeat the Phillies 6–4, with Kelley earning the win in relief. In the second game of the day-night doubleheader, which the Nationals split with the Phillies, on May 14, Washington starting pitcher

threw just the second

immaculate inning In baseball, a strikeout occurs when a pitcher throws three strikes to a batter during his time at bat. An immaculate inning occurs when a pitcher strikes out all three batters he faces in one inning, using the minimum possible number of pitche ...

in team history, striking out César Hernández, Odubel Herrera, and

Aaron Altherr Aaron Samuel Altherr ( ; born January 14, 1991) is a German-American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the ninth round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. Altherr has played ...

on nine pitches in the fifth inning ''en route'' to a 6–5 victory. Jordan Zimmermann was the first Nationals pitcher to notch an immaculate inning, accomplishing the feat on May 6, 2011, against the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

. On three occasions,

pitchers threw immaculate innings prior to the franchise's relocation to Washington, D.C. (Se
Reddington, Patrick, "Nationals’ Max Scherzer throws immaculate inning vs Phillies tonight in D.C.," Federal Baseball, May 14, 2017
) In the team's next game on May 16, Harper notched another personal achievement as he hit a home run at

PNC Park PNC Park is a baseball stadium on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). It was opened during the 2001 MLB season, after the controlled implosion of the Pira ...

against the

, the last ballpark in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

at which Harper had not homered. Ross was recalled from Class-AAA Syracuse for a start against the

in interleague play at

on May 23. Goodwin was optioned back to Syracuse to make room on the roster, giving the Nationals a four-man bench and an eight-man bullpen. However, Goodwin was recalled the next day after outfielder Chris Heisey tore his biceps tendon while taking batting practice before the game, an injury that put him on the disabled list. On May 25, manager

named Glover as the team's closer after previously hinting that he would be giving the rookie right-hander the ninth inning. "He had said that's the job he wanted, and so it's his now," Baker explained. Saving a 5–1 game with the bases loaded by the

on May 26, Glover struck out

Hunter Renfroe Dustin Hunter Renfroe (born January 28, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, an ...

to end the game on a 95.6 mph slider, the hardest slider thrown for a swinging strike all year. Starting pitcher

set a personal best in a win on May 27, striking out 15 Padres to exceed his previous career high by one. The 3–0 win over San Diego was also the first shutout thrown by Nationals pitchers in the 2017 season. Infielder

returned from the disabled list, with Grace once again optioned to Syracuse, and the Nationals began a nine-game swing through

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

on May 29. In the first game of the road trip, the Nationals obtained their second shutout win of the year, beating the

3–0 behind a strong start by

. The game was marred, however, by an eighth-inning brawl that broke out after Giants reliever Hunter Strickland, facing Harper for the first time since the Nationals right fielder went 2-for-2 with two home runs off him during the

2014 National League Division Series The National League Division Series was two best-of-five-game series to determine the participating teams in the 2014 National League Championship Series. The Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and St. Louis Cardinals (seeded 1–3 based ...

, drilled Harper in the hip with a 98 mph fastball with his first pitch. Harper tossed aside his bat and charged Strickland on the mound, throwing his helmet wide to the left of Strickland before the two players traded punches. They were separated by their teammates, with Giants first baseman and former National

Michael Morse Michael John Morse (born March 22, 1982) is an American former professional baseball outfielder, first baseman and shortstop. Morse was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the third round (82nd overall) of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft. ...

quickly getting between them before being bowled over (and

concussed A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

) by Giants pitcher and former

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

star

Jeff Samardzija Jeffrey Alan Samardzija (; born January 23, 1985), nicknamed "Shark", is an American professional former baseball pitcher. He played college baseball and football for the University of Notre Dame, and was recognized as a two-time All-American w ...

, and ejected from the game. Harper said after the game that he decided immediately that the pitch was intentional: "You never want to get suspended or anything like that, but sometimes you've got to go and get him. You can't hesitate. You either go to first base or you go after him, and I decided to go after him." He suggested Strickland was retaliating for the 2014 home runs (which Strickland denied), saying, "It was three years ago. ... I don't know why he's thinking about it. He's got a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...

ring, it's on his finger, and he can look at it every single night he wants to." Both Harper and Strickland were issued suspensions by Major League Baseball, with Harper receiving a four-game penalty, which was lowered on appeal to three games. He began serving the suspension on May 31. The Nationals finished May with a sweep of the Giants in their three-game set at

AT&T Park Oracle Park is a Major League Baseball stadium in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Since 2000, it has been the home of the San Francisco Giants. Previously named Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park, and AT&T Park, the stadium's curren ...

, their only series sweep of the month. During May, they won a series at home against the

, then won a series on the road against the Phillies, lost both games at

, won the one game against the Orioles played at

(with the second postponed until June), took another series against the Phillies at home, lost back-to-back series on the road against the Pirates and division rival

, and then won consecutive series at home against the Mariners and Padres before the sweep in San Francisco. The Nationals led the National League East Division by games over the

with a 33–19 record at the end of the month, one of just two MLB teams with fewer than 20 losses (with the

in the American League) and owning the best win percentage in the National League.

June

The month of June began with the Nationals taking two out of three in interleague play visiting the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

. Outfielder

struck his first major league home run off Athletics reliever

Zach Neal Zachary Sheridan Neal (born November 9, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Career Florida/Miami Mar ...

on June 2, a two-run shot over the high wall in

Oakland Coliseum Oakland Coliseum, currently branded as RingCentral Coliseum, is a stadium in Oakland, California. It is part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Complex, with the adjacent Oakland Arena, near Interstate 880. The Coliseum is the home b ...

's right-center field. Starting pitcher Joe Ross's place in the rotation was unclear after a second consecutive losing start in which he failed to go more than four innings, as he gave up seven runs in three innings of a 10–4 loss to the Athletics on June 3. The Nationals also got bad news on injured outfielder Chris Heisey, as he was evaluated after a short rehab assignment and shut down due to swelling in his arm after he ruptured a biceps tendon the previous month, with manager

telling media that Heisey "might have rushed it a little sooner than he should have". On June 4, the Nationals defeated Oakland 11–10, but the win brought up fresh concerns about the team's bullpen after closer

and reliever

combined to allow six earned runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, including four on a grand slam home run by Matt Joyce off Kelley, before Kelley locked down the save. Outfielder

was placed on the 10-day disabled list after fouling a ball off his foot in the June 3 game, and the Nationals selected the contract of veteran utilityman Ryan Raburn on June 5 as they headed into a three-game series with the

, their first meeting with the Dodgers since the 2016 National League Division Series, to take over for Werth in left field. Minor league pitcher

was designated for assignment to make room for Raburn on the 40-man roster. Starting pitcher

joined an exclusive club of pitchers in a June 6 game against the Dodgers by striking out 11 batters through the first four innings of the game. The feat had only been accomplished by four other pitchers in major league history.

Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning four decades, Ryan ...

Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed "The Big Unit", is an American photographer and former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle M ...

, Zack Greinke, and Alex Cobb were the only pitchers who had 11 strikeouts through their first four innings prior to Scherzer's outing, tying for the all-time record. (Se
McCotter, Trent, "Max Scherzer is 5th pitcher in MLB history with 11 K thru first 4 innings of a game," twitter.com, June 6, 2017
) Scherzer ultimately ended up with 14 strikeouts and zero earned runs through seven innings of a 2–1 Nationals victory. The Nationals dropped the last game of the series to

Clayton Kershaw Clayton Edward Kershaw (born March 19, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) . He has played for the Dodgers for the entirety of his MLB career. A left-handed starting pi ...

, the Dodgers' ace, to finish 7–2 on their

roadtrip. Washington's

, who took the loss despite giving up just one earned run over seven innings and striking out eight Dodgers, tied

Kerry Wood Kerry Lee Wood (born June 16, 1977) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees. Wood first came to prominence as a 20-year-old ro ...

's record for most strikeouts in the first 1,000 innings of a starting pitcher's career at 1,166 during the game. Getting another start after a pair of poor outings, Ross bounced back in a makeup game against the

in interleague play at

on June 8, pitching innings and allowing one earned run for the win and setting a new personal best for strikeouts in a game with 12. The Nationals were swept at home for the first time in 2017 by the Texas Rangers in interleague play. Closer Glover blew his first save opportunity of the season on June 10 and admitted after the game that he had injured his back that morning and had not told the team about his condition. Glover was placed on the disabled list the next day and

was reactivated. On June 12, infielder

Wilmer Difo Wilmer Francisco Difo (born April 2, 1992) is a Dominican professional baseball utility infielder in the New York Yankees organization. Difo made his MLB debut in 2015 with the Washington Nationals and has also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates ...

— who had frozen up on a potential game-winning bunt single in the June 10 game while leading off third base, being tagged out in a rundown before an eventual Nationals 6–3 loss — was optioned to the Class-AAA

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. Reliever

Trevor Gott Trevor Vaughan Gott (born August 26, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Washington Nationals, San Franc ...

was called up, giving the Nationals an eight-man bullpen as they headed into a series against the division rival

. Gott picked up the win in his first game on June 13, with the Nationals defeating the Braves 10–5, but after a relief appearance the following day in which he was charged with five earned runs over innings, he was optioned back to Class-AAA Syracuse and left-hander Matt Grace recalled for a series against the division rival

beginning June 15. The Nationals took three out of four against the Mets, with Grace appearing in two games. On June 18, Kelley was placed on the disabled list with a

trapezius The trapezius is a large paired trapezoid-shaped surface muscle that extends longitudinally from the occipital bone to the lower thoracic vertebrae of the spine and laterally to the spine of the scapula. It moves the scapula and supports th ...

strain amid a dismal stretch that saw him post a rate of 4.5 home runs per nine innings, and right-handed pitcher A. J. Cole was called up from Syracuse to take his place on the roster. Cole did not appear in a game before the Nationals optioned him back to Syracuse on June 22. Difo was recalled the following day for a series against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, with center fielder

reportedly dealing with an undisclosed injury. Difo made his first career start in the outfield on June 23, playing center field, but after multiple defensive misplays that led to Cincinnati runs, he was lifted from the game in favor of Raburn. The Nationals defeated the Reds 6–5 behind Goodwin's first career two-homer game and a walk-off single by right fielder

. Taylor returned to the starting lineup on June 24, notching four hits with two home runs in an 18–3 rout of the Reds. In a 6–1 victory over the visiting

, defending

champions, on June 27, the Nationals tied a franchise record for stolen bases in a game with seven, all off the battery of pitcher Jake Arrieta and catcher Miguel Montero. Four of those steals were notched by shortstop

, who stole seven bases in the four-game series against the Cubs at Nationals Park before leaving the rubber game on June 29 after being hit in the right wrist by a

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...

from reliever Pedro Strop. The team announced after the game, a seesaw 5–4 loss, that Turner had suffered a non-displaced fracture in his wrist, an injury for which the team offered no recovery timetable but which Turner compared to a similar wrist fracture weeks earlier in the season that had sidelined Braves first baseman

Freddie Freeman Frederick Charles Freeman (born September 12, 1989) is an American-Canadian professional baseball first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, Freeman played for the Atlanta Braves for 12 seasons. He mad ...

for an anticipated two months. Turner was placed on the 10-day disabled list and the Nationals selected the contract of infielder

from Class-AAA Syracuse to replace him on the roster, moving rehabbing left-handed reliever

to the 60-day disabled list in the process. The injury announcement came just a day after Glover, placed on the disabled list earlier in the month with back stiffness, told reporters he had been experiencing right shoulder pain since late May and was continuing to deal with severe

rotator cuff The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and their tendons that act to stabilize the human shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion. Of the seven scapulohumeral muscles, four make up the rotator cuff. The four muscles are the supraspi ...

inflammation after initially trying to pitch through the issue. He blamed the back injury, which he said involved a displaced vertebra after he slipped while showering, on "overcompensation" due to the shoulder pain. The Nationals also lost first base coach

Davey Lopes David Earle Lopes (; born May 3, 1945) is an American former second baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted and threw right-handed. He played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, and Houston ...

during the Cubs series, as he was granted leave from the team due to a family emergency. Outfield and baserunning coordinator Gary Thurman took over Lopes' role in his absence. In sum, heading into a three-game roadtrip visiting the

and extending into the next month, the Nationals won series against the Athletics and the Dodgers and then earned a season split with the Orioles by winning their makeup game to begin the month on a positive run, then lost their next two series against the Rangers and Braves before taking three out of four in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

against the Mets, dropped a series on the road against the

, and then returned home to win a three-game series against the Reds and split their four-game set with the Cubs. The Nationals dropped their series opener at St. Louis 8–1 on June 30, with Sánchez making his major league debut as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement at shortstop late in the game, to finish 14–14 in June wins and losses, games over the Braves and games over the Mets, with a 47–33 overall win–loss record. It was the first full month since September 2015 in which they did not post a winning record. Two Nationals stars — Scherzer and first baseman

— made franchise history in June. On June 13, Zimmerman hit two home runs off Braves starter

R. A. Dickey Robert Allen Dickey (born October 29, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Bra ...

to tie

Vladimir Guerrero Vladimir Alvino Guerrero Sr. (born February 9, 1975), nicknamed "Vlad the Impaler", is a Dominican former professional baseball player who spent 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right fielder and designated hitter. He played fo ...

for the

–Washington franchise record of 234 home runs, although he did not hit another home run for the remainder of the month and finished June still tied with Guerrero for the record. One start after recording his 2,000th strikeout against the Rangers, Scherzer struck out ten Mets on June 16 to tie

Pedro Martínez Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to . At the time o ...

's franchise mark of five consecutive starts with double-digit strikeouts, and in his next start on June 21, he struck out 11 Marlins to set the franchise record at six. Scherzer was named the National League Pitcher of the Month, posting a 0.99 ERA on the month.

July

Following a rough outing in long relief for

the previous day, the Nationals designated him for assignment on July 1. Left-handed reliever

was activated off the 60-day disabled list. The Nationals rallied in the ninth inning of their July 1 game against the

, scoring a run and loading the bases against closer

Trevor Rosenthal Trevor Jordan Rosenthal (born May 29, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals ...

. St. Louis brought in reliever

Matt Bowman Matthew Chou Bowman (born May 31, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the New York Yankees organization. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds. High school and co ...

to try to nail down his first career save, while Nationals manager

sent infielder

to the plate to pinch-hit in his first MLB at-bat. Sánchez worked the count full before taking a pitch roughly six inches off the plate away for what would have been ball four and a game-tying walk, but home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez called him out on strikes to end the game at 2–1 in the Cardinals' favor. Baker praised Sánchez after the game, saying the call "just wasn't fair to him" and remarking, "You hate to have an at-bat like that and have it settled on apparently a bad call." In the following game, on July 2, minutes after being named to play in the 2017 All-Star Game as the top overall

vote-getter, right fielder

hit two home runs off fellow All-Star Carlos Martínez. Starting pitcher

, also named to the All-Star roster, struck out 12 Cardinals while allowing no runs in seven innings to earn the 7–2 win. The Nationals played their annual

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Many ...

contest at

on July 4 against the division rival

, with Joe Ross starting for the home team. The Nationals won 11–4, marking yet another game for Ross in which he received run support in the double-digits: his seventh in 12 starts on the season to that point. The win was also Washington's 50th of the season. The next day's game was postponed due to rain, while the game on the day after that — the opener of a series at Nationals Park against Washington's top division rival, the

— was delayed for more than three hours due to a thunderstorm in the forecast, which never materialized, prompting some criticism of the Nationals for unnecessarily pushing back the start time until 10:10 p.m. EDT. The July 6 game, which actually finished early in the morning of July 7 due to the late start, was a 5–2 Braves win. Starting center fielder

was lifted midway through the game with an oblique strain, which manager

announced after the game would send him to the 10-day disabled list, with outfielder Chris Heisey being activated from the disabled list in a corresponding move. The Nationals struck back that evening, mounting a ferocious ninth-inning rally in the July 7 game to come back from a three-run deficit and force extra innings. In the tenth inning, the shortstop Sánchez lined a slider from former National

Ian Krol Ian A. Krol (born May 9, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angel ...

, pitching in relief for Atlanta, up the middle for his first career hit. Three at-bats later, Sánchez came around to score on second baseman Daniel Murphy's walk-off single over the head of left fielder

Matt Kemp Matthew Ryan Kemp (born September 23, 1984) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He began his professional career in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in 2003, and played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Dodgers fr ...

, and the Nationals won 5–4. In the July 8 game, though, the Nationals suffered their first shutout of the year, losing 13–0 as the Braves pummeled starter

, who exited the game in the third inning after being hit on the hip with a line drive comebacker; usual starter

, in his first relief appearance of the season; and Solis, still working his way back from injury. The Nationals defeated Atlanta 10–5 to earn a split of the four-game series on July 9, in their last game before the All-Star Break. Ross again received double-digit run support, for the eighth time in 13 starts to begin the season, but exited in the fourth inning after exhibiting a marked decrease in velocity and struggling with his command. The team announced several days later that Ross would undergo

, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season and beyond. With Ross on the disabled list and Solis optioned back to the Class-AAA

after a string of poor relief outings, the Nationals promoted right-handed relievers

and Austin L. Adams from Syracuse for a series against the

beginning July 14. Behind starter

Gio González Giovany Aramis González (born September 19, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox. A two- ...

's first outing of at least eight innings long since 2015, the Nationals shut out the Reds 5–0 in the July 14 game, as González went innings and reliever Matt Grace notched his first career save, inheriting a bases-loaded jam from setup man

and inducing a groundout to end the ballgame. Both Gott and Adams floundered in the July 15 game in Cincinnati, giving up a combined seven runs without retiring a batter, as Adams loaded the bases, walked in a run, and gave up an RBI single in his major league debut before being relieved by Óliver Pérez, and Gott surrendered two runs on base hits followed by a three-run home run by

Scooter Gennett Ryan Joseph "Scooter" Gennett (born May 1, 1990) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. On June 6, 2017, he became the 17th player i ...

in the ninth inning before Grace came into the game and retired the side in order for his second career save, a day after his first, preserving a 10–7 final score. In the first three games of the series, for the first time in

–Washington franchise history, three different players hit two home runs per game: Harper on July 14,

on July 15, and Murphy on July 16. On July 16, the Nationals completed a five-player trade with the

, acquiring relievers

Sean Doolittle Sean Robert Doolittle (born September 26, 1986) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Washington Nationals organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Marine ...

and

Ryan Madson Ryan Michael Madson (born August 28, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals, and Los Angeles ...

for right-hander

and prospects

Jesus Luzardo Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and

Sheldon Neuse Sheldon Lynn Neuse ( ; born December 10, 1994) is an American professional baseball infielder for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakla ...

. Ross was moved to the 60-day disabled list to make room on the roster. The Nationals again purchased Turner's contract from Syracuse, re-adding him to the roster, to take Treinen's place in the bullpen on July 17 while awaiting the activation of Doolittle and Madson, who were expected to join the team in

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

the next day for a series against the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

in interleague play; injured closer

was transferred to the 60-day disabled list to clear roster space. That day, Washington concluded a four-game sweep of their series in Cincinnati in a 6–1 game that included several notable occurrences:

hit his 20th home run of the year to surpass Expos star

's Montreal–Washington franchise record with 235 career home runs as a National, Murphy scored all the way from second base on a sacrifice fly hit by catcher

, and Murphy struck out three times for the first time since May 20, 2014, when he was with the Mets. ''

'' reported that amid a slower-than-anticipated recovery for left fielder

from a bruised foot suffered the previous month, Werth said on July 18 that scans had revealed a fracture of his first metatarsal bone as well as a bone bruise. The Nationals made a series of roster moves on July 18 as well: Turner was designated for assignment for the second time of the month, just a day after being re-added to the roster and without appearing in a game in that brief stint, while Adams and Gott were optioned back to Class-AAA Syracuse. Those roster moves cleared room for the Nationals to activate Doolittle and Madson as well as select the contract of Edwin Jackson from Syracuse, tabbing Jackson to start the first of their two-game interleague series against the Angels. The changes to the pitching staff left the Nationals unusually heavy on left-handed relievers, with four in the bullpen (Doolittle, Grace, Pérez, and Enny Romero) to three right-handers (Albers,

, and Madson). Making his first start for the Nationals since the 2012 season, Jackson pitched seven innings and gave up two earned runs, both on solo home runs, to earn his first win of the season. Doolittle gave up his first hit of the year to a left-handed hitter, a double high off the wall by

Kole Calhoun Kole Alan Calhoun (born October 14, 1987) is an American professional baseball right fielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers. Calhoun played co ...

, but nailed down the save after allowing an earned run in his first appearance for Washington. Harper came a close call at second base away from

hitting for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League ...

in the July 18 contest, as he was called out trying to stretch a single into a double while going 4-for-4 overall with a home run and a triple. The

led off what would ultimately be a 6–5 victory on July 21 over the visiting Nationals with back-to-back-to-back home runs off Scherzer, the first time in Nationals history that an opponent had blasted three consecutive home runs in a game and the first time it had happened to Scherzer.The most recent time any major league team had started a game with three consecutive home runs was on May 10, 2012, when the

did it against the Texas Rangers. (Se
"Diamondbacks open with back-to-back-to-back HRs against Nationals," espn.com, July 22, 2017
) The Nationals rallied to win the second game of the series behind a revamped pitch arsenal from starter Roark, who befuddled Diamondbacks batters by ditching his

four-seam fastball A four-seam fastball, also called a rising fastball, a four-seamer, or a cross-seam fastball, is a pitch in baseball. It is a member of the fastball family of pitches and is usually the hardest (i.e., fastest) ball thrown by a pitcher. It is c ...

and mixing in a heavier-than-usual dose of

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curv ...

s. Facing rookie starting pitcher Anthony Banda in his major league debut, Harper crushed a 467-foot home run onto the

Chase Field Chase Field, formerly Bank One Ballpark, is a retractable roof stadium in Downtown Phoenix, Arizona. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. It opened in 1998, the year the Diamondbacks debuted as an expansion team. Ch ...

concourse in right-center field — the longest home run of his career to that point — to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games. Heisey suffered a groin injury while legging out a pivotal triple in the 4–3 contest and was placed on the 10-day disabled list. Left fielder Ryan Raburn was also assigned to the bereavement list, taking leave to attend his grandfather's funeral. Washington recalled catcher Pedro Severino and selected the contract of outfield prospect

Andrew Stevenson Andrew Stevenson (January 21, 1784 – January 25, 1857) was an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. He represented Richmond, Virginia in the Virginia House of Delegates and eventually became its speaker before being elected to the United S ...

to take Heisey and Raburn's roster spots. Stevenson made his major league debut in the July 23 rubber game, being inserted mid-game to replace

in left field and going 0-for-2 at the plate. The Nationals won 6–2, but Strasburg exited the game just two innings into his start with forearm tightness, with Blanton picking up the win in relief. The Nationals announced July 25 that Strasburg had been treated for a nerve impingement. He was placed on the 10-day disabled list, with top pitching prospect

Erick Fedde Erick James Fedde (born February 25, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the NC Dinos of the KBO League. He previously played for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at UNLV. Amat ...

tabbed to make a spot start in his place. Raburn was transferred from the bereavement list to the disabled list with a trapezius strain on July 26. The Nationals recalled Solis to give them an extra reliever the next day, bringing the bullpen up to a total of five left-handed relievers. First base coach

returned the same day after an extended leave of absence. On July 27, the Nationals tied a franchise record for home runs hit in a game, blasting eight in a 15–2 rout of the visiting

.The eight-homer eruption tied the mark set by the

on July 30, 1978, against the

. (Se
Ginsburg, David, "Brewers: Nationals hit eight home runs, tie two MLB records in rout," ''Wisconsin State Journal'', July 27, 2017
an
"8 Expo homers bury Braves," ''Chicago Tribune'', July 31, 1978
) In the third inning, the center fielder

, the shortstop Difo, the right fielder Harper, and the first baseman Zimmerman hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs off Brewers pitcher

Michael Blazek Michael Robert Blazek (born March 16, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Washington Nationals. Career Blazek attended Arbor ...

, a veteran reliever getting his first major league start.The most recent time a major league team had tallied four consecutive home runs in a game was August 11, 2010, when the

went back-to-back-to-back-to-back. Coincidentally, the Diamondbacks' feat also came against the

. (Se
Rapaport, Daniel, "Watch: Nationals Go Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back, Hit Five Homers in One Inning," si.com, July 27, 2017
) Rendon, the Nationals' third baseman, added another home run off Blazek later in the inning to tie the major league record for home runs in an inning with five, with Blazek setting a new record for home runs surrendered by a single pitcher in an inning. After being inserted mid-game to play center field, Stevenson rifled a line drive single to right field in the eighth inning, his first major league hit, off Brewers outfielder Hernán Pérez, sent to the mound for his major league pitching debut with his team trailing by 13 runs. Scherzer earned the win over Blazek and the Brewers on his 33rd birthday. After having traded Luzardo as part of the deal with the Athletics, the Nationals traded two more left-handed pitching prospects at the July non-waiver trade deadline. First, they made a trade with the division rival

on July 28, fencing 18th-ranked prospect McKenzie Mills to Philadelphia for veteran utilityman

Howie Kendrick Howard Joseph Kendrick III (born July 12, 1983) is an American former professional baseball infielder and current special assistant to the General Manager for the Philadelphia Phillies. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim selected Kendrick in th ...

. Kendrick was activated the next day, with the Nationals placing infielder

on the 10-day disabled list and designating minor league first baseman

Matt Skole Matthew Thomas Skole (born July 30, 1989) is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox in 2018 and 2019. Baseball career Amateur Skole attended Georgia Tech, and i ...

for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Kendrick lashed a pinch-hit double in his Nationals debut against Germán Márquez of the

in the July 29 game and scored one of the team's two runs in the 4–2 loss, in which Harper's hitting streak came to an end at 19 games. Heading into a double-header against the Rockies on July 30 due to a rainout, the Nationals selected Fedde's contract to start the first game. In a corresponding move, they released veteran outfielder Heisey, who had hit .162 for Washington while spending considerable time on the disabled list during the season. In his major league debut, Fedde pitched four innings while giving up seven runs, five of them earned, and striking out three. He took the loss in the 10–6 contest, in which Zimmerman homered twice to set a new record in the history of Washington, D.C., professional baseball for career home runs, surpassing Frank Howard's mark of 237 for the Washington Senators. Severino was optioned July 30 but remained with the team for the day as an extra player allowed on the roster for the double-header. Minutes after the expiry of the July 31 trade deadline, the Nationals announced they had completed a trade with the

to acquire closer Brandon Kintzler for 17th-ranked prospect Tyler J. Watson. Minor league reliever Jimmy Cordero was designated for assignment to clear space for Kintzler on the 40-man roster. The Nationals finished July having won four series and lost two, including the three-game set against the Cardinals that began the previous month, while splitting two. Coming out of St. Louis, they swept two games against the Mets (with the third game of the series postponed by rain), split a four-game set with the Braves, swept the Reds in four games after the All-Star break, split a two-game series visiting the Angels, took two out of three against both the Diamondbacks and the Brewers, and dropped two of three to the Rockies before heading to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

to play the division rival Marlins for three games beginning July 31. In that game, the Nationals shut out the Marlins 1–0 behind eight no-hit innings from their starter González, pitching on what would have been the 25th birthday of his friend, the late Marlins pitcher José Fernández. With the win, the Nationals improved to 63–41, finishing the month of July up 14 games on the second-place Marlins in the

National League East Division The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Lea ...

and with the second-best overall record in the National League.

August

Ace

hit his first career home run, a three-run shot off

starter

Chris O'Grady Christopher James O'Grady (born 25 January 1986) is an English footballer striker who plays for Grantham Town. O'Grady notably played professionally for Leicester City, Rotherham United, Oldham Athletic, Rochdale, Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsle ...

in the second inning on August 1. Scherzer was unable to complete his pitching warm-up afterward, however, exiting after just one inning of work with what the team announced as a neck spasm. Scherzer said after the game he had "slept on it wrong" and considered it a day-to-day injury rather than a serious issue. The Nationals were unable to hold Scherzer's six-run lead, as the division rival Marlins won 7–6 despite a 5-for-5 performance from Nationals left fielder

. Washington called up A. J. Cole from the Class-AAA

for a spot start on August 2 — a 7–0 shutout at the hands of the Marlins to give them the series win, with former Nationals spring training invitee Vance Worley earning the win for Miami — also activating right-handed reliever Brandon Kintzler after he was acquired in a July 31 trade with the

. Starter

and left-handed reliever

were optioned to Syracuse. Solis was recalled August 4, however, with left-handed reliever Enny Romero landing on the disabled list with a left forearm strain. Fedde also returned to the major league team on August 5, as starting pitcher

took leave from the team for the birth of his second child. The Nationals clinched a series win over the

with a 9–4 victory on August 6, as although Fedde left the game after innings in line for the loss, having given up three home runs and four earned runs in total in his second major league start, the team rallied to take the lead against Cubs reliever

Carl Edwards Jr. Carl Fleming Edwards Jr. (born September 3, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners ...

, who hit third baseman

on the shoulder with the bases loaded and ended up taking the loss as catcher

hit the next pitch out to straightaway center field for a go-ahead grand slam. Fedde was optioned back to Syracuse on August 7, as González was activated. The Nationals took three out of four from the division rival Marlins at

, capping the series win on August 10 with a diving catch down the left field line by rookie outfielder

to take away an RBI and extra bases from Miami second baseman

Dee Gordon Devaris "Dee" Strange-Gordon (born April 22, 1988) is an American professional baseball second baseman, shortstop, and center fielder who is currently a free agent. He has played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Mar ...

with two outs in the top of the ninth. The catch preserved a 3–2 ballgame as closer

locked down the save. Also in the series, on August 9, first baseman

turned in a two-homer effort as he overtook Tim Wallach as the RBI leader in

–Washington franchise history. Wallach, who played for the Montreal Expos, was in the visitors' dugout for the series as the Marlins' bench coach. After an August 11 rainout and a lengthy rain delay on August 12, in the first inning of a late-night home game against the

, Nationals right fielder

slipped on first base while running out a grounder, crashed to the ground, and had to be carried off the field. After the Nationals downed the Giants 3–1, with the game finishing early in the morning of August 13, manager

announced Harper had

hyperextended Motion, the process of movement, is described using specific anatomical terms. Motion includes movement of organs, joints, limbs, and specific sections of the body. The terminology used describes this motion according to its direction relati ...

his left knee. General manager Mike Rizzo said later in the day that tests showed Harper had "significant" bruising of the bones in his left knee but had avoided any ligament or tendon damage, meaning he was expected to be able to return later in the season. Harper was placed on the disabled list and outfielder

was reactivated from a rehab assignment with the Class-AA

Harrisburg Senators The Harrisburg Senators are a Minor League Baseball team of the Eastern League, and the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who play their home games at FNB Field on City Island, which opened in 1987 a ...

to take his place on the roster. The Nationals also recalled catcher Pedro Severino for the day as an extra man for a doubleheader with the Giants. The Nationals and Giants split the doubleheader, with Giants taking the day game behind seven shutout innings from rookie Chris Stratton and the Nationals losing yet another outfielder,

, to a groin injury in the eighth inning, before Washington won the night game on an eleventh-inning grand slam by Kendrick, the first of his career. The Nationals optioned Cole to Syracuse and recalled Severino to the 25-man roster on August 15, ahead of an interleague game at Nationals Park against the

. The Nationals defeated the Angels in the August 15 game, with Kendrick hitting his 100th and 101st career home runs to provide Washington with its margin of victory in the 3–1 game. In another set of roster moves on August 16, Goodwin was placed on the 10-day disabled list, injured shortstop

was transferred from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list, and veteran outfielder

Alejandro De Aza Alejandro Alberto De Aza Ceda (born April 11, 1984) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, C ...

had his contract selected from the Chiefs. The Nationals also disclosed that primary setup man

was dealing with a medical issue with one of the fingers on his throwing hand. Madson was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right finger sprain, retroactive to August 14, and veteran reliever

was activated from the disabled list August 17 after completing a rehab assignment with the Chiefs. Scherzer was a late scratch as the August 18 starter, and the Nationals announced he would also go on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to August 15, as his neck strain recurred. Reliever Matt Grace was called upon to make his first major league start in Scherzer's place, and he turned in scoreless innings as the Nationals defeated the

7–1, with middle reliever

getting credit for the win. The only run was given up by Kelley, who allowed a solo home run to Dusty Coleman in his return to action against his former team. Scherzer was replaced on the roster by starting pitcher

, activated August 19 after nearly a month on the disabled list. Strasburg turned in a quality start that day against the Padres, giving up just two earned runs in six innings, but took the 3–1 loss as an injury-depleted Nationals lineup could not solve San Diego's pitching. Baker attempted an unorthodox deployment of his late-inning relievers in an August 24 rubber game against the

in interleague play, sending out Doolittle for the eighth and Kintzler for the ninth. Both relievers struggled, with Doolittle allowing a run before Kintzler allowed two, blowing the save opportunity. The Nationals ultimately won the game and the series 5–4 in the eleventh inning, with Solis earning the save, the first of his career. Baker explained after the game that he had been attempting to play matchups, using Doolittle against left-handed batters in the eighth before Kintzler handled Houston's right-handed batters in the ninth; Kintzler, however, said the Nationals were trying to get him to 30 saves on the season, after he had collected 28 with the Twins prior to being traded at the end of July. Upon returning to Washington, D.C., on August 25, the Nationals optioned Severino to Syracuse and recalled Cole for a spot start against the division rival

, in which Cole took the loss despite allowing only one run over six innings and setting a new personal best for strikeouts with eight in what ended as a 4–2 Mets victory. In a harrowing moment in the eighth inning of the next game in the series on August 26, a 9–4 bounceback victory for Washington, Nationals second baseman

was felled by a foul tip into the chest after trying to bunt away a 97-mph fastball from Mets reliever

Jeurys Familia Jeurys Familia Mojica (; born October 10, 1989) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies and the Bost ...

that sailed in on him. Sánchez was able to finish out his at-bat, driving home a run with a single into left field for his third RBI of the day, before being pulled from the game and hospitalized overnight for observation and testing. Sánchez was released in the morning after a CT test determined he had escaped serious injury. Cole was optioned back to the minors on August 27, as outfielder Rafael Bautista was recalled and Fedde was brought up as the 26th man for a day-night doubleheader against the Mets. The Nationals split the doubleheader, losing the first game — displaying diminished velocity and giving up five runs on two home runs, Fedde took a no-decision as the Nationals rallied back from a five-run deficit only to lose 6–5, as pinch-runner Edwin Jackson was thrown out at home plate in the bottom of the ninth inning to end the game — and winning the second 5–4 behind a quality start from

and a go-ahead RBI by Stevenson, the first of his career, on a bases-loaded walk. On August 28, Scherzer and outfielder

were both activated from the disabled list, as Bautista and Stevenson were optioned back to Class-AAA Syracuse and infielder

was transferred to the 60-day disabled list as he remained sidelined with an abdominal strain. In his return to action, Scherzer threw seven innings of one-hit ball against the visiting Marlins to record the 11–2 win, with Werth contributing with a two-run home run as part of a 2-for-4 day. Sánchez was optioned to Syracuse and outfielder Ryan Raburn moved to the 60-day disabled list with a trapezius injury as the Nationals activated shortstop

, out since late June with a broken wrist, from the 60-day disabled list on August 29. Turner led off and doubled in his first game back, an 8–3 victory for the Nationals behind a quality start from Jackson and a strong offensive performance by the second baseman Daniel Murphy and the third baseman Rendon, who combined for seven RBIs in the August 29 contest. The Nationals completed their three-game sweep of Miami on August 30 as Strasburg threw his first complete game shutout since the 2013 season while also hitting a go-ahead home run off Marlins starter Adam Conley, his second of the year. The Nationals tacked on three more runs in the game to win 4–0. The Nationals headed out to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

for the start of a seven-game roadtrip beginning August 31 and stretching into September having posted their highest win total in a month for the season, despite injuries to key players like Harper, Scherzer, and Madson during August. After losing the last two games in their three-game set in Miami to start the month, they proceeded to win two of three from the Cubs on the road, win three of four from the Marlins and then two of three from the Giants at home, split the two-game interleague series with the visiting Angels, win three of four from the Padres and then two of three from the Astros on the road, split the four-game series with the visiting Mets, and then sweep the Marlins in three games at home. The

ended Washington's four-game winning streak, winning 6–3 in the August 31 series opener despite Turner falling a home run shy of

. All in all, the Nationals went 18–11 over the month of August and finished the month with an 81–52 record, good for second overall in the

behind the

and 15 games up over the second-place Marlins in the National League East.

September

Rosters expanded on September 1. In their first wave of call-ups, the Nationals recalled pitchers Austin L. Adams and

from the Class-AAA

, as well as catcher

Raudy Read Raudy Miguel Read Placencia (born October 29, 1993) is a Dominican professional baseball catcher for the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican League. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals. Career Washington Nation ...

from the Class-AA

. The team also activated relievers

and Enny Romero from the disabled list. Read made his major league debut on September 3, grounding out in a pinch-hit appearance in the eighth inning before coming in as the Nationals' substitute catcher. Adams collected his first career major league out after loading the bases in the eighth inning and inducing a groundball to shortstop

, who flicked it to Read for the forceout at home. Two runs scored, however, on a passed ball by Read and a sacrifice fly hit to

in left field. The Nationals lost the game 7−2 to complete a one-out-of-four showing at Miller Park against the Brewers, their first series loss in a month, although first baseman

hit his 30th home run of the season with two outs in the ninth inning to save the Nationals from being shut out for the second time in three games. The Nationals placed Fedde on the 10-day disabled list on September 4 and recalled starting pitcher A. J. Cole from Syracuse, along with catcher Pedro Severino. Fedde was listed with a flexor strain in his right throwing arm, an injury expected to rule him out for the remainder of the season. Cole got the start on September 4 against the division rival

and earned the win in the 7−2 contest, in which Read notched his first career hit by chopping an infield single deflected off the glove of pitcher Jarlin García. Inserted in the ninth inning as a defensive substitute in left field,

leaped to take a home run away from Marlins pinch-hitter Tyler Moore to end the game. Posting six shutout innings while leading the Nationals to a 2−1 victory over Miami on September 5, starter

set a new team record for consecutive innings without allowing a run, at 26.The Nationals record for consecutive scoreless innings was previously 25, set by

in April 2012. (Se
Frisaro, Joe, and Patrick Pinak, "Strasburg sets Nats record in win over Marlins," mlb.com, September 6, 2017
) Washington finished off the series with an 8−1 rout of the Marlins, their eighth victory against their second-place division rival in a row, in front of a crowd

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

estimated at fewer than 800 at first pitch on September 6, with

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...

bearing down on

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of ...

and an evacuation order in place. Rookie

Dillon Peters Dillon James Peters (born August 31, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Peters was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 10th round of the 2014 MLB draft and ma ...

, starting on the mound for the Marlins, received his first career decision with the loss. Zimmerman homered off Peters on a count of three balls and no strikes, the first time in his 12-year major league career he had notched a hit in that count.Zimmerman improved to 1-for-4 in his career on a 3−0 count with the solo home run. Prior to the hit, he had last put a ball in play on a 3−0 count in a regular-season game on August 25, 2013, grounding out to the second baseman. (Se
Ferreira, Vic, "That was Zimmerman's 1st career hit on a 3-0 pitch," twitter.com, September 6, 2017
an
"Washington Nationals at Kansas City Royals Box Score, August 25, 2013," baseball-reference.com
) On September 7, the Nationals selected the contract of top overall prospect

Víctor Robles Víctor Enrique Robles Brito (born May 19, 1997) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Robles signed with the Nationals as an international free agent in 2013. He made his ML ...

. They cleared space for the 20-year-old outfielder on the 40-man roster by moving Fedde to the 60-day disabled list. Outfielders Rafael Bautista and

were also recalled. Manager

disclosed that outfielder

had experienced a setback while rehabbing from a groin injury suffered the previous month, rendering his status doubtful for the rest of the season. Robles pinch-hit and flied out to deep right field in his major league debut as the Nationals took the first of four from the division rival

, coming back to win 4−3. The Nationals made one more call-up on September 8, recalling infielder

in what Baker said was the last of the team's scheduled call-ups with expanded September rosters. In that evening's game against the Phillies, the Nationals won behind big offensive games from their shortstop Turner and their center fielder

, who respectively were a triple and a double shy of

. Taylor hit the first major league inside-the-park grand slam in nearly two years,Ironically, Taylor had been the most recent fielder in

to allow a play scored as an inside-the-park grand slam, on Sept. 25, 2015, and it was hit by a

outfielder,

. (Se
Townsend, Mark, "Michael Taylor gets revenge on Phillies with inside-the-park grand slam," sports.yahoo.com, September 8, 2017
) and the first in team history,

Bombo Rivera Jesus "Bombo" Rivera Torres (born August 2, 1952) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. At the age of seven, his youth baseball manager started calling him "Bombo", meaning "fly ball," and the nickname stuck. Aside from baseball, Rivera a ...

had previously recorded the only inside-the-park grand slam in franchise history, for the

on June 26, 1976. For the Nationals, Taylor himself had previously cleared the bases and crossed the plate on a base hit in a September 8, 2015, game, exactly two years prior to his inside-the-park grand slam, but the play had been scored as a single and an error on

center fielder Yoenis Céspedes, who misplayed the ball. (Se
"Taylor's Inside-The-Park Slam Lifts Nats Over Phillies 11-10," ''U.S. News & World Report'', September 8, 2017
an
Carig, Marc, "Mets rally past Nationals after Matt Harvey is knocked out in sixth," ''Newsday'', September 8, 2015
. as the Nationals defeated the Phillies in the dramatic 11−10 game. The Nationals took three out of four from the Phillies in the series, with Baker deploying a rookie-heavy team for the series finale on September 10 and Strasburg extending his scoreless inning streak to 34 innings, the longest of any major league pitcher in the season, as he earned the win in the 3−2 contest. Robles collected his first major league hit and RBI, driving in Sánchez with a double but being called out at third after he slid past the bag in an attempt to stretch the hit into a triple. With the Marlins losing to the

the same day, the Nationals became the first team in the

2017 Major League Baseball season The 2017 Major League Baseball season began on April 2 with three games, including the 2016 World Series champions Chicago Cubs facing off against the St. Louis Cardinals, the regular season ended in late September. The postseason began on Octobe ...

to clinch a spot in the playoffs and a division title, winning the

crown for the fourth time since their 2012 season. The Nationals were shut out in their first game after clinching the division, blanked 8−0 by the Braves behind their ace Julio Teherán on September 12 to open a three-game series at

. Appearing in his third major league game out of the bullpen, Nationals rookie reliever Adams recorded the first strikeout and first scoreless inning of his career. On September 13, injured closer

announced he would not make a return in 2017 after reportedly suffering a setback in his rehabilitation from back and shoulder injuries. The Braves won the September 13 game, 8−2. The decisive blow in the game came when Baker kept Nationals ace

in to start the seventh inning, only for Scherzer to walk the bases loaded for just the second time in his career. Scherzer then gave up a two-run single to rookie shortstop

Dansby Swanson James Dansby Swanson (born February 11, 1994) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Atlanta Braves. The Arizona Diamondbacks selected him fir ...

to give the Braves the lead. After an intentional walk to first baseman

, Scherzer exited the game and reliever Brandon Kintzler proceeded to give up a grand slam to left fielder

on his first pitch of the game, saddling Scherzer with seven earned runs in a significant blow to his chances of repeating as the

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Ha ...

honoree. Baker and Scherzer both defended the move after the game, saying the pitcher had asked to go past 110 pitches in the game — he ended his outing at 116 pitches — in order to get "stretched out" for the postseason run. Baker said he had wanted to remove Scherzer sooner but decided to stick with the predetermined "game plan". The Nationals salvaged the three-game set with a 5−2 win on September 14 behind a quality start from

and a 2-for-4 game for the right fielder Robles, who set a new team record in the Statcast era for fastest time to third base on a triple, with 11.12 seconds,The record set by Robles eclipsed

's best of 11.14 seconds, which he set during the 2016 season. (Se
Tayler, Jon, "Can Trea Turner save the steal?," ''Sports Illustrated'', May 15, 2017
) while driving home first baseman

. The Nationals' next three-game series against the

followed the same pattern, with the Dodgers shutting out the Nationals 7−0 in the September 15 game behind a dominant turn by starting pitcher Alex Wood and then winning the September 16 game before the Nationals captured the last game of the set on September 17. In the latter game, Strasburg's streak of innings without allowing a run ended at 35 as a flyball by

Logan Forsythe John Logan Forsythe (born January 14, 1987) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and Miami ...

bounced off the heel of the center fielder Taylor's glove for what was ruled an RBI double in the second inning, but that was the only run the Nationals gave up as Strasburg earned the 7−1 win, buoyed by a two-homer performance by Zimmerman to equal the first baseman's career best in a season with 33 home runs. Embarking on their last road trip of the season, the Nationals won back-to-back games for the first time since clinching as they topped the Braves at

SunTrust Park Truist Park (originally SunTrust Park) is a baseball stadium in the Atlanta metropolitan area, approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta in the unincorporated community of Cumberland, in Cobb County, Georgia. Opened in ...

4−2 behind a strong seven-inning start from Scherzer, as the Nationals ace became just the fourth pitcher in major league history to post four consecutive seasons with 250 or more strikeouts. In the game, Turner swiped two bases to set a new Nationals record for stolen bases in a season with 42.The previous record was held by

, who stole 41 bases in 159 games played in the 2006 season, his only year with the Nationals. Turner, who lost almost two months of his 2017 season with a wrist injury, needed 88 games to tie and pass Soriano for the stolen base record. (Se
Janes, Chelsea, "Max Scherzer's seven strong innings lift Nationals over Braves, 4-2," ''The Washington Post'', September 19, 2017
) The Nationals ultimately took two of three from the Braves, dropping the last game of the series on September 21, although the veteran Zimmerman set a new personal best for a single season in home runs as he hit his 34th off Atlanta starter

. With Zimmerman out for the weekend with what Baker described as "general soreness", Lind hit his 199th and 200th career home runs over the first two games of a series visiting the

Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent ...

, on September 22 and September 23. The latter blast, off Mets pitcher Matt Harvey, set a new season high for the franchise in home runs with 204. The Nationals lost a five-run lead and dropped the September 22 game 7−6, with veteran reliever

leaving the game midway through an at-bat against Mets outfielder

Juan Lagares Juan Osvaldo Lagares (born March 17, 1989) is a Dominican professional baseball center fielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets and Los Angeles Angels, and in the KBO League for the SSG L ...

with an apparent arm injury, but came back from a three-run deficit to clip the Mets 4−3 in the tenth inning on September 23, with second baseman and former Met Daniel Murphy hitting a leadoff homer against reliever Jacob Rhame to put Washington on top and give reliever

his first decision of the year, a win. Behind a quality start by Scherzer, key hits from their catcher

José Lobatón José Manuel Lobatón (born October 21, 1984) is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB)for the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals, New York Mets and Ch ...

and shortstop Turner, and spectacular outfield defense from their right fielder Robles, the Nationals captured the rubber game of the series in

3−2 to clinch home field advantage in the

National League Division Series In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring ...

. Starting for the Nationals to begin a three-game series on the road against the Phillies on September 25, Cole notched his first career hit, a single up the middle off Phillies ace

Aaron Nola Aaron Michael Nola (born June 4, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Nola was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and played baseball alongside his older brother Austin. H ...

. Cole outdueled Nola to earn the win in the 3−1 contest. The next day, the Nationals activated star right fielder

from the disabled list after he missed more than a month with a hyperextended right knee and strained calf. The Nationals lost the September 26 and September 27 games to the Phillies before heading back to Washington, D.C., for a four-game homestand to end the regular season against the

. Closer

suffered his first blown save as a National since being acquired in trade from the

in July, giving up a single to

and then a home run to Josh Bell on his first two pitches of the ninth inning on September 28. However, the Nationals rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning after the Pirates had tied it, with Rendon leading off with a single that was consecutively followed by singles from Murphy and then De Aza, whose sharp line drive down the right field line brought home Rendon to complete a 5−4 walk-off victory. Strasburg made his final start of the regular season on September 29, leading the Nationals to a 6−1 win with shutout innings of no-hit ball to earn his 15th win of the year, joining Scherzer and

among Nationals pitchers with that many. Strasburg also passed the 200-strikeout mark, making him and Scherzer the only pair of pitchers in team history with at least 200 strikeouts in a season.The only other pair in the history of the Montreal−Washington franchise to record 200 or more strikeouts apiece in a season to that point was the duo of

and

Jeff Fassero Jeffrey Joseph Fassero (born January 5, 1963) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Professional career Montreal Expos Fassero was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 22nd round of the amateur draft, but he bounced around in the min ...

in the 1996 Montreal Expos season. (Se
"Stephen Strasburg reached 200 strikeouts on the season Friday night," espn.com, September 29, 2017
) Zimmerman turned in one of the best offensive performances of his career, notching four extra-base hits for the first time in a game as he doubled twice and homered twice. On September 30, the Nationals announced Kelley had been diagnosed with bone chips in his right elbow and placed him on the 60-day disabled list. Infielder

, out since late July, was activated from the 60-day disabled list. In the last game of the month on September 30, Scherzer had to leave his start after innings with what the team later announced was a hamstring cramp. Cole came on in long relief and fired hitless innings, preserving Scherzer's one-hitter, before Romero came on for the eighth inning and worked around a walk. Kintzler, inserted to vie for his 30th career save, could not hold the 1−0 lead in the top of the ninth inning and gave up four runs on four hits to take the loss. The Nationals wrapped up their final full month of the regular season with a 97–64 record, 20 games up on the second-place Marlins. After dropping three in a four-game series against the Brewers that began in August and continued into the first three days of September, they swept the Marlins in three games on the road, took three of four from the Phillies at home, suffered a rare series loss to the Braves at home as the visitors won two of three, dropped two of three to the visiting Dodgers, returned the favor in Atlanta by winning two of three there, again won two of three against the Mets in Queens, lost two of three to the Phillies in their last road series of the season, and finished the month having taken two of three from the Pirates in their last homestand of the season with one game left to play. They went 16–13 in September, their second-lowest winning percentage of the season for a full month.

October

The Nationals dropped their last game of the season to earn a series split with the

on October 1. Starter

took the loss, with

appearing in relief and allowing more damage before Pittsburgh eventually won the game 11−8. While manager

said González had been dealing with illness before the game, González told a MASN reporter, "I didn't want him to say that at all. That's not an excuse." Left fielder

, expected to reach free agency after the season, was removed on defense in the ninth inning and received a standing ovation from the fans at

. The game lasted 4 hours 22 minutes, the longest nine-inning game in both Nationals and Pirates history. The Nationals finished the regular season 20 games ahead of the second-place

with a record of 97–65. It was both the second-best record in Nationals history and the second-best in Montreal-Washington franchise history, exceeded in both cases only by the 98–64 record of the 2012 Nationals. On October 6, shortly before the start of the

, the Nationals announced assistant hitting coach

Jacque Jones Jacque Dewayne Jones (born April 25, 1975) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and Florida Marlins. He also coached for the Washington Nationals. Early life He graduated from San D ...

had been suspended without pay amid an internal investigation.

Notable transactions

*April 9, 2017: The Nationals designated right-handed pitcher

for assignment; he elected free agency. *April 21, 2017: The Nationals designated infielder

for assignment and outrighted him to the minor leagues. *May 13, 2017: The Nationals signed outfielder

to a one-year contract extension. *May 26, 2017: The Nationals acquired minor league outfielder Ryan Raburn from the

for minor league pitcher Mick VanVossen. *June 5, 2017: The Nationals designated right-handed pitcher

for assignment and outrighted him to the minor leagues. *June 14, 2017: The Nationals signed outfielder

to a minor league deal. *June 15, 2017: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcher Edwin Jackson to a minor league deal. *June 27, 2017: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcher Francisco Rodriguez to a minor league deal. *June 29, 2017: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcher Kevin Jepsen to a minor league deal. *July 1, 2017: The Nationals designated right-handed pitcher

for assignment and outrighted him to the minor leagues. *July 16, 2017: The Nationals acquired left-handed pitcher

and right-handed pitcher

from the

for right-handed pitcher

and minor league players

and

. *July 18, 2017: The Nationals designated right-handed pitcher

for assignment and outrighted him to the minor leagues. *July 28, 2017: The Nationals acquired infielder/outfielder

and cash considerations from the

for minor league player McKenzie Mills and international bonus money. *July 29, 2017: The Nationals released infielder

. *July 30, 2017: The Nationals released outfielder Chris Heisey. *July 31, 2017: The Nationals acquired right-handed pitcher Brandon Kintzler from the

for minor league player Tyler J. Watson and international bonus money; right-handed pitcher Jimmy Cordero was designated for assignment and outrighted to the minor leagues to clear space on the roster. *August 1, 2017: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcher

Esmil Rogers Esmil Antonio Rogers (born August 14, 1985) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Mariachis de Guadalajara of the Mexican League. He previously played in the KBO League for the Hanwha Eagles and Nexen Heroes, and in the Chinese P ...

to a minor league deal.

Major league debuts

* Austin L. Adams (July 15, 2017) * Rafael Bautista (April 30, 2017) *

(July 30, 2017) *

(September 3, 2017) *

(September 7, 2017) *

(June 30, 2017) *

(June 23, 2017)

Culture and entertainment

Mascots

During the 2016-2017 offseason, the Nationals announced that Racing Presidents Calvin Coolidge ("Cal"), Herbert Hoover ("Herbie"), and William Howard Taft ("Bill") had retired permanently to

, where they would compete against one another in races held during the fourth inning of Nationals spring training games at

. Taft had raced at Nationals Park from 2013 through 2016, while the other two retired presidents had raced there for one season each – Coolidge in 2015 and Hoover in 2016 – as part of a multiyear marketing partnership between the Nationals and the

White House Historical Association The White House Historical Association, founded in 1961 through efforts of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, is a private, non-profit organization that works to preserve the history of the White House and make that history more accessible to the pub ...

. As a result of Taft's retirement and the Nationals′ decision not to add

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

as a Racing President in 2017, the

Presidents Race The Presidents Race (known as the GEICO Presidents Race for sponsorship reasons) is a promotional event held at every Washington Nationals home game at Nationals Park, and previously at RFK Stadium, in the middle of the fourth inning of every gam ...

at Nationals Park reverted in 2017 to its original format of 2006 through 2012, with competition between only four presidents: George Washington ("George"), Thomas Jefferson ("Tom"), Abraham Lincoln ("Abe"), and Theodore Roosevelt ("Teddy").

New organ

Late in the regular season, while the Nationals were on their final road trip of the year between September 19 and 27, a new organ was installed at Nationals Park, fulfilling the Nationals organization's long-held goal of upgrading the stadium's organ. The

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicia ...

Sonus 60, priced at $20,000 on

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an Web sites, was manufactured in

Mondaino Mondaino ( rgn, Mundaìn) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and approximately southeast of Rimini. Mondaino borders the following municipalities ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and tuned in

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It was installed in a former radio booth on the second floor of the stadium's press box, replacing a less-capable portable

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

that had been located in a corner of the stadium's sound effects control room. The new location gave the organist a private room for the first time, as well as a better view of the field and crowd.

Attendance

The Nationals drew 2,524,980 fans at Nationals Park during 2017, their fourth-highest attendance since arriving in Washington in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

. It placed them seventh in attendance for the season among the 15 National League teams for the second consecutive year.2017 Washington Nationals
/ref> Their highest attendance at a home game occurred on April 3, when they drew an Opening Day crowd of 42,744 for a game against the

, while the low mark was 18,881 for a game against the

on May 25. Their average home attendance was 31,172 per game, fifth-highest since their arrival in Washington.

Game log

, - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 1 , , April 3 , , Marlins , , 4–2 , , Strasburg (1–0) , , Phelps (0–1) , , Treinen (1) , , 42,744 , , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 2 , , April 5 , , Marlins , , 6–4 , , Roark (1–0) , , Straily (0–1) , , Treinen (2) , , 22,715 , , 2–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 3 , , April 6 , , Marlins , , 3–4 (10) , , Phelps (1–1) , , Blanton (0–1) , ,

Ramos Ramos is a surname of Spanish and Portuguese origin that means "bouquets" or "branches". Notable people with the surname include: * Adrián Ramos (born 1986), Colombian footballer * Aldrech Ramos (born 1988), Filipino basketball player * Ale ...

(1) , , 19,418 , , 2–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 4 , , April 7 , , @

Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

, , 7–6 , , Scherzer (1–0) , , Velasquez (0–1) , , Treinen (3) , , 45,121 , , 3–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 5 , , April 8 , , @

, , 3–17 , ,

Nola Nola is a town and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy. It lies on the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is traditionally credited as the diocese that introduced bells to Christian wo ...

(1–0) , , Guthrie (0–1) , , — , , 37,241 , , 3–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 6 , , April 9 , , @

, , 3–4 , ,

Gómez Gómez (frequently anglicized as Gomez) is a common Spanish patronymic surname meaning "son of Gome". The Portuguese and Old Galician version is Gomes, while the Catalan form is Gomis. The given name ''Gome'' is derived from the Visigothic wor ...

(1–0) , , Glover (0–1) , , — , , 36,917 , , 3–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 7 , , April 10 , , Cardinals , , 14–6 , , Roark (2–0) , , Wainwright (0–2) , , — , , 27,413 , , 4–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 8 , , April 11 , , Cardinals , , 8–3 , , González (1–0) , , Lynn (0–1) , , — , , 30,663 , , 5–3 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 9 , , April 12 , , Cardinals , , 1–6 , , Leake (1–1) , , Scherzer (1–1) , , — , , 31,647 , , 5–4 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 10 , , April 14 , ,

, , 3–2 (10) , , Kelley (1–0) , ,

(1–1) , , — , , 38,664 , , 6–4 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 11 , , April 15 , ,

, , 2–4 , , Hellickson (2–0) , , Blanton (0–2) , , Benoit (1) , , 35,626 , , 6–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 12 , , April 16 , ,

, , 6–4 , , Kelley (2–0) , , Benoit (0–1) , , — , , 29,774 , , 7–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 13 , , April 18 , , @ Braves , , 3–1 , , Scherzer (2–1) , , Foltynewicz (0–2) , , Kelley (1) , , 21,834 , , 8–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 14 , , April 19 , , @ Braves , , 14–4 , , Ross (1–0) , , Teherán (1–1) , , — , , 22,101 , , 9–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 15 , , April 20 , , @ Braves , , 3–2 , , Strasburg (2–0) , , Dickey (1–2) , , Kelley (2) , , 27,498 , , 10–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 16 , , April 21 , , @ Mets , , 4–3 (11) , , Romero (1–0) , , Smoker (0–1) , , Kelley (3) , , 34,773 , , 11–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 17 , , April 22 , , @ Mets , , 3–1 , , González (2–0) , , DeGrom (0–1) , , Glover (1) , , 42,145 , , 12–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 18 , , April 23 , , @ Mets , , 6–3 , , Scherzer (3–1) , ,

Wheeler Wheeler may refer to: Places United States * Wheeler, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Wheeler, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Wheeler, California, an unincorporated community * Wheeler, Illinois, a village * Wheeler, Indiana, a ...

(1–2) , , Glover (2) , , 27,044 , , 13–5 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 19 , , April 24 , , @ Rockies , , 4–8 , , Estévez (2–0) , , Romero (1–1) , , — , , 23,019 , , 13–6 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 20 , , April 25 , , @ Rockies , , 15–12 , , Romero (2–1) , ,

Márquez Márquez or Marquez is a surname of Spanish origin, meaning "son of Marcos or Marcus". Its Portuguese equivalent is Marques. It should not be confused with the surname Marqués, also of Spanish origin. People *Adrian Garcia Marquez, American spo ...

(0–1) , , — , , 21,340 , , 14–6 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 21 , , April 26 , , @ Rockies , , 11–4 , , Roark (3–0) , , Chatwood (2–3) , , — , , 22,461 , , 15–6 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 22 , , April 27 , , @ Rockies , , 16–5 , , González (3–0) , , Senzatela (3–1) , , — , , 34,929 , , 16–6 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 23 , , April 28 , , Mets , , 5–7 , , DeGrom (1–1) , , Scherzer (3–2) , , Edgin (1) , , 34,562 , , 16–7 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 24 , , April 29 , , Mets , , 3–5 , , Robles (4–0) , , Strasburg (2–1) , , Familia (1) , , 36,501 , , 16–8 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 25 , , April 30 , , Mets , , 23–5 , , Albers (1–0) , , Syndergaard (1–2) , , – , , 36,806 , , 17–8 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 26 , , May 2 , , Diamondbacks , , 3–6 , ,

McFarland McFarland may refer to: People *McFarland (surname) Places in the United States *McFarland, California, a city *McFarland, Kansas, a city *McFarland, Missouri, a ghost town *McFarland, Wisconsin, a village Other uses * USS ''McFarland'' (DD-237) ...

(1–0) , , Roark (3–1) , , Rodney (7) , , 22,826 , , 17–9 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 27 , , May 3 , , Diamondbacks , , 2–1 , ,

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for turni ...

(1–0) , ,

Ray Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gr ...

(2–2) , , — , , 23,816 , , 18–9 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 28 , , May 4 , , Diamondbacks , , 4–2 , , Scherzer (4–2) , , Shipley (0–1) , , Romero (1) , , 29,496 , , 19–9 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 29 , , May 5 , , @

, , 4–2 , , Strasburg (3–1) , , Pivetta (0–2) , , Albers (1) , , 20,237 , , 20–9 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 30 , , May 6 , , @

, , 6–2 , , Cole (1–0) , , Velasquez (2–3) , , — , , 21,298 , , 21–9 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 31 , , May 7 , , @

, , 5–6 (10) , ,

Neris The river Neris () or Viliya ( be, Ві́лія, pl, Wilia ) rises in northern Belarus. It flows westward, passing through Vilnius (Lithuania's capital) and in the south-centre of that country it flows into the Nemunas (Neman), at Kaunas, a ...

(1–1) , , Treinen (0–1) , , — , , 30,464 , , 21–10 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 32 , , May 8 , , @

Orioles Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

, , 4–6 , , Gausman (2–3) , , González (3–1) , , Brach (8) , , 23,525 , , 21–11 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 33 , , May 9 , , @

, , 4–5 (12) , , Verrett (2–0) , ,

(1–1) , , — , , 26,348 , , 21–12 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 34 , , May 10 , ,

, , 7–6 , , Albers (2–0) , , Brach (0–1) , , – , , 32,984 , , 22–12 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbbbbb" , , , May 11 , ,

, , colspan=6, ''Postponed (rain); Rescheduled for June 8.'' , - align="center" bgcolor="bbbbbb" , , , May 12 , ,

, , colspan=6, ''Postponed (rain); Rescheduled for May 14 as part of a doubleheader.'' , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 35 , , May 13 , ,

, , 6–4 , , Kelley (3–0) , ,

(0–3) , , – , , 31,473 , , 23–12 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 36 , , May 14 (1) , ,

, , 3–4 , , Benoit (1–2) , , Kelley (3–1) , ,

(4) , , 31,738 , , 23–13 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 37 , , May 14 (2) , ,

, , 6–5 , ,

(2–1) , , Neshek (0–1) , , Albers (2) , , 30,137 , , 24–13 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 38 , , May 16 , , @

Pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, , 8–4 , , Strasburg (4–1) , ,

Kuhl KUHL (1440 AM) is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Santa Maria, California and serves the Santa Maria—Lompoc, California area. The station is owned by Knight Broadcasting Inc. and broadcasts a news/talk format. History The s ...

(1–4) , , — , , 16,992 , , 25–13 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 39 , , May 17 , , @

, , 1–6 , , Cole (2–4) , ,

(2–2) , , — , , 18,803 , , 25–14 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 40 , , May 18 , , @

, , 4–10 , , Glasnow (2–3) , , Roark (3–2) , , — , , 27,728 , , 25–15 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 41 , , May 19 , , @ Braves , , 4–7 , , Vizcaíno (2–1) , , Romero (2–2) , ,

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

(7) , , 35,369 , , 25–16 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 42 , , May 20 , , @ Braves , , 2–5 , ,

Krol Krol is a surname of several possible origins. It may be a Dutch surname. It originally was a nickname of someone with curly hair (''krul'' still means "curl" in Modern Dutch).Scherzer (4–3) , ,

(8) , , 37,347 , , 25–17 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 43 , , May 21 , , @ Braves , , 3–2 , , Strasburg (5–1) , , García (4–3) , , Glover (3) , , 32,895 , , 26–17 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 44 , , May 23 , , Mariners , , 10–1 , , Ross (2–0) , , Bergman (1–2) , , — , , 29,650 , , 27–17 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 45 , , May 24 , , Mariners , , 5–1 , , Roark (4–2) , , Gaviglio (0–1) , , — , , 29,223 , , 28–17 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 46 , , May 25 , , Mariners , , 2–4 , , Miranda (4–2) , ,

(2–3) , , Díaz (8) , , 18,881 , , 28–18 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 47 , , May 26 , ,

Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL pennan ...

, , 5–1 , , Scherzer (5–3) , , Perdomo (0–2) , , Glover (4) , , 28,606 , , 29–18 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 48 , , May 27 , ,

, , 3–0 , , Strasburg (6–1) , ,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

(3–6) , , Glover (5) , , 37,357 , , 30–18 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 49 , , May 28 , ,

, , 3–5 , ,

Yates Yates may refer to: Places United States * Fort Yates, North Dakota *Yates Spring, a spring in Georgia, United States *Yates City, Illinois * Yates Township, Illinois *Yates Center, Kansas * Yates, Michigan * Yates Township, Michigan *Yates, Misso ...

(1–0) , , Ross (2–1) , ,

Maurer Maurer is a German surname, translating in English to "bricklayer" or "wall builder." Notable people with the surname include: * Adrian Maurer (1901–1943), American football player *Alfred Maurer (politician) (1888–1954), Estonian politician ...

(6) , , 30,243 , , 30–19 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 50 , , May 29 , , @

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

, , 3–0 , , Roark (5–2) , ,

Moore Moore may refer to: People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior officer in the British Army * Moore Powell (died c. 1 ...

(2–6) , , Glover (6) , , 41,969 , , 31–19 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 51 , , May 30 , , @

, , 6–3 , , González (4–1) , , Samardzija (1–7) , , Glover (7) , , 41,266 , , 32–19 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 52 , , May 31 , , @

, , 3–1 , , Scherzer (6–3) , ,

Cain Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He ...

(3–4) , , — , , 41,371 , , 33–19 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 53 , , June 2 , , @

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

, , 13–3 , , Strasburg (7–1) , , Triggs (5–5) , , — , , 20,813 , , 34–19 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 54 , , June 3 , , @

, , 4–10 , , Hendricks (2–0) , , Ross (2–2) , , — , , 23,921 , , 34–20 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 55 , , June 4 , , @

, , 11–10 , , Roark (6–2) , , Madson (1–4) , , Kelley (4) , , 21,265 , , 35–20 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 56 , , June 5 , , @

Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Broo ...

, , 4–2 , , González (5–1) , ,

Ryu is a Japanese masculine given name and family name meaning "dragon", "noble", "prosperous", or "flow". Ryū, Ryu, or ryu may also refer to: Fiction * ''Ryū'' (manga), a 1986 series by Masao Yajima and Akira Oze * , a 1919 book by Ryūnosuke Aku ...

(2–6) , , Pérez (1) , , 46,289 , , 36–20 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 57 , , June 6 , , @

, , 2–1 , , Scherzer (7–3) , , McCarthy (5–3) , , Glover (8) , , 44,250 , , 37–20 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 58 , , June 7 , , @

, , 1–2 , , Kershaw (8–2) , , Strasburg (7–2) , , Jansen (10) , , 43,230 , , 37–21 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 59 , , June 8 , ,

, , 6–1 , , Ross (3–2) , ,

Asher Asher ( he, אָשֵׁר ''’Āšēr''), in the Book of Genesis, was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Zilpah (Jacob's eighth son) and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Asher. Name The text of the Torah states that the name of ''As ...

(2–4) , , — , , 37,833 , , 38–21 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 60 , , June 9 , , Rangers , , 2–5 , , Cashner (3–5) , , Roark (6–3) , , Bush (7) , , 38,332 , , 38–22 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 61 , , June 10 , , Rangers , , 3–6 (11) , , Kela (3–1) , , Kelley (3–2) , , — , , 32,157 , , 38–23 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 62 , , June 11 , , Rangers , , 1–5 , , Bibens-Dirkx (2–0) , , Scherzer (7–4) , , — , , 32,027 , , 38–24 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 63 , , June 12 , , Braves , , 10–11 , ,

Motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

(1–0) , , Albers (2–1) , ,

(13) , , 28,909 , , 38–25 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 64 , , June 13 , , Braves , , 10–5 , , Gott (1–0) , , Dickey (4–5) , , — , , 31,762 , , 39–25 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 65 , , June 14 , , Braves , , 2–13 , , Teherán (6–4) , , Roark (6–4) , , — , , 36,227 , , 39–26 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 66 , , June 15 , , @ Mets , , 8–3 , , González (6–1) , , Gsellman (5–4) , , — , , 30,319 , , 40–26 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 67 , , June 16 , , @ Mets , , 7–2 , , Scherzer (8–4) , ,

Matz Matz may refer to: First names * Matz Sandman (born 1948), Norwegian politician * Matz Robert Eriksson (born 1972), Swedish musician Surnames * Evelyn Matz (born 1955), German handballer * Howard Matz (born 1943), American judge * Jeff Matz (born ...

(1–1) , , — , , 37,119 , , 41–26 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 68 , , June 17 , , @ Mets , , 7–4 , , Strasburg (8–2) , ,

Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 98,025 in 2018, making it the fourth most populous city in Ga ...

(1–1) , , Romero (2) , , 38,059 , , 42–26 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 69 , , June 18 , , @ Mets , , 1–5 , , deGrom (6–3) , , Ross (3–3) , , — , , 40,459 , , 42–27 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 70 , , June 19 , , @ Marlins , , 7–8 , ,

(2–3) , , Romero (2–3) , , — , , 20,224 , , 42–28 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 71 , , June 20 , , @ Marlins , , 12–3 , , González (7–1) , , Vólquez (3–8) , , — , , 20,868 , , 43–28 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 72 , , June 21 , , @ Marlins , , 1–2 , , Barraclough (3–1) , , Scherzer (8–5) , ,

(10) , , 22,659 , , 43–29 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 73 , , June 23 , , Reds , , 6–5 (10) , , Albers (3–1) , , Iglesias (2–2) , , — , , 36,347 , , 44–29 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 74 , , June 24 , , Reds , , 18–3 , , Ross (4–3) , , Bailey (0–1) , , — , , 40,139 , , 45–29 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 75 , , June 25 , , Reds , , 2–6 , ,

Feldman Feldman is a German and Ashkenazi Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: Academics * Arthur Feldman (born 1949), American cardiologist * David B. Feldman, American psychologist * David Feldman (historian), American historian ...

(6–5) , , Roark (6–5) , , — , , 35,387 , , 45–30 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 76 , , June 26 , , Cubs , , 4–5 , ,

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry ...

(4–2) , , González (7–2) , , — , , 29,651 , , 45–31 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 77 , , June 27 , , Cubs , , 6–1 , , Scherzer (9–5) , ,

Arrieta Arrieta (both in Basque and Spanish) is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, Spain. Arrieta is part of the ''comarca'' of Mungialdea. It had a population of 552 inhabitants as of 2007, and a populati ...

(7–6) , , — , , 31,202 , , 46–31 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 78 , , June 28 , , Cubs , , 8–4 , , Strasburg (9–2) , ,

Lackey Lackey may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Lackey, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Lackey, Mississippi, United States, an unincorporated community * Lackey, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community * Lackey Ridge, ...

(5–9) , , — , , 31,072 , , 47–31 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 79 , , June 29 , , Cubs , , 4–5 , , Peña (1–0) , , Treinen (0–2) , ,

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...

(16) , , 37,097 , , 47–32 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 80 , , June 30 , , @ Cardinals , , 1–8 , , Leake (6–6) , , Roark (6–6) , , — , , 41,398 , , 47–33 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 81 , , July 1 , , @ Cardinals , , 1–2 , , Wacha (5–3) , , González (7–3) , , Bowman (1) , , 43,614 , , 47–34 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 82 , , July 2 , , @ Cardinals , , 7–2 , , Scherzer (10–5) , , Martínez (6–7) , , — , , 43,640 , , 48–34 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 83 , , July 3 , , Mets , , 3–2 , , Albers (4–1) , , Sewald (0–3) , , — , , 41,681 , , 49–34 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 84 , , July 4 , , Mets , , 11–4 , , Ross (5–3) , ,

(3–2) , , — , , 37,120 , , 50–34 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbbbbb" , — , , July 5 , , Mets , , colspan=6, ''Postponed (inclement weather); Rescheduled for August 27 as part of a doubleheader.'' , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 85 , , July 6 , , Braves , , 2–5 , , Foltynewicz (7–5) , , González (7–4) , ,

(19) , , 22,724 , , 50–35 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 86 , , July 7 , , Braves , , 5–4 (10) , , Albers (5–1) , ,

Teheran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

(7–6) , , Strasburg (9–3) , , — , , 38,439 , , 51–36 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 88 , , July 9 , , Braves , , 10–5 , ,

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninc ...

(1–0) , , Newcomb (1–4) , , — , , 35,030 , , 52–36 , - style="text-align:center; background:#bbb;" , colspan=9, '' All–Star Break (July 10–13)'' , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 89 , , July 14 , , @ Reds , , 5–0 , , González (8–4) , , Adleman (5–7) , ,

(1) , , 28,916 , , 53–36 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 90 , , July 15 , , @ Reds , , 10–7 , , Scherzer (11–5) , , Castillo (1–2) , ,

(2) , , 36,462 , , 54–36 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 91 , , July 16 , , @ Reds , , 14–4 , , Roark (7–6) , , Bailey (2–3) , , — , , 25,712 , , 55–36 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 92 , , July 17 , , @ Reds , , 6–1 , , Strasburg (10–3) , ,

(7–7) , , — , , 17,574 , , 56–36 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 93 , , July 18 , , @

Angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...

, , 4–3 , ,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

(1–0) , , Bedrosian (2–2) , , Doolittle (4) , , 43,345 , , 57–36 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 94 , , July 19 , , @

, , 0–7 , , Meyer (4–5) , , Gonzalez (8–5) , , — , , 41,065 , , 57–37 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 95 , , July 21 , , @ Diamondbacks , , 5–6 , , Rodney (4–3) , , Romero (2–4) , , — , , 37,858 , , 57–38 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 96 , , July 22 , , @ Diamondbacks , , 4–3 , , Roark (8–6) , ,

Banda Banda may refer to: People * Banda (surname) * Banda Prakash (born 1954), Indian politician * Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao (1907–1968), Indian actor * Banda Karthika Reddy (born 1977), Indian politician *Banda Singh Bahadur (1670–1716), Sikh ...

(0–1) , , Doolittle (5) , , 39,176 , , 58–38 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 97 , , July 23 , , @ Diamondbacks , , 6–2 , , Blanton (1–2) , ,

(9–5) , , — , , 32,720 , , 59–38 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 98 , , July 25 , , Brewers , , 0–8 , , Davies (12–4) , ,

(1–1) , , — , , 28,428 , , 59–39 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 99 , , July 26 , , Brewers , , 8–5 , , Madson (3–4) , , Barnes (3–2) , , — , , 35,296 , , 60–39 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 100 , , July 27 , , Brewers , , 15–2 , , Scherzer (12–5) , , Blazek (0–1) , , — , , 32,118, , 61–39 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbbbbb" , — , , July 28 , , Rockies , , colspan=6, ''Postponed (inclement weather); Rescheduled for July 30 as part of a doubleheader.'' , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 101 , , July 29 , , Rockies , , 2–4 , ,

(9–4) , , Roark (8–7) , ,

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

(32) , , 33,989 , , 61–40 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 102 , , July 30 (1) , , Rockies , , 6–10 , , Freeland (11–7) , , Fedde (0–1) , ,

(33) , , 33,248 , , 61–41 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 103 , , July 30 (2), , Rockies , , 3–1 , ,

(2–1) , ,

Gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be compose ...

(3–2) , , Doolittle (6) , , 31,118 , , 62–41 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 104 , , July 31 , , @ Marlins , , 1–0 , , González (9–5) , , Ureña (9–5) , , Doolittle (7) , , 18,962 , , 63–41 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 105 , , August 1 , , @ Marlins , , 6–7 , , McGowan (7–1) , , Albers (5–2) , , Ziegler (1) , , 17,742 , , 63–42 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 106 , , August 2 , , @ Marlins , , 0–7 , ,

Worley Worley may refer to: Places * Worley, Idaho, United States * Worley, Kentucky, United States * Worley, West Virginia, United States * Worley Point, Antarctica People * Worley (surname), people with the surname ''Worley'' * Worley baronets * Worley ...

(1–2) , , Cole (1–1) , , — , , 17,890 , , 63–43 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 107 , , August 4 , , @ Cubs , , 4–2 , , Roark (9–7) , , Hendricks (4–4) , , Doolittle (8) , , 41,396 , , 64–43 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 108 , , August 5 , , @ Cubs , , 4–7 , ,

(9–9) , ,

(2–2) , ,

(23) , , 41,857 , , 64–44 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 109 , , August 6 , , @ Cubs , , 9–4 , , Kintzler (3–2) , , Edwards Jr. (3–3) , , — , , 41,047 , , 65–44 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 110 , , August 7 , , Marlins , , 3–2 , , Kintzler (4–2) , , García (0–2) , , Doolittle (9) , , 21,799 , , 66–44 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 111 , , August 8 , , Marlins , , 3–7 , ,

(2–2) , , Cole (1–2) , , — , , 25,406 , , 66–45 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 112 , , August 9 , , Marlins , , 10–1 , , González (10–5) , , Conley (4–5) , , — , , 25,951 , , 67–45 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 113 , , August 10 , , Marlins , , 3–2 , , Madson (4–4) , , Tazawa (1–2) , , Doolittle (10) , , 23,904 , , 68–45 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbbbbb" , — , , August 11 , ,

, , colspan=6, ''Postponed (rain); Rescheduled for August 13 as part of a doubleheader.'' , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 114 , , August 12 , ,

, , 3–1 , ,

(3–2) , , Samardzija (7–12) , , Doolittle (11) , , 32,344 , , 69–45 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 115 , , August 13 (1) , ,

, , 2–4 , , Stratton (1–2) , , Cole (1–3) , , Dyson (9) , , 30,866 , , 69–46 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 116 , , August 13 (2), ,

, , 6–2 (11) , , Albers (6–2) , ,

Suárez Suárez is a common Spanish surname, widely spread throughout Latin America as a consequence of colonization. In origin it is a patronymic meaning "son of Suero" or "son of Soeiro". It is derived from the Latin name Suerius, meaning "Sugarman". ...

(0–2) , , — , , 29,085 , , 70–46 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 117 , , August 15 , ,

, , 3–1 , , González (11–5) , , Skaggs (1–3) , , Doolittle (12) , , 32,355 , , 71–46 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 118 , , August 16 , ,

, , 2–3 , , Nolasco (6–12) , , Roark (9–8) , , Bedrosian (6) , , 30,307 , , 71–47 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 119 , , August 17 , , @

, , 2–1 , ,

(4–2) , ,

(2–4) , , Doolittle (13) , , 22,097 , , 72–47 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 120 , , August 18 , , @

, , 7–1 , , Blanton (2–2) , , Perdomo (6–8) , , — , , 26,747 , , 73–47 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 121 , , August 19 , , @

, , 1–3 , ,

Wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

(3–4) , , Strasburg (10–4) , ,

Hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...

(11) , , 31,590 , , 73–48 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 122 , , August 20 , , @

, , 4–1 , , González (12–5) , , Lamet (7–5) , , Doolittle (14) , , 29,292 , , 74–48 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 123 , , August 22 , , @

Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 afte ...

, , 4–3 , , Roark (10–8) , , Morton (10–6) , , Doolittle (15) , , 23,798 , , 75–48 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 124 , , August 23 , , @

, , 1–6 , , Fiers (8–8) , ,

(4–3) , , — , , 23,434 , , 75–49 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 125 , , August 24 , , @

, , 5–4 (11) , , Albers (7–2) , , Clippard (2–7) , , Solis (1) , , 24,761 , , 76–49 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 126 , , August 25 , , Mets , , 2–4 , , deGrom (14–7) , , Cole (1–4) , ,

(24) , , 34,036 , , 76–50 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 127 , , August 26 , , Mets , , 9–4 , , González (13–5) , , Gsellman (5–6) , , — , , 36,761 , , 77–50 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 128 , , August 27 (1) , , Mets , , 5–6 , , Blevins (6–0) , , Blanton (2–3) , ,

(25) , , 31,904 , , 77–51 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 129 , , August 27 (2) , , Mets , , 5–4 , , Roark (11–8) , , Robles (7–5) , , Doolittle (16) , , 20,624 , , 78–51 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 130 , , August 28 , , Marlins , , 11–2 , , Scherzer (13–5) , , Ureña (12–6) , , — , , 20,838 , , 79–51 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 131 , , August 29 , , Marlins , , 8–3 , ,

(5–3) , ,

(2–4) , , — , , 25,924 , , 80–51 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 132 , , August 30 , , Marlins , , 4–0 , , Strasburg (11–4) , , Conley (6–6) , , — , , 25,019 , , 81–51 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 133 , , August 31 , , @ Brewers , , 3–6 , , Davies (16–7) , , González (13–6) , , Knebel (31) , , 26,384 , , 81–52 , - , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 134 , , September 1 , , @ Brewers , , 0–1 , , Nelson (11–6) , , Roark (11–9) , , Knebel (32) , , 40,044 , , 81–53 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 135 , , September 2 , , @ Brewers , , 3–2 , , Madson (5–4) , , Hader (1–2) , , Doolittle (17) , , 35,341 , , 82–53 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 136 , , September 3 , , @ Brewers , , 2–7 , , Jeffress (3–2), ,

(5–4) , , — , , 36,937 , , 82–54 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 137 , , September 4 , , @ Marlins , , 7–2 , , Cole (2–4) , , Conley (6–7) , , — , , 17,349 , , 83–54 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 138 , , September 5 , , @ Marlins , , 2–1 , , Strasburg (12–4) , , Despaigne (0–3) , , Doolittle (18) , , 15,364 , , 84–54 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 139 , , September 6 , , @ Marlins , , 8–1 , , González (14–6) , , Peters (0–1) , , — , , 14,390 , , 85–54 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 140 , , September 7 , ,

, , 4–3 , , Roark (12–9) , ,

Morgan Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer ...

(3–2) , , Doolittle (19) , , 26,267 , , 86–54 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 141 , , September 8 , ,

, , 11–10 , , Scherzer (14–5) , ,

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia *Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province Canada ...

(1–2) , , Doolittle (20) , , 29,837 , , 87–54 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 142 , , September 9 , ,

, , 4–5 , ,

Leiter Leiter is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * A family of American baseball pitchers: ** Al Leiter (born 1965), left-hander ** Jack Leiter (born 2000), son of Al, right-hander ** Mark Leiter (born 1963), brother of Al, right-h ...

(3–5) , ,

(5–5) , ,

(20) , , 35,694 , , 87–55 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 143 , , September 10 , ,

, , 3–2 , , Strasburg (13–4) , , Lively (3–6) , , Madson (2) , , 32,627 , , 88–55 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 144 , , September 12 , , Braves , , 0–8 , , Teherán (11–11) , , González (14–7) , , — , , 22,769 , , 88–56 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 145 , , September 13 , , Braves , , 2–8 , , Gohara (1–1) , , Scherzer (14–6) , , — , , 24,850 , , 88–57 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 146 , , September 14 , , Braves , , 5–2 , , Roark (13–9) , , Foltynewicz (10–13) , , Doolittle (21) , , 25,192 , , 89–57 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 147 , , September 15 , ,

, , 0–7 , ,

(15–3) , ,

(5–6) , , — , , 37,508 , , 89–58 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 148 , , September 16 , ,

, , 2–3 , ,

Hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...

(10–8) , , Cole (2–5) , , Jansen (38) , , 39,387 , , 89–59 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 149 , , September 17 , ,

, , 7–1 , , Strasburg (14–4) , , Stripling (3–5) , , — , , 29,155 , , 90–59 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 150 , , September 19 , , @ Braves , , 4–2 , , Scherzer (15–6) , , Gohara (1–2) , , Doolittle (22) , , 26,709 , , 91–59 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 151 , , September 20 , , @ Braves , , 7–3 , , González (15–7) , , Ramírez (2–3) , , — , , 25,054 , , 92–59 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 152 , , September 21 , , @ Braves , , 2–3 , , Dickey (10–10) , , Roark (13–10) , , Vizcaíno (12) , , 32,702 , , 92–60 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 153 , , September 22 , , @ Mets , , 6–7 , ,

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

(2–0) , , Blanton (2–4) , , Familia (4) , , 28,095 , , 92–61 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 154 , , September 23 , , @ Mets , , 4–3 (10) , , Solis (1–0) , , Rhame (0–1) , , Doolittle (23) , , 34,455 , , 93–61 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 155 , , September 24 , , @ Mets , , 3–2 , , Scherzer (16–6) , , deGrom (15–10) , , Kintzler (29) , , 29,057 , , 94–61 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 156 , , September 25 , , @

, , 3–1 , , Cole (3–5) , ,

(12–11) , , Doolittle (24) , , 17,026 , , 95–61 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 157 , , September 26 , , @

, , 1–4 , ,

(3–2) , , González (15–8) , ,

(25) , , 16,437 , , 95–62 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 158 , , September 27 , , @

, , 5–7 , ,

Ríos Rios, Ríos or Riós are Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician surnames. The name has numerous origins. In Germany, Italy, France, UK, and the Americas the Ríos surname can also be found in the surname history books . The name was derived from the Sp ...

(1–0) , , Roark (13–11) , ,

(26) , , 17,642 , , 95–63 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 159 , , September 28 , ,

, , 5–4 , , Doolittle (2–0) , , Hudson (2–7) , , – , , 26,380 , , 96–63 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 160 , , September 29 , ,

, , 6–1 , , Strasburg (15–4) , , Cole (12–12) , , – , , 36,339 , , 97–63 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 161 , , September 30 , ,

, , 1–4 , , Kontos (1–6) , , Kintzler (4–3) , , Rivero (21) , , 32,240 , , 97–64 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 162 , , October 1 , ,

, , 8–11 , ,

Sánchez Sánchez is a Spanish family name. Historical origins "The illustrious Sanchez Family... is descended from one of a number of Gothic knights (caballeros) who in the year 714 escaped from the "barbara furia" of the Mohammedan invasion and took ...

(1–0) , , González (15–9) , , Kontos (1) , , 35,652 , , 97–65 , -

Postseason

Game log

, - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 1 , , October 6 , , Cubs , , 0–3 , , Hendricks (1–0) , , Strasburg (0–1) , ,

(1) , , 43,898 , , 0–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 2 , , October 7 , , Cubs , , 6–3 , , Pérez (1–0) , , Edwards Jr. (0–1) , , Doolittle (1) , , 43,860 , , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 3 , , October 9 , , @ Cubs , , 1–2 , , Edwards Jr. (1–1) , , Kintzler (0–1) , ,

(2) , , 42,445 , , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="bbbbbb" , – , , October 10 , , @ Cubs , , colspan=6, ''Postponed (rain); Rescheduled for October 11.'' , - align="center" bgcolor="bbffbb" , 4 , , October 11 , , @ Cubs , , 5–0 , , Strasburg (1–1) , ,

(0–1) , , — , , 42,264, , 2–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="ffbbbb" , 5 , , October 12 , , Cubs , , 8–9 , , Duensing (1–0) , , Scherzer (0–1) , ,

(3) , , 43,849 , , 2–3 , -

Division Series

With the National League's second seed in the 2017 postseason, the Nationals faced the third seed, the National League Central-champion

, who, as the winners of the

2016 World Series The 2016 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2016 season. The 112th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs and the American Leag ...

, were mounting their first defense of a World Series title since 1908. On October 4, 2017, the Cubs announced that

Kyle Hendricks Kyle Christian Hendricks (born December 7, 1989), nicknamed "The Professor", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2014, and led MLB in earned run average for ...

would start Game 1 of the Division Series while

Jon Lester Jonathan Tyler Lester (born January 7, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals. L ...

would start Game 2, José Quintana Game 3, and Jake Arrieta Game 4. On October 5, Dusty Baker announced that

would start Game 1 for the Nationals, but did not specify starters for any other NLDS games. The Nationals later announced that

would start Game 2 and

would start Game 3, giving Scherzer additional time to recover from a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupe ...

tweak he had suffered in his last start of the regular season on September 30. On October 8, Dusty Baker announced that

would start Game 4. On October 6,

Mayor of the District of Columbia The mayor of the District of Columbia is the head of the executive branch of the government of the District of Columbia, in the United States. The mayor has the duty to enforce district laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed ...

Muriel Bowser Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician serving since 2015 as the eighth mayor of the District of Columbia. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Counci ...

and

Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and ...

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...

announced a friendly wager on the outcome of the series, with Bowser staking half-smokes from

Ben's Chili Bowl Ben's Chili Bowl is a landmark restaurant in Washington, D.C., located at 1213 U Street, next to Lincoln Theatre, in the U Street Corridor (a.k.a. Cardozo/Shaw neighborhood) of Northwest D.C. It is known locally for its chili dogs, half-smo ...

and D.C. Brau beer against Emanuel's bet of sausage from Publican Quality Meats, prime bone-in ribeye steaks from

Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse is an American steakhouse chain specializing in steak and Italian-American cuisine. The restaurant was established in 1987 in Chicago's River North neighborhood, in the former Chicago Varnish Company Building, ...

, and two growlers of Vice District Brewing Company's Habitual beer. They also agreed that the losing mayor would make a monetary contribution to relief efforts in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

in the aftermath of

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...

. Just before Game 1 of the NLDS began on October 6, the Nationals announced the indefinite suspension with pay of assistant hitting coach

pending a team investigation of an unspecified legal matter, the first off-field problem Washington had faced all season. Minor-league hitting coordinator Troy Gingrich assumed assistant hitting coach duties in Jones's absence.

Game 1, October 6

7:31 p.m. ( EDT) at

in Washington, D.C. In pregame ceremonies at Nationals Park, U.S. Congressman

Steve Scalise Stephen Joseph Scalise (; born October 6, 1965) is an American politician who is the United States House of Representatives Minority Whip and representative for . Scalise is in his eighth House term, having held his seat since 2008. The district ...

(R-La.), representing

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

′s 1st Congressional District, threw out the

ceremonial first pitch The ceremonial first pitch is a longstanding ritual of baseball in which a guest of honor throws a ball to mark the end of pregame festivities and the start of the game. Originally, the guest threw a ball from their seat in the grandstand to ...

on his 52nd birthday, with

United States Capitol Police The United States Capitol Police (USCP) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States with nationwide jurisdiction charged with protecting the United States Congress within the District of Columbia and throughout the United States an ...

special agent Kevin Bailey catching. Both men had been shot on June 14, 2017, when a gunman opened fire on

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

U.S. senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

and congressmen practicing at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

, for the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity. Game 1 was a pitcher's duel between the Nationals′ hard-throwing

, whose

reached 98 miles per hour (158 km/hr), and Chicago's soft-tossing

, known for a fastball that topped out at 88 miles per hour (142 km/hr) at best. Strasburg had a very strong outing, pitching a no-hitter through the first five innings, allowing only a single Cub to reach base when shortstop

Addison Russell Addison Wayne Russell (born January 23, 1994) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). Russell was drafted 11th overall by the Oakland Athletics in the 2012 Major League Base ...

walked in the top of the second. In the top of the sixth inning, however, Nationals third baseman

dropped Chicago second baseman

Javier Báez Ednel Javier Báez (born December 1, 1992), nicknamed "El Mago" (Spanish for "The Magician"), is a Puerto Rican professional baseball shortstop for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cu ...

′s routine chopper up the third-base line, Rendon's first error since July 22, allowing Báez to lead off the inning by reaching first base. Hendricks then advanced Báez to second on a

sacrifice bunt In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, and ...

, Báez becoming the first Cub to reach second base during the game. Right fielder

Ben Zobrist Benjamin Thomas Zobrist (; born May 26, 1981), is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, and Chi ...

followed by flying out to center field, pushing Strasburg's no-hitter to innings, but in the next at-bat, third baseman Kris Bryant finally broke up the no-hit bid, singling to right, scoring Báez and advancing to second when right fielder

overthrew the cut-off man. First baseman

Anthony Rizzo Anthony Vincent Rizzo (born August 8, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. He is a three-time ...

followed immediately with a single that scored Bryant. Catcher

Willson Contreras Willson Eduardo Contreras (born May 13, 1992) is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs. Contreras made his MLB debut in 2016 ...

grounded out to end the sixth inning, and Strasburg returned to pitch a perfect seventh inning, leaving the game after giving up only two hits, no earned runs, and one walk while striking out 10 Cubs, but with the Nationals behind 2–0.Janes, Chelsea, "Nationals’ bats go dormant in NLDS opener, a 3-0 loss to the Cubs," washingtonpost.com, October 6, 2017, 11:10 p.m. EDT.
/ref>espn.com Box Score Cubs vs. Nationals October 6, 2017.
/ref>Play-by-Play Cubs vs. Nationals October 6, 2017.
/ref>Fendrich, Howard, "Hendricks outduels Strasburg as Cubs top Nats 3-0 in Game 1," Associated Press, October 7, 2017, 12:26 a.m. EDT.
/ref>
/ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/the-cubs-advantage-in-game-1-came-when-they-had-none/2017/10/06/37ec1c8a-aac4-11e7-b3aa-c0e2e1d41e38_story.html Svruga, Barry, "Cubs turn the most slender of opportunities into advantage," washingtonpost.com, October 6, 2017.] Strasburg's 10 strikeouts were a postseason single-game record for the Montreal-Washington franchise. Meanwhile, Kendricks dominated the Nationals, taking advantage of a particularly effective

changeup A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed ...

, and Washington hitters proved unable to adjust to his mid-80s fastball. He gave up a single to Harper in the first and a single to center fielder

in the second and, like Strasburg, left the game after the seventh inning, having shut out Washington on two hits (only one of which left the infield), three walks, a hit batsman, and six strikeouts. Other than Harper's single, he silenced the heart of the Nationals′ lineup; Anthony Rendon, first baseman

, second baseman Daniel Murphy, shortstop

, and left fielder

went a combined 0-for-17 against him. In the eighth inning, the bullpens took over. In the top of the eighth. Nationals reliever

gave up doubles to pinch-hitter

Jon Jay Jonathan Henry Jay (born March 15, 1985) is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder who is the first base coach for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Dieg ...

and Anthony Rizzo, allowing the Cubs to push their lead to 3–0. No one else reached base for either team,

pitching a perfect eighth for the Cubs, Brandon Kintzler a perfect ninth for the Nationals, and Wade Davis closing with a perfect ninth for the Cubs. With Washington managing only two hits – and none after the second inning – Chicago took a 1–0 lead in the series.

Game 2, October 7

5:38 p.m. ( EDT) at

in Washington, D.C. With

still completing his recovery from a

tweak,

started Game 2 for Washington, facing Chicago ace

. Despite the impotence of the Nationals′ lineup against Cubs pitching the previous evening, Dusty Baker opted to put the same lineup up against Lester in the belief that it was capable of an offensive explosion at any time.Castillo, Jorge, "Ryan Zimmerman's three-run HR lifts Nationals to 6-3 win in Game 2," washingtonpost.com, October 7, 2017, 9:09 p.m. EDT.
/ref>Fendrich, Howard, "Harper, Zimmerman HRs lift Nats past Cubs 6-3 to even NLDS," espn.com, October 8, 2017, 10:48 a.m.
/ref> González got off to strong start, quickly retiring the Cubs in order in the top of the first with two strikeouts. With two outs in the bottom of the first, third baseman

hit a solo home run into the Nationals′ bullpen in right field to give the Nats their first run and first lead of the series, but Cubs catcher

responded with a towering leadoff homer to left in the top of the second to tie the game at 1–1. González then kept the Cubs off the bases until the top of the fourth inning, when third baseman Kris Bryant led off with a double and first baseman

followed immediately with a two-run homer to right to give Chicago a 3–1 lead, becoming the Cubs' career leader in postseason homers (with six) and in postseason RBIs (with 16). González left the game after five innings, having given up three earned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out six Cubs.espn.com Play-by-lay Cubs vs. Nationals October 7, 2017
/ref>espn.com Box Score Cubs vs. Nationals October 7, 2017
/ref>Allen, Scott, "Nationals-Cubs NLDS Game 2 best and worst moments: Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman are heroes in 6-3 win," washingtonpost.com, October 7, 2017, 9:15 p.m. EDT.
/ref> After Rendon's first-inning homer, Lester retired the next ten Nationals batters. By the end of the fourth inning, the Nationals' No. 2 through No. 5 hitters — right fielder

, Rendon, second baseman Daniel Murphy, and first baseman

— had combined for a 2-for-21 (.095) hitting performance in the series and Washington as a team had gone only 3-for-42 (.071). The Nats did not show another spark of offensive life until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Zimmerman led off with a single – only the second Washington hit of the game – stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Lester issued back-to-back walks to center fielder

and pinch hitter

, batting for González, to load the bases with two outs, but the scoring threat evaporated when slumping shortstop

, hitless in the series, struck out to end the inning. In relief of González,

, and

kept the Cubs from adding to their lead in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, giving up only a single and a walk and striking out a Cub, but against Lester, who pitched through the sixth inning and whose two-hit performance was the best postseason outing of his career, and Pedro Strop, who pitched the seventh for Chicago, the Nats managed only one base runner, when Strop hit catcher

with a pitch, the second time Wieters had been hit by a pitch in the series. Wieters did not advance beyond first. By the time the Nationals came to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning, they had accumulated only one run and four hits in the first 16 innings of the series, hitting 4-for-52 (.077). Losing 3–1 and with opportunities running out, they faced the prospect of traveling to Chicago for Game 3 down 2–0 in the best-of-five series with a badly slumping offense and needing to win three straight games, two of them on the road, to avoid elimination in the first round of the postseason for the fourth time in six years. After the game, Baker told the press that as the bottom of the eighth began, he was "kind of bewildered" by his team's offensive silence, adding "I just knew in the bottom of my heart that we were going to explode for some numbers, which we've done all year."

came in to pitch for the Cubs in the bottom of the eighth, which began with pinch-hitter

, a veteran who had played 1,344 regular-season games over 12 seasons, singling in the first postseason appearance of his career. Twenty-year-old

, who had just reached the major leagues for the first time on September 7, made his own career postseason debut when he came in to pinch-run for Lind. After Trea Turner struck out, Bryce Harper, 0-for-3 in the game with two groundouts and a strikeout and seemingly overmatched by Cubs pitching, came to the plate; he had just returned in late September from 42 days on the disabled list and since then had gone 4-for-25 (.160) in the regular season and postseason combined with no extra-base hits, but on a 3–1 pitch from Edwards he homered to right – the fifth home run of his 16-game postseason career – to tie the game at 3–3. Edwards then walked Rendon. Mike Montgomery (baseball), Mike Montgomery relieved Edwards, but surrendered a single to Daniel Murphy which advanced Rendon to second. Zimmerman then came up to bat; he had hit only .167 against the Cubs during the regular season and his 1-for-6 performance in the division series had dropped his average against the Cubs in 2017 as a whole to .144, but he hit a three-run homer to left, giving the Nationals a 6–3 lead. After Montgomery retired the side, Nationals closer

made his first appearance of the series, and gave up only a single in the top of the ninth on his way to earning the first postseason save of his career. The Nationals evened the series at 1–1.

Game 3, October 9

4:08 p.m. ( EDT) at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois On Columbus Day, in the first postseason game at Wrigley Field since the

– returning from nursing a

tweak he suffered in his final regular-season appearance – started for Washington, while José Quintana took the ball for Chicago in the first postseason start of his career. Both starters pitched masterful games. Quintana shut out the Nats through innings, allowing only two hits, singles to left fielder

in the second inning and to center fielder

in the third, an inning in which Taylor reached third on throwing errors by Quintana and third baseman

but did not score. Quintana benefited from better Cubs defense in the top of the fourth inning, when Werth walked and Nationals catcher

followed with a deep fly ball that center fielder

grabbed with a spectacular running catch that probably saved a run. With two outs in the sixth, however, second basemen Daniel Murphy hit a fly ball into the left field corner that Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber mishandled, committing two errors that allowed Murphy to reach third base. Cubs manager Joe Maddon brought in Pedro Strop to relieve Quintana – who left having struck out seven Nats and walked only one – but Strop promptly surrendered a double to first baseman

that brought Murphy home and gave the Nationals a 1–0 lead.Cohen, Jay, "Cubs rally past Scherzer, Nationals 2-1, lead NLDS 2-1," Associated Press, October 9, 2017, 9:22 p.m. EDT.
/ref>espn.com Play-by-Play Nationals vs. Cubs October 9, 2017
/ref>espn.com Box Score Nationals vs. Cubs October 9, 2017.
/ref>
/ref> Scherzer did not allow a baserunner until the fourth inning, when he hit John Jay with a pitch, and threw a no-hitter for innings – the deepest no-hit bid by an opponent in Cubs postseason history – and struck out seven Cubs before finally giving up a double to Zobrist with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. With Scherzer having thrown 98 pitches, Dusty Baker came out to relieve him, choosing lefty

to face the left-handed Schwarber. Maddon countered by pinch-hitting for Schwarber, bringing right-hander Albert Almora, Albert Almora Jr. to the plate. Solis, although he had posted a 5.88 ERA during the season, actually had fared better against right-handed batters than left-handers, but on Solis's seventh pitch, Almora singled – his first career postseason hit in 15 at-bats – to score Zobrist and tie the game at 1–1. Solis then gave up a single to right fielder Jason Heyward that advanced Almora to second before Brandon Kintzler relieved Solis and got shortstop

to line out to Taylor in center field. Heyward made a rare baserunning mistake by attempting to advance to second on Russell's liner, allowing Taylor to double him off at first base to end the inning. Witherite, Olivia, "Nats waste Scherzer's dominating performance in 2-1 loss," October 9, 2017, masnsports.com, 9:52 p.m. EDT.
/ref> The decisive moment in the game came in the bottom of the eighth inning. Kintzler gave up a lead-off walk to Chicago pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella. Leonys Martin then came in to pinch run for La Stella and advanced to second on Jon Jay's

. Kintzler then struck out third baseman Kris Bryant, and Baker brought in Óliver Pérez to pitch to first baseman

rather than walk Rizzo and face catcher

, who was waiting in the on-deck circle. Rizzo hit Perez's first pitch weakly into left field for a bloop single that fell between Taylor, Werth, and shortstop

. The hit scored Martin to give the Cubs a 2–1 lead before Rizzo was thrown out to end the inning when he tried to advance to second. Chicago closer Wade Davis then retired the Nationals in order in the top of the ninth and Chicago secured a 2–1 victory despite committing four errors in the field. The Cubs took a 2–1 lead in the series even though they had hit only .179 as a team in the three games. Outstanding starts by

in Game 1 and Scherzer in Game 3 both had resulted in losses thanks to Washington's slumping offense. Although they had scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning in Game 2, the Nationals ended Game 3 with a total of only seven hits and two runs in the other 26 innings of the series combined, hitting only .083 as team in those innings. Leadoff hitter Trea Turner finished Game 3 having gone 0-for-12 in the series with five strikeouts and had not reached base, while Anthony Rendon was 1-for-10 and Daniel Murphy, batting cleanup, was 1-for-11. While Nats pitchers had posted a combined 1.96 ERA in the 2017 NLDS, the team's overall .121 batting average in the series was the lowest of any 2017 playoff team.

Game 4, October 11

4:08 p.m. ( EDT) at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois Originally scheduled to begin at 5:38 p.m. EDT on October 10, Game 4 was postponed due to rain and rescheduled for 4:08 p.m. EDT on October 11.Castillo, Jorge, "Nationals will stick with Tanner Roark over Stephen Strasburg for postponed Game 4," washingtonpost.com, October 10, 2017, 8:22 p.m. EDT.
/ref> The Nationals had planned for

to start Game 4 on October 10, but Roark had struggled in his last two outings of the regular season and Washington, with a must-win situation in Game 4, considered taking advantage of the rainout to have the dominating

, who had posted an ERA of 0.76 in his last nine appearances, start instead on normal rest. However, the Nationals announced on the evening of October 10 after Game 4 had been postponed that Strasburg had come down with influenza-like symptoms after his October 6 appearance in Game 1 and was too ill to pitch Game 4, and that Roark would get the call on October 11, leading to much criticism by outside observers that Strasburg was perhaps too "soft" and too prone to health problems to pitch in the postseason.Cohen, Jay, “Strasburg, Nationals beat Cubs 5-0, force NLDS to Game 5,” espn.com, October 12, 2017, 12:35 a.m. EDT.
/ref>Allen, Scott, “Game 4 best and worst moments: Stephen Strasburg lifts Nationals to 5-0 win, forcing Game 5,” washingtonpost.com, October 11, 2017, 8:43 p.m. EDT.
/ref>
/ref> Plans changed again during the day on October 11 however, when Strasburg, after undergoing a regimen of antibiotics and intravenous fluids, told Nationals pitching coach Mike Maddux that he felt well enough to pitch. Ultimately, Strasburg started Game 4.Svrluga, Barry, “The Nationals survived the wildest day in franchise history. Now they can write new history,” washingtonpost.com, October 11, 2017, 9:57 p.m. EDT.
/ref>
/ref> As they had in the NLDS in 2012 Washington Nationals season, 2012 and 2014 Washington Nationals season, 2014, the Nationals faced elimination in Game 4, which took place on a damp and chilly afternoon and evening with a strong breeze from Lake Michigan blowing in from the outfield, knocking down long fly balls for both teams that might have been home runs. Once, again, both teams enjoyed excellent outings by their starting pitchers. Although still recovering from his illness, Strasburg pitched an impressive seven shutout innings in which he threw 106 pitches, 72 of them for strikes, gave up only three hits and two walks, and struck out 12 Cubs, a new Montreal-Washington franchise postseason single-game strikeout record that broke the record Strasburg had set himself in Game 1 on October 6, when he had fanned 10 Cubs.espn.com Box Score Nationals vs. Cubs October 11, 2017.
/ref>espn.com Play-by-Play Nationals vs. Cubs October 11, 2017.
/ref> The biggest Cubs scoring threat of his outing came in the bottom of the second inning, when Chicago third baseman

doubled with one out, then tagged and advanced to third on shortstop

's fly out. Strasburg then walked center fielder Jason Heyward, but got second baseman

to ground out to end the inning without the Cubs scoring. He allowed only one more Cub to reach second base, when catcher

singled and advanced to second on a Strasburg throwing error in the bottom of the fourth inning, but he struck out the side to extinguish that threat as well. Strasburg left the game having struck out 22 Cubs in his two 2017 NLDS appearances, becoming only the third MLB pitcher in history to strike out ten or more batters twice in the same division series and the first National League pitcher to do it in any postseason series since Bob Gibson for the 1968 St. Louis Cardinals season, St. Louis Cardinals in the 1968 World Series. In his three career postseason playoff appearances combined - one in 2014 Washington Nationals season, 2014 and two in 2017 - Strasburg had posted a 0.49 ERA over 19 innings, striking out 24 and issuing only four walks. In his last ten appearances of 2017 combined, including the two NLDS games, he had pitched to an ERA of 0.69. For Chicago, starter Jake Arrieta, returning to action after suffering a hamstring injury, walked five Nats in four innings of work but allowed only two hits. He gave up only one run – unearned – when, in the top of the third inning, Washington shortstop

, batting leadoff but 0-for-13 in the series, doubled with one out, reaching base for the first time in the NLDS, then advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Arrieta struck out left fielder

, then walked right fielder

, who stole second. After that, Cubs shortstop Addison Russell committed an error on Nationals first baseman

′s slow roller, allowing Turner to score and giving Washington a 1–0 lead before Arrieta struck out second basemen Daniel Murphy to end the inning. He faced another major scoring threat in the top of the fourth, when Washington third baseman

led off with a double, center fielder

walked, Strasburg executed a textbook

to advance both runners, and Trea Turner walked to load the bases with two outs, but he struck out Werth again to end both the inning and his playoff outing, having struck out four Nats and allowed no earned runs.

relieved Arrieta in the fifth and retired the first ten Nationals batters he faced, the last of them Bryce Harper, who led off the eighth inning and struck out. Ryan Zimmerman walked and attempted to rattle Lester – known for disliking throwing the ball to the bases – by taking long leads, but Lester uncharacteristically managed to pick him off first for the second out. However, the eighth inning proved to be the decisive one for the third time in the four games of the series. After Lester gave up a single to Daniel Murphy – only Murphy's second hit of the series – Cubs manager Joe Maddon brought in

to relieve him. Edwards promptly walked Anthony Rendon and catcher

to load the bases and threw ball one to Michael A. Taylor. In an attempt to shut down the scoring threat, Maddon then opted to bring in closer Wade Davis early, but Taylor overcame the evening's strong winds to hit Davis's second pitch into the "basket" fencing along the railing in right-center field for a grand-slam home run – the first postseason grand slam in the history of the Montreal-Washington franchise – and give Washington a 5–0 lead. Davis then gave up a single to pinch-hitter

and walked Trea Turner. Finally, Cubs reliever Brian Duensing came in to induce a groundout by pinch-hitter

and end the Nationals' two-out rally.

pitched the bottom of the eighth for Washington, giving up a walk and hitting a batter but allowing no hits or runs, and Nationals closer

pitched a perfect ninth inning to preserve Washington's 5–0 victory, the first postseason win of Strasburg's career. The Nationals evened the series at 2–2 and forced a decisive Game 5 at Nationals Park the following evening. During the game, Chicago had gone 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, Cubs left fielder Kris Bryant had struck out four times, and Chicago first baseman

had fanned twice. The Cubs finished Game 4 hitting only .159 as a team in the 2017 NLDS.Shaikin, Bill, "Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals force a deciding NLDS Game 5 with win over Cubs," latimes.com, October 11, 2017, 7:20 p.m.
/ref> Although the Nationals emerged from the game hitting only .130 as a team through the first four games of the series, Michael A. Taylor had gone 3-for-11 with two walks in the 2017 NLDS, and his 2017 postseason average stood at a team-best .273.

Game 5, October 12

8:08 p.m. ( EDT) at

in Washington, D.C. For the third time in their four playoff appearances, the Nationals hosted Game 5 of the NLDS at Nationals Park. It was the fifth anniversary of their collapse there in Game 5 of the 2012 National League Division Series.Allen, Scott, "Best and worst moments from the Nationals’ Game 5 loss: This old feeling again," washingtonpost.com, October 13, 2017.
/ref> Former Nationals outfielder

threw the

. He later led the crowd in singing his walk-up song during his time with the Nationals, A-ha′s "Take On Me", during the seventh-inning stretch.

started his second game of the series and had a rocky outing. Chicago's leadoff hitter, left fielder

, doubled on his second pitch. He lost his grip on his third pitch, and Jay advanced to third base when it sailed to the backstop. With one out, Jay scored on a ground-out by first baseman

to give the Cubs a 1–0 lead. González walked two more Cubs before getting out of the inning without further damage. In the bottom of the inning, with Chicago pitcher

making his second start of the series, Nationals shortstop

led off with a double and advanced to third on a line out by left fielder

, but was thrown out at home while trying to score on a ground-out by right fielder

, and the Cubs preserved their early lead.espn.com Box Score Cubs vs. Nationals October 12, 2017
/ref>espn.com Play-by-Play Cubs vs. Nationals October 12, 2017
/ref>
/ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/for-nationals-a-crazy-night-ends-with-anguish-and-a-season-ending-loss-to-cubs/2017/10/13/332e121c-afaf-11e7-a908-a3470754bbb9_story.html Svrluga, Barry, "For Nationals, a crazy night ends with anguish and a season-ending loss to Cubs," washingtonpost.com, October 13, 2017.]Svrluga, Barry, "Cubs-Nationals Game 5: ‘One of the craziest games I’ve ever been a part of," washingtonpost.com, October 13, 2017.
/ref> González pitched a perfect second inning. In the bottom of the second, Washington second baseman Daniel Murphy homered to right on Cubs starter

′s first pitch to tie the game at 1–1. Third baseman

followed with a single, then advanced to second when catcher

executed a perfect bunt single. Center fielder

then hit a three-run homer – his second consecutive home run in the series – to give Washington a 4–1 lead. After Hendricks got the first two outs of the inning, he gave up a double to Werth and the Cubs intentionally walked Harper, but Hendricks finally stopped the Nationals′ rally by striking out first baseman

.Fendrich, Howard, “Cubs come back on Scherzer, Nationals win 9-8 in NLDS Game 5,” Associated Press, October 13, 2017, 10:20 a.m. EDT.
/ref> González had more trouble in the top of the third inning, giving up a leadoff double to Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant. He struck out Anthony Rizzo, but then loaded the bases by issuing consecutive walks to catcher

and center fielder Albert Almora, Albert Almora Jr. Bryant scored and the other runners advanced when shortstop

grounded into the second out, and González followed that with a wild pitch to right fielder Jason Heyward that allowed Russell to take third base and Contreras to score, reducing the Nationals′ lead to 4–3. González finally ended the inning – and his season – by striking Heyward out. Hendricks gave up a single to Wieters in the third inning but otherwise retired the Nationals, and

came in to pitch a perfect top of the fourth inning for Washington. The Nats mounted a two-out scoring threat in the bottom of the fourth when Werth and Harper singled back-to-back, but Hendricks got first baseman

to pop out to end the inning. With Washington clinging to a 4–3 lead,

came in on short rest to pitch the top of the fifth inning for the Nationals – his first relief appearance since the 2013 American League Division Series, when he was with the 2013 Detroit Tigers season, Detroit Tigers – and quickly got two outs; Cubs officials in the stands later told the press that they were preparing for Scherzer to pitch three or four lockdown innings and preserve Washington's lead late into the game. Then the inning took a bizarre turn and descended into disaster for Washington. Scherzer gave up consecutive singles to Willson Contreras and pinch-hitter

and a bases-clearing double to Addison Russell that gave the Cubs a 5–4 lead. The Nationals intentionally walked Jason Heyward, and then Scherzer struck out second baseman

for what should have been the third out. However, the third strike got past Wieters, and Báez ran to first on the passed ball. Rather than hold the ball at home to prevent the Cubs from scoring, Wieters tried to throw out Báez at first, and his throw went into right field, allowing Russell to score, Heyward to advance to third, and Báez to reach second, and giving Chicago a 6–4 lead. Wieters asked the Umpire (baseball), umpires to declare the ball dead and the play a strikeout on the grounds of Interference (baseball)#Offensive interference, offensive interference, claiming Báez's bat had hit him in the back of the head on the backswing – a contention confirmed by video evidence – but the umpires made a controversial ruling that even if the bat had struck Wieters, it did not interfere with the play and did not merit a ruling that the ball was dead, and they let the play stand. Next, Cubs pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella reached first base on a catcher's interference call against Wieters, loading the bases, and Scherzer followed that by hitting Jon Jay in the foot with a pitch, sending him to first and forcing in Heyward from third to increase Chicago's lead to 7–4. Kris Bryant returned to the plate as the tenth Cubs batter of the inning, and popped out on Scherzer's 28th pitch to bring the shocking inning to a close. After the game, Cubs manager Joe Maddon described the inning as "bizarro world," and Scherzer said, "I′m sure I′ve been in some crazy stuff before, but nothing like that."Janes, Chelsea, "More heartbreak for the Nationals, as they fall to Cubs 9-8 in wild Game 5," washingtonpost.com, October 13, 2017.
/ref> It was the first time in recorded MLB history, a total of some 2.73 million half-innings, that an intentional walk, a passed-ball strikeout, catcher's interference, and a hit batsman had ever occurred in a single half-inning.Steinberg, Dan, "Washington sports misery, by the numbers," washingtonpost.com, October 13, 2017.
/ref> In the top of the sixth inning, the Cubs extended their lead to 8–4 when Zobrist, now playing left field, walked and Russell doubled – the ball rolling to the left-field wall right past a sliding Jayson Werth, who lost it in the stadium's lights – to drive Zobrist in. In the bottom of the sixth, the Nationals began to battle back. After getting the first two outs, Chicago reliever Pedro Strop walked Jayson Werth. Mike Montgomery (baseball), Mike Montgomery relieved Strop and promptly gave up a double to Bryce Harper that advanced Werth to third. Next, he walked Ryan Zimmerman on a wild pitch that allowed Werth to score – cutting Chicago's lead to 8–5 – and advanced Harper to third. Daniel Murphy followed with a double that scored Harper and advanced Zimmerman to third. After the Cubs intentionally walked third baseman

, Montgomery finally got Wieters to end the inning by flying out with the Cubs leading 8–6. The Cubs came back to extend their lead in the top of the seventh when, with

pitching and one out, pinch-hitter Kyle Schwarber singled, Jon Jay singled and advanced Schwarber to third and, after

relieved Solis, Schwarber scored on a Kris Bryant groundout to give Chicago a 9–6 advantage. In the bottom of the seventh, the Nats scored again. Cubs reliever

walked leadoff hitter Michael A. Taylor and, after José Quintana relieved Edwards and got the first out, Trea Turner singled, Werth walked to load the bases, and Harper scored Taylor from third with a sacrifice fly to cut the Cubs lead again, to 9–7. After Madson retired all three Cubs he faced in the top of the eighth, the Nationals staged their final rally in the bottom of the inning. Joe Maddon had called in Cubs closer Wade Davis to get the last out of the seventh inning and kept him in to pitch the eighth and ninth in the hope that he would get a seven-out save, an unusually long outing for him. Davis started the eighth by walking Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon, but then got pinch-hitter

to ground into a double play that advanced Murphy to third. Michael A. Taylor then singled to drive in Murphy and cut Chicago's lead to 9–8, and light-hitting catcher

who had replaced Wieters in the game, singled, advancing Taylor to second. With Davis clearly tiring and the top of the Nationals′ order coming to bat, Washington's hopes rose that they could at least tie the game. Trea Turner came to the plate and had worked his at-bat to a 2–1 count when catcher Willson Contreras threw to first to pick off Lobatón. Lobatón was called safe, but the Cubs challenged the call and the video replay revealed that Lobatón's foot had lost contact with the bag for less than a second while Anthony Rizzo was applying the tag. Lobatón was ruled out, and the inning ended. Nationals closer

set the Cubs down in order in the top of the ninth, and Davis – completing his longest outing since 2012 – returned to retire Turner, Werth, and Harper in the bottom of the ninth, throwing 44 pitches in his outing, 10 more than he had thrown in any single appearance during the regular season. The season ended on a Harper strikeout on a full count. Despite going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and walking nine Nationals hitters, the Cubs won the 4-hour 37-minute game 9–8 and the series 3–2 and advanced to face the 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 National League Championship Series. Although they had 23 baserunners in the game, 13 of whom they left on base, the Nationals' season ended with elimination in the NLDS, as in their previous three postseason appearances, and it was the third time that they had played Game 5 of an NLDS at home and lost, the only MLB team other than the

to lose more than one NLDS Game 5 at home over the previous decade. The Nationals became only the second team in MLB history to draw at least nine walks and score at least eight runs in a postseason game and still lose, the only previous team to do it having been the 1997 Cleveland Indians season, 1997 Cleveland Indians in the 1997 World Series. It was the eighth time the Nationals had played a one-run game in their postseason history, and they had lost all eight. It was the tenth time in a row that a team managed by Dusty Baker had lost a postseason game in which it had a chance to advance to the next round of the playoffs. Summing up the Nationals′ evening in a postgame interview, Jayson Werth said, "It feels like everything that could go wrong, did...I can't believe we lost that game." Game 5 of the NLDS was Baker's last as manager of the Nationals. On October 20, the Nationals announced that Baker, who was in the final year of his two-year contract in 2017, would not return in 2018 Washington Nationals season, 2018. During an interview with Chris Russo on SiriusXM′s Mad Dog Sports Radio on October 26, MLB Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre, whose portfolio includes oversight of MLB umpiring, said that the umpires had made an incorrect call on Matt Wieters's passed ball during Baez's fifth-inning at-bat. Torre said that under Official rules of Major League Baseball, Rule 6.03, Javier Báez should have been called for offensive interference and that calling the ball dead should have taken precedence, which would have ended the inning on a strikeout instead of allowing two Cubs runners to score on the passed ball and Wieters's subsequent throwing error in a game that Chicago won by one run. He added that Dusty Baker could have requested a rules review on the play, but did not, and therefore the umpires′ ruling stood.

Composite line score

2017 NLDS (3–2): Chicago Cubs defeat Washington Nationals

Television

Broadcast on TBS (U.S. TV channel), TBS, Game 5 of the 2017 NLDS earned a Nielsen ratings, television rating of 14.0 in the Washington, D.C., market, making it the second-most-watched game in Montreal-Washington franchise history, exceeded only by the viewership five years earlier to the day for Game 5 of the 2012 National League Division Series between the 2012 Washington Nationals season, Nationals and the 2012 St. Louis Cardinals season, St. Louis Cardinals. The telecast earned a 22.9 rating in the Chicago market.

Postseason Rosters

, style="text-align:left" , *Pitchers: 21 Brandon Kintzler 31

46 Óliver Pérez 47

72 Enny Romero *Catchers: 32

*Infielders: 1

20 Daniel Murphy 26

*Outfielders: 3

, - valign="top"

Roster

Statistics

Regular season

Team leaders

''Qualifying players only.''

=Batting

=Pitching

Batting

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Walks; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; OBP = On base percentage; SLG = Slugging percentage; SB = Stolen bases'' ''Complete regular-season offensive statistics are availabl
here
''

Pitching

''Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts'' ''Complete regular-season pitching statistics are availabl
here.
'

Postseason

Batting

' ''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Walks; SO = Strikeouts; Avg. = Batting average; OBP = On base percentage; SLG = Slugging percentage; SB = Stolen bases'' ''Complete postseason offensive statistics are availabl
here
''

Pitching

' Players in bold are on the active roster.'' ''Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts'' ''Complete regular-season pitching statistics are availabl
here.
'

Awards and honors

All-Stars

First baseman

, second baseman Daniel Murphy, and right fielder

were voted onto the

All-Star roster as starting position players, while starting pitchers

and

were also selected to the team. For Zimmerman and Murphy, it was their first time being voted in as starters, while it was Harper's fourth start and fifth overall selection. Murphy was also an All-Star in 2016, although he was not a starter, and Zimmerman was an All-Star in 2009. Scherzer was named an All-Star for the fifth consecutive year. Strasburg was named to the All-Star team for the third overall time. Harper was the top overall vote-getter from the National League. Future National Brandon Kintzler, closer for the

before being traded to Washington at the end of July, was also selected to the

All-Star team. Scherzer started the 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, All-Star Game at Marlins Park for the National League on July 11, allowing a single and striking out two, including 2017 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby, Home Run Derby champion Aaron Judge, in one inning of work. Harper started in right field and went 1-for-1 with a walk, while making a diving catch on defense to rob American League catcher Salvador Pérez in the second inning. Murphy, the starting second baseman, went 1-for-2, grounding out in his second at-bat with the bases loaded to waste the National League's best chance of the evening to take the lead. Zimmerman went 0-for-2 while hitting into two double plays, one on a groundball and one on a flyout to center field. Kintzler pitched a perfect fifth inning for the American League. Strasburg did not appear in the game, an eventual 2–1 victory for the American League in 10 innings.

Annual awards

Players Choice Awards

, National League Outstanding Pitcher *

, National League Comeback Player On November 8, two Nationals received Players Choice Awards. Max Scherzer received the award for National League Outstanding Pitcher; he led the National League in strikeouts with 268 in 2017 and posted a 16–6 record, a 2.09 Defense independent pitching statistics, FIP, and a 2.51 ERA. The 33-year-old Ryan Zimmerman received the National League Comeback Player Award for overcoming shoulder, wrist, thumb, foot, hamstring, and oblique injuries that had plagued him for several seasons to hit .303, with a .358 on-base percentage, a .573 slugging percentage, 36 home runs, and 108 RBIs; he also was selected as the starting first baseman for the National League team in the 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, his first All-Star Game selection since 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, 2009.

Silver Slugger

* Daniel Murphy, 2B On November 9, Daniel Murphy was named the winner of the 2017 Silver Slugger Award as the best offensive second baseman in the National League. It was his second consecutive Silver Slugger Award and the 13th earned by a Nationals player since the team's arrival in Washington for the 2005 Washington Nationals season, 2005 season. Despite battling a knee injury for at least part of the 2017 season, Murphy led National League second basemen in FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement with 4.3, the fourth-best in Major League Baseball in 2017. He posted a .928 on-base-plus-slugging (OPS) percentage, which was the best by a National League second basemen and more than 130 points higher than the next-best OPS among them. His .322 batting average also was the best among National League second basemen, and was second among all National League players, exceeded only by the .331 average posted by 2017 Colorado Rockies season, Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon. It was the sixth season in a row, and the eighth time in nine seasons, that at least one National won a Silver Slugger

Cy Young Award

On November 15,

was named the winner of the 2017 National League Cy Young Award, receiving 27 out of 30 first-place votes. It was his second consecutive Cy Young Award, his second as a National, and the third of his career. Already the sixth pitcher to win the award in both leagues, having won the American League Cy Young in 2013 Detroit Tigers season, 2013 with the

, he became the tenth pitcher to win at least three Cy Youngs. Pitching at least 200 innings for the fifth straight season despite battling more injuries than he had experienced during his first two years as a National in 2015 Washington Nationals season, 2015 and 2016 Washington Nationals season, 2016 – between 2010 Major League Baseball season, 2010 and 2017 Major League Baseball season, 2017, only seven Major League Baseball pitchers compiled more 200-or-more-inning seasons – Scherzer led the National League with 268 strikeouts and posted a National League second-best 2.51 ERA and 12.02 strikeouts per nine innings. He led Major League Baseball with a .178 batting average against.Janes, Chelsea, "Nationals’ Max Scherzer wins second consecutive NL Cy Young Award," washingtonpost.com, November 15, 2017, 6:50 p.m. EST.
/ref>

of the 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Los Angeles Dodgers came in second in the Cy Young Award voting and received the remaining three first-place votes, but

came in third. Strasburg put up a 2.52 ERA, third-best in the National League, and also was third-best in the league in batting average against. He led the National League in fielding independent pitching (FIP), and over a five-game stretch in August and September he set a Nationals record by pitching 35 consecutive scoreless innings.

Farm system

New York Mets purchase of the Syracuse Chiefs

While the Nationals were playing in the 2017 National League Division Series, the chief operating officer of the

, Jeff Wilpon, joined Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo and the County Executive of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York (state), New York, Joanie Mahoney, at NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse, New York, Syracuse, New York, on October 11 to announce that the Mets would purchase the

from the Community Baseball Club of Central New York. Under the deal, the Community Baseball Club of Central New York's ownership of the Chiefs and the Chiefs′ affiliation with the Washington Nationals – which had begun in 2009 Washington Nationals season, 2009 – continued through the end of the 2018 season, after which the Mets would take ownership of and operate the Chiefs, with Syracuse – renamed the Syracuse Mets in October 2018 – becoming the Mets′ Class AAA affiliate beginning with the 2019 New York Mets season, 2019 season.

Notes

References

External links

2017 Washington Nationals season at Baseball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:2017 Washington Nationals Season Washington Nationals seasons 2017 Major League Baseball season, Washington Nationals 2017 in sports in Washington, D.C., Washington Nationals National League East champion seasons

Offseason

Team news

Transactions

Spring training

World Baseball Classic

Regular season

Opening Day

Opening Day lineup

Season standings

National League East

National League Wild Card

Record vs. opponents

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

Notable transactions

Major league debuts

Culture and entertainment

Mascots

New organ

Attendance

Game log

Postseason

Game log

Division Series

Game 1, October 6

Game 2, October 7

Game 3, October 9

Game 4, October 11

Game 5, October 12

Composite line score

Television

Postseason Rosters

Roster

Statistics

Regular season

Team leaders

=Batting

=Pitching

Batting

Pitching

Postseason

Batting

Pitching

Awards and honors

All-Stars

Annual awards

Players Choice Awards

Silver Slugger

Cy Young Award

Farm system

New York Mets purchase of the Syracuse Chiefs

See also

Notes

References

External links