Call it a comeback: Nats rally with 3 HRs for 1st win at home in '26

WASHINGTON – Home runs by James Wood, Brady House and CJ Abrams Monday night ignited a late-inning, six-run rally in the Nationals' 9-6 over the Cardinals, snapping a five-game skid.

Wood’s bat made the biggest noise to begin the eighth-inning rally.

Down 6-3 with two men on, Wood crushed a 99.3 mph Ryne Stanek fastball 409 feet over the center-field wall. It was a laser line drive, with an amazing launch angle of 18 degrees.

Wood’s third homer, and second in as many games tied the game at six. But that wasn't all from the young star -- he also made an incredible catch in the right-field corner early in the game to rob Nolan Gorman of a home run.

Back to the eighth inning, though. With the game tied thanks to Wood's long ball, Curtis Mead then doubled off of reliever Matt Svanson, before House’s second homer of the season -- a two-run shot -- gave the Nationals an 8-6 lead.

Abrams followed with his fourth homer of the season, a solo shot to right field to give the Nats that much-needed three-run lead and marked the 500th hit of his career.

Did someone say 500?

Welcome to the 500 club, Zack Littell.

Building off a five-inning season debut behind opener PJ Poulin against the Phillies last week, Littell made his first start with the Nationals impactful.

The right-hander delivered five innings again, allowing one run on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts.

Littell started with four strikeouts in the first six batters faced, mixing his splitter, slider and fastball for strikes. He allowed only one extra-base hit -- a double by Thomas Saggese that led off the fifth -- an improvement over his prior outing, when he allowed a pair of homers to the Phils.

"It's the location,” Littell said. “I was just able to execute both sides of the plate, top and bottom. I felt like in Philly I was just kind of making the same mistake over and over again, and couldn't really correct it. Tonight, just to have a little bit better feel, execute pitches when I needed to, as well as get some swing and miss. Sequencing was a big thing tonight."

Littell's most memorable strikeout of the night came leading off the top of the second, when he set down Gorman with an 85.9-mph slider for his 500th punchout. Across his nine-year career, it took the right-hander 612 innings to reach the milestone, doing so over the span of 236 games (80 starts).

"It’s really cool,” Littell said. “It took me a long time, probably longer than I wanted it to. I'm very happy with it. Pretty cool to tell my kids one day.”

A big defensive play to help Littell’s cause arrived in the fourth off the bat of Gorman. His high fly ball deep toward the right-field foul pole was erased on a leaping catch in the glove of the 6-foot-6 Wood, robbing potential extra bases.

“That was cool,” Littell said. “I don't know that I've ever been on the mound for any home run robbery, but that one was really cool. I'm not sure it happens to any other player than James Wood. That was awesome. That was an incredible play. He had a pretty cool night. But personally, that was my favorite play from him.”

What was more satisfying, hitting a home run or robbing one?

“Robbing the homer was probably my favorite,” Wood said. “I feel like defense is something I've been working a lot on. I like that one a lot. It was fun, especially with the bullpen right there. They're hyping me up. It was pretty cool.”

Manager Blake Butera said watching his tall right fielder hit the game tying home run and take away a home run is another signal of the all-around player that Wood can become.

“Everyone knows the type of hitter he is,” Butera said. “Everyone knows the power he has. A lot of our message to him has been the defense too. Working on the defense and making sure he's an all around really good player.

“He's so athletic. Sometimes you don't realize how fast he can run because his strides are so long. To cover the ground that he did and rob that home run that's a reminder for James: 'You have a chance to be one of the best all around players in baseball.'"

Littell has struck out 278 since the beginning of 2024 across stints with the Rays, Reds and Nationals. He threw 70 pitches on Monday, 44 for strikes.

Cionel Pérez (1-1) tossed a scoreless ninth for the win, bouncing back from a nightmare outing against the Dodgers.

House finished 3-for-5 with a homer and two doubles. The Nationals pounded out 12 hits for their first win at home this season.

It's huge,” Butera said. “It really is. This is a credit to our guys. They've played this way all along. They haven't given up. They find ways to scratch runs across, whatever inning it might be.”