Good Morning, Washington Nationals fans.
Here are your Washington Nationals Morning headlines, news, analysis, and more for Tuesday, April 7, 2026
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📅 NEXT AT BAT
Tuesday vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 6:45 PM ET
Wednesday vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 4:05 PM ET
Thursday @ Milwaukee Brewers, 7:40 PM ET - New Series
Nats Back on Track, Keep Offense Firing
⚾ DUGOUT DISPATCH
Nats, continue to keep their bats scorching hot, scoring 9 runs yesterday, making that 6 games in a row with 5+ runs. However, this is the first of those 6 games that they have won, with the offense being the best of the best in the MLB, but the pitching being a key weakness as the season keeps pressing onward.
📊 THE BOX SCORE:
The Nats are currently scoring the 3rd most runs per game in the whole MLB at 6.11. The unfortunate kicker? The Nats are 4-6 and have struggled to support their offense. However, this offense is one of the best in recent memory, and these numbers should not be taken for granted.
With their win yesterday, the Nats move to 4-6 on the season through their first 10 games. Despite the lackluster record, this team truthfully is not off to that bad of a start. They had played 3 straight top 10 teams, and in their first game against a more tame team they scored 9 runs and got a good win.
The clear and obvious struggle this year has been the pitching. It seems that whenever the starters play good, the bullpen has trouble holding the lead, and vice versa. However, the starting pitchers have done a good job of getting the game started for the most part, with 3 pitchers throwing sub 3.60 ERAs
CJ Abrams and James Wood have found their groove and are finally adding their All-Star talent into the offense. Abrams has tallied a hit in 7 straight games and a homer in 4 of his last 5. Wood, just had a highlight reel of a game, discussed in the game recap below!
📈 MORNING STAT
In CJ Abrams 367th career game for the Nats yesterday he tallied his 500th Career Hit! Welcome to the 500 Club CJ
💬 FAN’S CHOICE
Who has been your favorite hitter to watch in the Nationals explosive offense so far this season?
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Nats Win 9-6 vs. Cardinals, End 5 Game Skid
🔥 HEADLINE
Wood snags incredible robbed homer, also hits one himself along with House and Abrams
Final Score: Nationals 9, Cardinals 6
Date: April 7, 2026
Location: Nationals Park
⚾ DUGOUT DISPATCH
All season, we’ve talked about closely watching James Wood, waiting for him to break his slump; Tonight, he finally had one of his all-star performances. Zack Littell shoved 5 innings, only allowing 1 run. Despite the bullpen giving up the lead, the powerful offense led by homers by House, Abrams, and Wood all in the 8th inning sealed the deal for the Nats.
📊 THE BOX SCORE
Winning Pitcher: Cionel Perez ([1–1], 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K)
Losing Pitcher: Matt Svanson ([0–1], 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0BB, K)
Key Hitters:
James Wood: 2-for-3, HR, 3 RBI
Brady House 3-for-5, HR, 2 Doubles, 2 RBIs
CJ Abrams: 1-for-4, HR, BB
Team RISP: [5-for-12]
Errors: Nats 0, Opponent 0
Attendance: 12,319
🎙️ LOCKER ROOM LORE
Young Manager Blake Butera couldn’t help but show his approval in the postgame interview, smiling his way through House and Wood’s amazing performances.
“All around, outstanding game from Brady,” Butera said. “I’m not sure how many times he’s done that (Wood robbing homers) uh, he sure has hit a lot of them.”
📅 NEXT AT BAT
Next Game: vs. St. Louis Cardinals, April 8, 2026, 6:45 PM ET, Nationals Park
Probables: Nats — Cade Cavalli, Cardinals — Matthew Liberatore
Key Storyline: Can Nats string together a win-streak with their hot bats and cook up back-to-back wins over the Cardinals.
📈 MORNING STAT
Although obviously a different team then, the Nats went 4-2 against the Cardinals in Spring Training, continuing to have their number so far to start the series.
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Like this recap? Check out today’s Game Notes by Ryan Shenker Here
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Rochester Red Wings Pitcher Andrew Alvarez Named IL Pitcher of the Week
ROCHESTER, NY – The Office of Major League Baseball has announced that Rochester Red Wings left-handed pitcher ANDREW ALVAREZ has been named the International League Pitcher of the Week for the period March 31 to April 6.
Alvarez delivered a dominant performance on April 2 against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, tossing 5.0 shutout innings while allowing just one hit. The Nationals’ farmhand struck out 10 batters and issued just one walk, setting the tone early and keeping the RailRiders off balance throughout his outing. Alvarez is one of just two Triple-A pitchers to strike out double-digit batters in an outing this season.
The 25-year-old left-hander has emerged as a key piece of Rochester’s pitching staff to open the 2026 campaign, turning in one of the most dominant individual starts in the league during the season’s opening series. Alvarez is one of just four Rochester pitchers since at least 2004 to record 10 or more strikeouts in 5.0 innings or fewer, and the first since Michael Soroka on May 2, 2025, against Lehigh Valley. He is also the only pitcher in that span to accomplish the feat twice, having previously done so on September 22, 2024, against Iowa.
Furthermore, Alvarez is the first International League pitcher to strike out at least 10 batters while allowing one hit in 5.0 innings or fewer since Allan Winans did so with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on April 23, 2025, and the first Red Wing to reach that benchmark since at least 2004.
This marks Alvarez’s first International League Pitcher of the Week honor and makes him the first Red Wing to earn weekly pitching honors since the 2025 season. He becomes the latest in a growing list of Rochester pitchers recognized since the club became a Washington Nationals affiliate in 2021.
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theFuture
⚾ DUGOUT DISPATCH
Fred Nats start off 3-0 in their first games of the season over the weekend, Redwings move to 4-5 and Harrisburg Senators go 3-0 in first three as well, set to make their home debut at 6:30 tonight.
📊 THE BOX SCORE:
Fred Nats win back-to-back-to-back weekend games to start season off 3-0 as they travel to take on Hill City starting tonight. Nationals 1st overall pick Eli Willitis has begun his journey to the majors here, having a solid start to the season so far. Willitis has tallied 2 RBIs and 4 Hits through 14 ABs so far, and is one to look out for
The Rochester Red Wings are starting to see some improvement from their batters who have been in a slump as of recently. Dylan Crews, Nats top prospect has quickly jumped from a slow .118 average in the first 5 games, up to a .250 average now, improving that quick in a 4 game stretch.
Just like the Fred Nats, the Harrisonburg Senators also debuted this weekend and went 3-0 in their first 3 games of the year away vs Altoona. The Senators have their home debut today at 6:30 PM ET, where it is worth going to check out Nats top pitching prospects Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana
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Drive engagement and growth. Read more about how Dylan Crews is slowly finding his Groove again in Rochester
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WHAT WE THINK THE NATIONALS FRONT OFFICE IS READING
Speed Reads
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📌What would it cost for the Nationals to join MLB’s extension frenzy with Daylen Lile? (Athletic)