WASHINGTON, DC- The Washington Nationals edged the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 on Thursday night at Nationals Park, securing their first one-run win over Philadelphia since April 2024. The victory improved Washington’s record to 49-72 and showcased a young roster making the most of its opportunities.

Earlier in the day, the Nationals doubled down on their youth movement by designating struggling first baseman Nathaniel Lowe for assignment to make room for top prospect Dylan Crews’s return. “We want to see the young guys and find out what they can do,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said before the opener of the four-game set — a challenge his team embraced from the start.

Right-hander Brad Lord delivered another solid outing against a dangerous Phillies lineup, holding them to two runs over six innings while scattering seven hits, walking one, and striking out three. He threw 92 pitches — 60 for strikes — and faced 25 batters before handing the game to a flawless bullpen.

“Mindset was just going in to attack these guys,” Lord said. “Not fall behind. They’re a really good hitting team when they’re ahead in counts, so the goal was to stay on the attack and make them put the ball in play.”

The Phillies’ first run came in the third inning on a sequence of softly hit balls — a bloop double down the left-field line, an infield single, and a fielder’s choice groundout. “It’s encouraging because you know you made the right pitch,” Lord said of inducing weak contact. “Obviously it’s a little frustrating when it’s hit too soft, but you just let it roll off your back and keep attacking.”

Jackson Rutledge, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, José A. Ferrer, and Cole Henry combined for three scoreless innings to preserve the win. Shinnosuke Ogasawara entered today’s game in the top of the 7th with Trea Turner on first and Kyle Schwarber at bat and the Phillies trying to tie up the game; however, Shinnosuke Ogasawara struck out Schwarber to end the threat.

Ogasawara, who earned his first major league win, entered in the seventh with Trea Turner on first and Kyle Schwarber at the plate, striking out Schwarber to end a dangerous inning. Ferrer followed with a dominant eighth, retiring Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Nick Castellanos in order. The left-hander has now posted scoreless relief in seven of his last eight outings, going 2-0 with one save, two holds, and a 2.00 ERA over 9.0 innings, striking out eight and walking only two.

Henry closed the door in the ninth for his first career save, stranding the tying run at second. His recent work at the back end of the bullpen has been equally impressive — entering the night, the rookie had delivered 11 scoreless appearances in his past 13 games, allowing just one earned run over 4.2 innings in his most recent five outings. During that stretch, opponents hit only .188 (3-for-16) against him, while he struck out six and issued just two walks.

The offense provided its breakthrough in the bottom of the seventh. Trailing 2-1 against Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo — who had held them to one run on three hits with seven strikeouts through six — the Nationals loaded the bases with no outs on a Paul DeJong leadoff walk, a Riley Adams double that missed leaving the park by inches, and a Daylen Lile walk.

That knocked Luzardo from the game, and against reliever Orion Kerkering, José Tena punched a two-run single past a drawn-in infield to put Washington in front.

After the game, Cairo praised the team’s performance. “I gotta tell you, that’s a game that feels like a playoff game,” he said. “That’s the way you play — good pitching, good defense, opportune hitting. It was nice to see our pitchers, our defense, our hitters really engaged and doing the little things. That’s what we did today. They picked each other up.”

The Nationals will play game two of their four-game series tomorrow night with the scheduled first pitch at 6:45 p.m. EDT. The Nationals are scheduled to send LHP MacKenzie Gore, who has a 5-12 record and a 4.09 ERA and are scheduled to face RHP Zack Wheeler (10-5, 2.68 ERA).