Good Morning, Washington Nationals fans.
Here are your Washington Nationals Morning headlines, news, analysis, and more for Monday, May 18, 2026.
I am Aaron, and over this summer, I will be the writer for the morning briefings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I am a rising senior at James Madison University, majoring in Media Arts and Design with a concentration in journalism and a minor in sports communications. I have always loved talking about sports, and I'm so happy I get to be part of The Nats Report and write about my favorite baseball team.
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GAME RECAP
🔥 NATS LOSE TO ORIOLES
Nats Lose One, But Win Second Straight Series
Final Score: Nationals 3, Orioles 7
Date: Sunday, May 17, 2026
Location: Nationals Park
⚾ DUGOUT DISPATCH
Jacob Young, James Wood, and Daylen Lile all scored in Sunday's outing, but the Nationals fell short and lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the series finale, 7-3. Miles Mikola struggled on the mound, allowing six hits, two of which were home runs, in 5 and two-thirds innings.
📊 THE BOX SCORE
Winning Pitcher: Anthony Nunez([2–0], 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)
Losing Pitcher: Richard Lovelady ([2–2], 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K)
Key Hitters:
Jacob Young: 1-for-2, R BB
James Wood: 2-for-4, R BB
Luis Garcia Jr.: 2-for-5, 2B
Team RISP: [2-for-10]
Errors: Nats 7, Orioles 3
Attendance: 26,715
🎙️ LOCKER ROOM LORE
“I feel like we had some opportunities there to get back into it with the bases loaded, two outs at one point. We had multiple runners on base a few times when the inning ended. I think we left 10 on base today. I thought we did a good job, we just couldn’t have that big inning today,” said manager Blake Butera on why they couldn’t get the job done today.
📅 NEXT AT BAT
Next Game: vs. New York Mets, May 18th, 6:45 PM ET, Nationals Park
Probables: Nats — Jake Irvin, Mets — Christian Scott
Key Storyline: Can the Nats get back to .500
💬 FAN’S CHOICE
Who was tonight’s MVP?
✅ Young
✅ Wood
✅ Lile
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Battle in the NL East
⚾ DUGOUT DISPATCH
Tonight the Nationals will start their series against their division rivals the New York Mets, and theres a lot at stake for the Nationals. If the Nationals win this series they will finally get above .500 for the season, and could potentially rise to second place in the NL East.
📊 THE BOX SCORE:
Jake Irving will be the starting pitcher for Mondays game, and needs to optimize his sinker and fastball if he wants to win. Against right handed batters Irving throws sinkers 42 percent of the time, and 32 percent of the times against lefties he throws his four seam fastball.
The Nationals won their last series against the Mets in New York, and the Mets are currently 20-26 and 11.5 games behind first place, and 2.5 games behind the Nats.
CJ Abrams is the most consistent batter on the nationals. He leads the team with a .298 batting average, is first in hits with 50, first in RBIs with 38, and is second in homeruns with 9.
💬 FAN’S CHOICE
Do you think the Nats can jump to 2nd place in the NL East and win their third straight series?
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New National
Source: Alex Youngs Instagram
⚾ DUGOUT DISPATCH
The Nats’ have been trying to build their bullpen for a while now, and they believe that Alex Young could be a piece to that puzzle. On May 13th, the Nationals signed the left-handed pitcher to a minor league deal.
📊 THE BOX SCORE:
Young is coming back from an elbow injury, and the Nats plan on having him start in the florida complex league affiliate, with the possibility of working his way back to the majors.
Young has a career ERA of 4.34, and a career WHIP of 1.41 and while those stats aren’t the greatest, Washington believes that with a little more development and time he could become an option at the Major league level.
Young was a 2015 second-round draft pick and has played for five different teams in the MLB since 2019.
🗣️ LOCKER ROOM LORE
"It’s unclear how long the left- hander [Young] will stay down in the FCL, but once he gets sent to Tripple-A Rochester, he’ll be a name to watch when it comes to someone who could potentially be called up at some point this season” According to Brad Wakai of Sports Illustrated.
💬 FAN’S CHOICE
What do you think about Youngs progress in coming back? What do you think he’ll be able to bring to the bullpen once he’s back?
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For more on potential Nationals talent, make sure to check out this article on Dylan Crews’ progress and development in Triple-A.
WHAT WE THINK THE NATIONALS FRONT OFFICE IS READING
Speed Reads
📌 Headed back home (The Nats Report)
📌 At long last, Nationals climb back to .500 with rout of Orioles (The Washington Post)
📌 4 Nationals prospects rise in the latest Baseball America top 100 rankings (District on Deck)