WASHINGTON, D.C. - APRIL 24 - The Washington Nationals defeated the Baltimore Orioles in game two of the first 2025 Battle of the Beltway. A solid start from Trevor Williams, coupled with an early offensive explosion, propelled the Nats to their fourth win in the last five games.​

Williams took the mound for Washington and delivered a decent but laboring performance, allowing one run on six hits over five innings, with five strikeouts and one walk. He navigated through several scoring threats, keeping the Orioles at bay early. ​Jose A. Ferrer relieved Williams but struggled and was taken out in favor of Jorge López. Ultimately, the righty earned the win after pitching 1.2 innings of relief, despite surrendering the tying run in the eighth. Kyle Finnegan secured his ninth save of the season, working around two singles in the ninth by striking out O’Neill and inducing a pop-up from Heston Kjerstad to end the game. ​

At the plate, James Wood ignited the Nationals’ offense by launching a 431-foot leadoff home run off Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano. The blast, clocked at 116.3 mph, tied Bryce Harper’s 2017 mark for the hardest-hit homer in Nationals history under Statcast tracking. Josh Bell followed later in the first inning with a two-run shot to right field, his fourth of the season, giving Washington a quick 3-0 lead. ​Sugano settled in after the first inning, allowing just two hits over the next six frames, finishing with seven innings pitched, three runs allowed, and one strikeout. Gregory Soto (0-1) took the loss, yielding the go-ahead run in the eighth. ​

Baltimore came back from the deficit, scoring in the third, seventh, and eighth innings. Adley Rutschman’s RBI single in the third put the Orioles on the board. In the seventh, Tyler O’Neill’s sacrifice fly brought in Cedric Mullins, and Ramón Urías tied the game in the eighth with another sac fly after Jordan Westburg’s leadoff triple. ​

The Nationals responded in the bottom of the eighth. Alex Call drew a walk, advanced to second on a groundout, and moved to third on a wild pitch. Luis García Jr. then delivered a deep sacrifice fly to center, scoring Call and putting Washington ahead 4-3. ​

Up next…

The Nationals will aim for a series sweep in the finale today, with left-hander MacKenzie Gore (2-2, 3.41 ERA) set to face Orioles lefty Cade Povich (0-2, 6.38 ERA). After that, Juan Soto and the New York Mets will come to town for four games.