Postgamer #24: Nats break even in the series with 11-4 drubbing of Atlanta: A recap

Posted on April 22, 2026 by Ryan MacReynolds

The Nationals put together a complete performance tonight en route to their first division win at home thus far in the 2026 season. Foster Griffin gave them six solid innings on the way to his third win of the campaign, and the offense was stout, getting contributions from top to bottom throughout the night. It also helped that the Nationals were able to get to the Atlanta bullpen, allowing their starter, Reynaldo Lopez, to record only three outs before being lifted from the game. All in all, this was a great bounce-back victory for the boys after dropping game one of the series on Monday night.

The Action

The onslaught began early for Washington, as the first six batters to come to the plate in the bottom of the first all reached base safely. To come out in the first inning of a ballgame and immediately put up three runs is a huge momentum builder for a club, especially when you have confidence in your pitcher, as the Nats did in Foster Griffin tonight. Jacob Young started the scoring with an RBI single, Daylen Lile drove one in via a walk, and the third came on an RBI broken bat bloop single from Nasim Nunez. Lopez would retire the next three hitters in order after Nunez, putting the inning in the books after Washington took the 3-0 lead, and a 45 pitch count on Lopez’s arm.

The Braves responded instantly with an RBI double by Michael Harris in the second, but that was instantly wiped out by a 415-foot opposite-field home run by James Wood to lead-off the bottom of the second. Wood’s 8th homer of the year reminded us that he’s still red-hot, and more importantly, moved the lead back to three, with the Nats ahead 4-1 after two.

Drake Baldwin answered that shot with a solo home run of his own in the third to cut the lead to 4-2, and that’s where things would stay into the fifth inning as Foster Griffin and the Braves’ bullpen dueled into the middle innings. The silence was broken in the top of the fifth by Eli White of all people a ball that snuck into the corner of the bullpen at only 348 feet. White’s shot, his first homer of the season out to right field, cut the lead to 4-3, and put Griffin’s really solid start in danger of becoming shaky. But Griffin pushed through it to maintain the lead.

In the bottom of the 5th inning, the Nats’ offense would get him that run back. Luis Garcia Jr. came up with one of his four hits on the night in the fifth, this one being an RBI single off of Dylan Dodd, extending the Washington lead to 5-3, then a really pivotal moment in this game as the Braves were really threatening to come back.

Foster Griffin was given the nod to go back out for the sixth, a decision that hurt the Nationals last night when Jake Irvin was given that same opportunity. Blake Butera‘s trust was proved to be well-founded, though, as Griffin worked around a two-out walk in a 3-2 count, and a mid-90’s pitch count. Butera came out for the ball — but not so fast — Griffin was allowed to stay in to face his final batter, and Griffin got a groundout to complete the 6th inning and notch his first career Quality Start. That got the Nationals through six strong innings with that 5-3 lead still intact. Another very good start for Griffin in his return season to the majors.

  • Reynaldo Lopez: 1 inning, 5 hits, 4 runs (4 earned), 3 walks, 1 strikeout, 58 pitches
  • Foster Griffin: 6 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs (3 earned), 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 96 pitches

The game remained silent as it made its way towards the later innings, each bullpen was doing their job, and well. For the Braves, Jose Suarez held the Nats scoreless for three innings after Lopez exited, Dylan Dodd threw an inning allowing one run, and Aaron Bummer tossed a scoreless sixth to keep the Nats right where they were. Meanwhile, Gus Varland was first out of the Washington bullpen, and he himself put up a zero in the top of the seventh.

The bottom of the seventh was where the game was broken wide open. The Nats put together a bases-loaded rally with one out, and Garcia cashed in big time with a two-run double against Ian Hamilton to stretch the lead out to 7-3. Jacob Young would follow with an RBI groundout to punctuate the rally and make it 8-3 before the inning would come to a close.

The Braves got one back against Cionel Perez in the eighth on an Austin Riley RBI groundout, but the final punch was landed in the bottom of the eighth. One of the most impactful moves Paul Toboni has made may have come even during the season. The move to acquire Curtis Mead is proving to be a better and better idea, and tonight he was rewarded yet again with a three-run bomb off the bat of Mead in the eighth to give us what would be our final score of 11- 4. Three outs from Clayton Beeter in the ninth would put the finishing touches on it all, as his strikeout of Drake Baldwin gave the Nationals the game two win to even this four-game series up at a game apiece.

What’s Next?

The series will take a turn tomorrow regardless of who wins it, as the teams will fight for that coveted 2-1 advantage in game three. Our pitching matchup consists of two very crafty veterans, with the 35-year-old lefty Martin Perez (1-1, 2.21 ERA) on the mound for the Braves taking on Zack Littell (0-2, 7.11 ERA), who is really in need of a strong outing tomorrow. That game once again will get underway at 6:45 and will be covered tomorrow night with another recap article on TalkNats!

Down on the Farm

AAA Rochester

AA Harrisburg

High-A Wilmington

  • 13-5 loss tonight at Frederick
  • Isaac Lyon: 1.2 innings, 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 1 strikeout
  • Ronny Cruz: 2-4, home run (1), RBI, walk (High-A debut)
  • Angel Feliz: 1-3, 2 walks, 2 stolen bases
  • TJ White: 1-4, home run (3), RBI, walk, stolen base
  • Randal Diaz: 1-3, home run (2), RBI, walk
  • Cristhian Vaquero: 2-4, stolen base
  • Tomorrow: 7:00 game at Frederick (Riley Maddox pitching)

Low-A Fredericksburg

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