Nationals survive bullpen collapse, walk off Angels 6-5 in 10 innings

The Washington Nationals appeared headed for a comfortable victory Saturday afternoon before their bullpen nearly gave it away, but Washington recovered in time to beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-5 in 10 innings at Nationals Park. Harry Ford put the ball in play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, and CJ Abrams scored when Angels shortstop Zach Neto could not handle the grounder cleanly. The win improved Washington to 69-81 and gave the Nationals their second consecutive victory over Los Angeles.

Andrew Alvarez gave Washington exactly what it needed on the mound. The left-hander delivered seven scoreless innings and allowed only one hit while striking out a career-high eight batters. Alvarez worked around four walks, threw 61 of his 97 pitches for strikes and retired 13 of the final 14 hitters he faced.

Washington gave Alvarez an early lead in the first inning. Abimelec Ortiz doubled to right field before Abrams drove him home with a double to center, giving the Nationals a 1-0 advantage. That hit set the tone for an afternoon in which Abrams continued to produce from the middle of Washington’s lineup.

The Nationals broke the game open in the second. Keibert Ruiz doubled to center and scored on Jacob Young’s single to left, giving Washington a 2-0 lead. James Wood then reached on an infield single and stole second base before Ortiz singled to right, driving home both Young and Wood to make it 4-0.

Wood’s stolen base was his 20th of the season and gave him his first career 30-homer, 20-steal campaign. It was another milestone for one of the most important pieces of Washington’s young core and added another productive moment to an already strong season.

With a four-run cushion, Alvarez dominated Los Angeles. The Angels did not record their first hit until Jose Siri doubled in the sixth inning, and Alvarez never allowed the game to get away from him. He struck out Mike Trout twice and kept the Angels scoreless through seven despite several early walks.

Alvarez left with Washington ahead 4-0, and that should have been more than enough. Instead, the Nationals’ bullpen turned the final two innings into another stressful finish.

Brad Lord entered in the eighth and immediately ran into trouble. Wade Meckler delivered an RBI double to get Los Angeles on the board before Vaughn Grissom hit a two-run home run, his 11th of the season, cutting Washington’s lead to 4-3. In the span of one inning, the Nationals went from holding a comfortable four-run advantage to protecting a one-run lead.

The bullpen problems continued in the ninth. Denzer Guzman tied the game with an RBI double off Will Dion, and Moisés Ballesteros followed with a sacrifice fly that gave Los Angeles its first lead of the afternoon at 5-4. The collapse handed Washington an MLB record-extending 39th blown save of the season.

Washington refused to let another late collapse turn into a loss. In the bottom of the ninth, Andrés Chaparro singled off Ben Joyce to drive home the tying run and make it 5-5. The Nationals nearly won it immediately, but Trout made a leaping catch on a Dylan Crews drive to keep the game tied and force extra innings.

Jack Sinclair gave Washington exactly what it needed after the bullpen meltdown. Sinclair retired four batters without allowing a hit, striking out one and earning the first victory of his major-league career. His work gave the Nationals another opportunity to finish the game in the bottom of the 10th.

With Abrams starting the bottom of the 10th as the automatic runner at second, Brady House flied out before Daylen Lile was intentionally walked. Lile then stole second while Abrams stole third, putting both runners in scoring position. Ford followed with a ground ball to shortstop, and Neto’s fielding error allowed Abrams to score the winning run.

It was not a conventional walk-off hit, but Washington will gladly take the victory after watching a 4-0 lead disappear. The Nationals finished with 11 hits compared with only four for Los Angeles, but the game still required 10 innings because Washington’s bullpen could not protect Alvarez’s outstanding start.

Ortiz was one of Washington’s biggest offensive contributors. He finished with a double and a two-run single and helped manufacture three of the Nationals’ first four runs. Abrams also had an important afternoon, driving in the game’s first run and eventually scoring the winning run in extra innings.

The victory gave Washington consecutive wins after the Nationals had entered the series on a seven-game losing streak. Washington won Friday’s opener 4-3 with a late rally and followed it with another one-run victory Saturday, although this one unfolded in a much different way.

The Nationals now have a chance to complete a three-game sweep Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park. Jake Irvin is scheduled to start for Washington against former Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez.

MSB Take

Andrew Alvarez deserved a much easier victory than this. Seven shutout innings, one hit allowed and eight strikeouts should have resulted in a comfortable win, but Washington’s bullpen turned another strong starting pitching performance into a late-game scramble.

The bullpen remains the biggest problem with this team. An MLB-record 39 blown saves is not just bad luck or a handful of isolated mistakes. It is a season-long issue that has repeatedly wasted quality starts and put unnecessary pressure on a young lineup.

The positive is that Washington did not fold after losing the lead. Chaparro delivered in the ninth, Sinclair stabilized things on the mound, and Abrams created the winning opportunity with aggressive baserunning in the 10th. Those are meaningful moments for a young club trying to build something heading into next season.

Alvarez’s performance might be the most important development from this game. If he can continue pitching like this, Washington may have another legitimate rotation piece to build around. The Nationals still have plenty to fix, but back-to-back wins and a chance to sweep the Angels give them some momentum after a difficult stretch.