Royals Sweep the Washington Nationals with a win this afternoon, 7-4

Washington D.C. - The Washington Nationals concluded their series against the Kansas City Royals with a 7-4 loss on Thursday afternoon at Nationals Park.

With this defeat, the Nationals finished their inter-league play for the 2024 season with the following records against the American League:

• Overall: 21-24
• A.L. East: 8-8
• A.L. Central: 5-9
• A.L. West: 8-7

The loss also marked the first time in their history (since 2005) that the Nationals have been swept by the Kansas City Royals.

In what may have been his final start in a Washington Nationals uniform, left-handed pitcher Patrick Corbin exited the mound at Nationals Park to a standing ovation in the top of the sixth inning. Corbin pitched 5.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, striking out three, and throwing 73 pitches, 49 of which were strikes. He retired the last nine batters he faced and received a no-decision for the game.

Corbin will finish the 2024 season with a 6-13 record and a 5.62 ERA. He pitched a total of 174.2 innings and struck out 139 batters. During his six seasons with the Washington Nationals, Corbin appeared in 170 games, pitched 946.2 innings, compiled a 47-77 record, and had a 5.11 ERA. He was also the winning pitcher for Game 7 of the World Series and Game 4 of the NLCS in 2019.

Entering Thursday's game, Corbin had a 4-5 record with a 4.41 ERA in over fifteen starts at Nationals Park this season. Additionally, in September, he went 2-1 with a 6.14 ERA in 4 games and four starts.

On the offensive side, Luis García Jr. hit his 17th home run of the season and his ninth three-run home run this season in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game at 4-4 after the Royals had scored four runs in the top half of the inning.

His homerun this afternoon was his team-leading 11^th game with three or more RBIs this season, which currently ranks tied for fifth most in the National League.

The Nationals took an early lead in the bottom of the first inning due to a series of hits and an error. However, they could not maintain the lead as the Royals quickly tied the game in the top of the second inning with a home run by Hunter Renfroe.

James Wood went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Wood has now hit safely in six of his last seven games. During these seven games, Wood is hitting .292 (7-for-24) with two doubles, a homer, two RBI, six walks, one stolen base and three runs scored.

Derek Law (1.2 IP, SO) and Jose A. Ferrer (1.0 IP) combined on 3.0 scoreless innings of relief. Ferrer has a 0.75 ERA (2 ER/24.0 IP) with 18 strikeouts and just two walks over his last 22 games, and Derek Law has worked six consecutive scoreless outings (8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 9 SO).

Next up, the Washington Nationals will host the Philadelphia Phillies for a three-game weekend series starting tomorrow night. Right-handed pitcher Trevor Williams (5-1, 2.19) will take the mound for the Nationals. Williams has allowed just one run in his last three starts, and one earned run or less in nine of 12 starts this season.

The Nationals will face left-handed pitcher Ranger Suárez (12-7, 3.15) tomorrow night, as the Phillies will send him to the mound.