Good Morning, Washington Nationals fans.
Here are your Washington Nationals Morning headlines, news, analysis, and more for Monday, June 1, 2026
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📅 NEXT AT BAT
Tonight: vs. Marlins, 6:45 PM ET — Cavalli will start the series against the Nats’ division rivals
Tuesday: vs. Marlins, 6:45 PM ET— How will Mikolas pitch? Can he get the win?
Wednesday: vs. Marlins, 1:05 PM ET— How will Washington play against the Marlins’ star pitcher?
MAY RECAP
⚾ DUGOUT DISPATCH
May was a great month for the Nationals. In May, the Nats went 16-12 and won or tied seven of their nine series.
📊 THE BOX SCORE:
Quality Series Wins: The Nats won series against the Braves, who have the best record in MLB; the Guardians, who are leading the AL Central; and the Padres, who have a better record than the Nats and are projected to be a wild card team.
Player Accomplishments: James Wood, CJ Abrams, and Cade Cavalli
- Cade Cavalli had a fantastic month pitching, posting a season low ERA and WHIP, with an ERA of 3.41, and a WHIP of 1.14. Cavalli pitched 29 innings and threw 30 strikeouts.
- James Wood led the team batting with a May batting average of .311, OBP of .425, and a slugging percentage of .557.
- CJ Abrams was reliable and consistent behind the plate with a batting average of .292, OBP of .377, a .528 slugging percentage, and leads the team in RBIs.
Improvement: The Nats are now in second place in the NL East, and have a run differential of +1 over the whole season.
🗣️ LOCKER ROOM LORE
Manager Blake Butera said, “Our goal from the beginning is to make sure that each day we’re continuing to get better and better and that the goal is here to make sure we’re playing better baseball in August and September than we are in April and May. I think we’ll continue on this track of guys putting in the work and continue to get better day in and day out, happy with the way things are trending right now.”
📈 MORNING STAT
The last time the Nationals won 16 games in a month was August 2023.
💬 FAN’S CHOICE
Will the Nats see the same success in June?
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NATS BEAT PADRES TO WIN SERIES
The Nats got off to a hot start and managed to close it out.
Final Score: Nationals 4, Padres 2
Date: May 31, 2026
Location: Nationals Park
⚾ DUGOUT DISPATCH
Luis Garcia Jr. got the offense started for the Nationals, hitting a solo shot homerun in the fourth inning. Following that, one inning later, James Wood hit a two-run home run to right-center field. After giving up two runs in the seventh inning, the Nats' bullpen managed to close it out. Reliever Orlando Ribalta had an impressive outing, throwing two strikeouts, walking one batter, and not allowing any hits through two innings.
📊 THE BOX SCORE
Winning Pitcher: Zach Littell ([5–4], 6IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 5K)
Losing Pitcher: Griffin Canning ([0–4], 5IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 3K)
Key Hitters:
Luis Garcia Jr.: 1-for-3, HR
Keibert Ruiz: 2-for-3, R
James Wood: 1-for-3, HR, BB
Team RISP: 1-for-6
Errors: Nats 2, Padres 4
Attendance: 24,050
🎙️ LOCKER ROOM LORE
Manager Blake Butera said, “Overall, I thought he threw the ball great today,” when asked about Zach Littell's pitching. Butera later commented on the team as a whole and said, “I think the culture and the environment in that clubhouse right now is unbelievable. Led by guys like CJ, Woody, Keibert, just the attention to detail, the work ethic, the drive to wanna get better every single day, it’s so much fun to work with these guys.”
📅 NEXT AT BAT
Next Game: vs. Marlins, June 1, 6:45 PM ET, Nationals Park
Probables: Nats — Cade Cavalli, Marlins — Sandy Alcantara
Key Storyline: Can Cavalli continue to deliver impressive outings for the Nats?
💬 FAN’S CHOICE
Who was tonight’s MVP?
✅ Wood
✅ Garcia Jr.
✅ Ribalta
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MARLINS PREVIEW
⚾ DUGOUT DISPATCH
The Nats lost their first series to the Marlins earlier this season and are looking to keep their May momentum going and get revenge on their rivals.
📊 THE BOX SCORE:
Marlins Batting: The Marlins are led by Otto Lopez, who leads the MLB with a .326 batting average, Xavier Edwards, who has the fourth-best batting average in the MLB with a 3.14, and Liam Hicks, who is the team leader in home runs and RBIs.
Marlins Pitching: The Marlins currently have Sandy Alcantara and Max Meyer scheduled to pitch against the Nats. Alcantara has a 4.66 ERA with a 1.33 WHIP, and Meyer is 5-0 with a 1.10 WHIP, 2.97 ERA, and leads the team in total strikeouts.
Nats Batting: Aside from Wood and Abrams, who are leading in almost every batting stat, Daylen Lile, Keibert Ruiz, Luis Garcia Jr., and Jacob Young have the ability to make contact with the ball and get the offense going.
Nats Pitching: The Nats are planning to start Cade Cavalli and Miles Mikolas. Cavalli leads the team with total strikeouts with 68 and a 3.62 ERA. Mikolas is 1-4 and has an ERA of 5.72.
🗣️ LOCKER ROOM LORE
Blake Butera has frequently spoken about his desire to get better every day, and with the Nats improving throughout the season, this series against the Marlins will be a test of how much Washington has improved since their last meeting.
💬 FAN’S CHOICE
Can the Nats get their revenge against the Marlins?
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Speed Reads
📌 The Nats Report: The Washington Nationals Stories You Missed and What's Next (The Nats Report)
📌The Nationals keep winning, and now they’re celebrating accordingly (The Washington Post)