The Washington Nationals kicked off the 2026 Beltway Series with a 3–2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night in front of a sellout crowd at Nationals Park. Since the start of the 2024 season, Washington has gone 8-3 (.727) against Baltimore, outscoring the Orioles 58-34 with a 2.67 ERA across those 11 games. The Nationals are also in the midst of a 16-game stretch without a day off, which began May 12 in Cincinnati, with their next off day set for May 28 at home.

The Nationals will send right handed pitcher Cade Cavalli (1-2, 4.02) to the mound and will have right handed pitcher Chris Bassitt (3-2, 5.21 ERA).

On Deck…

After this afternoon’s game the Nationals will finish up the first beltway series against the Orioles tomorrow afternoon with RHP Miles Mikolas (1-3, 7.00) taking the mound for the Nationals while RHP Brandon Young (3-1, 4.15) will be taking the mound for the Orioles.

Right-handed pitcher Miles Mikolas faces the Orioles for the fourth time in his career. and he has pitched to a 2.92 ERA (4 ER/12.1 IP) in his last three outings at Nationals Park.

In the hole…

On Monday, the Nationals will welcome the New York Mets for a four game series before heading to Atlanta to face the Braves for the Memorial Day weekend.