Can Nats sustain level of play they haven't seen in five years? '100%'

CLEVELAND -- The long stretch is finally over for the Washington Nationals. And it featured a lot more positives than negatives.

Sixteen days ago, the Washington Nationals left for Cincinnati with a 19-22 record and a daunting schedule in front of them. And while that span came to a bit of a deflating end on Wednesday thanks to a 3-2 loss to the Guardians, there’s no denying the Nationals took a step forward across their marathon stretch.

In total, Washington went 10-6 across that span, and is set to enter Thursday's off day with a record of 29-28. It’s the latest they’ve been over .500 since July 2021.

“I’m really happy with it,” manager Blake Butera said. “Hopefully this isn’t the end of the stretch of us playing good baseball.”

The Nationals finished their road trip by going 4-2 against the Braves and Guardians, who would both be in the postseason if the season ended today.

“These guys just keep believing; they’re starting to figure out we have some good guys on the team,” Butera said. “When you can go out and play the way we’ve played… you have to feel good about it.”

The biggest reason for that strong run of play of late has been their offense, which entered play on Wednesday leading MLB in a plethora of offensive categories including runs (304), doubles (108), and extra base hits (188).

That production begins and ends with James Wood, who has mashed 15 home runs this season while also leading the National league in walks (47) and wRC+ (168).

He hit .361 (22-for-61) across the 16-game stretch with four homers, nine RBIs and three steals.

His production has been buoyed by strong play from CJ Abrams, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI double.

“He continues to do special things with the bat,” Butera said of Abrams . “It’s fun to watch him do his thing right now.”

Abrams’ second hit came in the ninth inning as Washington attempted to mount a comeback against Guardians closer Cade Smith.

“Good road trip,” Abrams said. “We could have easily gone 6-0 but two games didn’t go the way we wanted. Still a good road trip and excited to go home.”

All week, the Nationals were able to prevent the Cleveland Guardians from having the big inning.

Not only were they able to prevent Cleveland from having a big inning, but they also consistently found a way to put together a big inning of their own.

That run came to an end Wednesday, as the Guardians got all three of their runs in the fifth inning against Miles Mikolas and Richard Lovelady.

Although Mikolas took the loss, he had another solid outing for the Nationals’ suddenly flourishing starting rotation. Nationals starters have now allowed just four earned runs over the past week (39 2/3 innings), whether it be working as a traditional starter or a bulk pitcher like Mikolas did on Wednesday.

Mikolas entered the game in the second inning after PJ Poulin opened (making him the first National to start two games in a series), and held the Guardians off the scoreboard before allowing the runs in the fifth.

The Nationals nearly caught up to the Guardians in the ninth inning when they had runners on first and third with no one out, but Smith was able to wiggle out of the jam by striking out José Tena and Jorbit Vivas.

Even though that comeback bid came up short, Mikolas still believes that late-game surge was a testament to the Nationals’ fight.

“If we have a chance to win a game we’re going to win it,” he said. “We put a lot of pressure on teams since they know they can’t just put us away and forget about us. If it’s a close game they’re probably nervous against us.”

That sentiment was tangible throughout the Nationals’ 72-hour stay in Cleveland, as they always seemed to be loose and confident in the dugout regardless of the game situation.

Now, part of that may be due to the fact they jumped out to early leads in the first two games of the series, but it also seems clear that there’s a belief that this success is more than just a flash in the pan.

After Wednesday’s game, Abrams was asked if he felt this run of play was sustainable. And he wasted no time giving his answer.

“100%,” he said.