Postgamer #37: Nats offense explodes to trounce the Twins: A Recap

Posted on May 7, 2026 by Ryan MacReynolds
Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

The Nationals scored zero runs over the first three innings of tonight’s game against Minnesota, and in their remaining five offensive frames, scored 15. For those who don’t want to do that math, the Nats’ offense averaged three runs an inning over innings 4-8. Such an offensive outburst was accompanied by a stellar pitching performance, with Miles Mikolas picking up his first win as a Nat, Mitchell Parker retiring all eight batters he faced, and Zak Kent tossing an (almost) perfect ninth inning in his team debut. All of this came together to give the good guys a 15-2 victory to even the series with Minnesota at one apiece.

The Action

The game actually got off to a really quick start for both of the starting pitchers, not something you’d expect to see in a game with 17 combined runs scored. Nevertheless, the first baserunner of the game didn’t come until the top of the third inning, the same inning in which the Twins snagged a 1-0 advantage thanks to an RBI single by Matt Wallner. Mikolas was able to limit the damage to just that, and in the bottom of the fourth, his offense picked him up.

The first Washington hit of the night came in the fourth as James Wood broke up Bailey Ober‘s no-hitter bid with a line drive single. A few batters later, CJ Abrams struck for the first, but not the last time in this game, and tied it up with an RBI double, scoring Wood.

The Twins, rather, Matt Wallner struck right back once again in the fifth, as Wallner blasted a go-ahead solo shot out to center field to put Minnesota in front 2-1 on Wallner’s second RBI hit of the evening. The good news is that it would be the last hit the Twins would record all night.

The Nationals grabbed the lead back in the bottom half of the fifth on one of the more unlikely happenings. Drew Millas got a fastball on the inner part of the plate and sure didn’t miss it, turning and sending it out for a go-ahead two-run homer, moving the score to a still-respectable 3-2.

  • Bailey Ober: 5 innings, 6 hits, 5 runs (5 earned), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, 82 pitches
  • Miles Mikolas: 5.1 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs (2 earned), 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 74 pitches

The game started to get out of hand in the bottom of the sixth, as the Nationals were stacking extra base hits on top of each other. The inning began with three consecutive doubles, with Brady House‘s and Jose Tena‘s both driving a run in, and later in the inning, another one came home on Nasim Nunez‘s RBI triple. When everything was said and done, the Nats came up with four extra base hits in that sixth inning, and three runs, jumping the lead up to 6-2.

The seventh inning brought another quick strike, this one of the longball variety, off the bat of Brady House. His second RBI extra base hit in as many innings was a 425-foot blast to straightaway center field, a two-run shot that moved the Nats’ lead up to 8-2.

Now let’s have some fun. Let’s have some serious fun. Y’all thought 8-2 was cool? The bottom of the eighth was absolutely unhinged in all of the best ways. The offense had more than a grand finale planned for us, starting with a two-run single by James Wood to make it a 10-2 ballgame. Two consecutive walks after that would load the bases with one out for CJ Abrams, who absolutely did not miss, launching a ball way over the wall in right-center for a grand slam, ballooning the lead to 14-2. Just as a quick cherry on top, Jose Tena capped things off with a solo shot for his second homer of the season to give us our final score of 15-2. A scoreless inning from Zak Kent, ironically picked up off waivers last week from these same Twins, put the bow on what was a great night to be a National.

What’s Next?

The rubber match of this midweek series will give us a day game tomorrow afternoon at Nationals Park, as Jake Irvin (1-4, 4.93 ERA) will get the assignment for Washington in the 1:05 start. He’ll be opposed by a former highly regarded prospect in Simeon Woods Richardson (0-5, 6.49 ERA), who just hasn’t put it together at the major league level thus far in his career. It will be a great chance for the Nats’ offense to stay hot and pick themselves up a home series win, something that seems to be few and far between for this ball club.

Down on the Farm

AAA Rochester

  • 3-1 loss tonight at Syracuse
  • Luis Perales: 5 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts
  • Dylan Crews: 1-4, double, RBI (BA up to .252, OPS to .755)
  • Harry Ford: 1-3, walk (BA up to .180, OPS to .508)
  • Robert Hassell III: 2-4 (BA up to .275, OPS to .710)
  • Tomorrow: 6:35 game at Syracuse (Andry Lara pitching)

AA Harrisburg

High-A Wilmington

  • Game postponed tonight, doubleheader tomorrow

Low-A Fredericksburg

  • 4-3 loss tonight at Hub City
  • Eli Willits: 1-4, home run (BOMB, 4th), walk, RBI (BA up to .279, OPS to .885)
  • Yeremy Cabrera: 3-5, home run (7), RBI (BA up to .316, OPS to 1.096)
  • Coy James: 1-2, 3 walks (BA up to .194, OPS to .714)
  • Nick Peoples: 2-3, home run (4), RBI, walk (BA up to .230, OPS to .853)
  • Tomorrow: 6:30 game at Hub City (Carson Fischer pitching)
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