Tampa, Florida — February 25th, 2026 — Washington Nationals’ defensive struggles prove key in first loss of the spring against the New York Yankees.

A subpar performance at best by the Nats’ offense was overshadowed by inadequate defensive play in tonight’s loss. Washington committed three errors, including one by Dylan Crews, who shouldn’t be making those types of mistakes. It was a game to forget for the Nats, who only amassed one hit in the game.

There isn’t much to write home about in a 7-0 loss. Outfielder Christian Franklin got the only hit for the Nats in the top of the third inning, but the next batter, Tres Barrera, grounded into an inning-ending double-play. The Nats didn’t even draw a walk during the game while striking out 12 times. It was an ugly game for the Nationals’ offense.

Andrew Alvarez started for the Nats and pitched two innings. The game got off to a rough start when Alvarez allowed a leadoff home run to Amed Rosario. The left-hander bounced back to finish the first inning but ran into more trouble in the second. Alvarez committed a fielding error followed by a wild pitch that allowed a runner to score. Alvarez's final line was two innings, three hits, two runs, two walks, and three strikeouts. Richard Lovelady followed Alvarez with a clean third inning with a strikeout. Former Nat Trevor Gott preceded Lovelady in the fourth but was victimized by defensive miscues. Gott gave up three runs, but only one was earned.

Clayton Beeter pitched in the fifth and committed a fielding error that allowed the inning to extend. He then allowed a two-run double to New York’s George Lombard Jr. Jackson Rutledge, PJ Poulin, and Paxton Shultz pitched the last three innings and didn't allow a run to score.

In the bottom of the second inning, Andrew Alvarez committed a throwing error that allowed two runners to advance into scoring position. On a wild pitch to the next batter, one of those runners scored to make the score 2-0, Yankees. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Dylan Crews committed an error that allowed two runners to score, increasing the score to 5-0. In the next inning, pitcher Clayton Beeter committed another error. It was the Nats’ worst defensive performance of the spring, committing three errors.

In the bottom of the fourth, Dylan Crews committed a fielding error that allowed two runners to score. It allowed the Yankees to take a commanding five-run lead in a game in which the Nationals struggled to get a runner to second base. It’s disappointing to see a player of Crews’ caliber commit an error like that, but hopefully it’s just a slow start for him.

Guiding questions:

Player of the Game: Jackson Rutledge(1IP, K)

Guiding questions:

The Nats travel on the road tomorrow afternoon to take on the Phillies at 1:05 EST. Jake Eder will get his second start of the spring for Washington, while Taijuan Walker gets his first action of 2026 for Philadelphia. The Phillies are 1-3 so far while the Nationals are 4-1-1.