WASHINGTON – Nationals ace Cade Cavalli had hurled four-no hit innings when his start on Saturday was cut short by a comebacker.
Cavalli was diagnosed with right calf discomfort after he was struck in the lower leg area by a 93.1 mph comebacker from Javier Sanoja. Cavalli managed to retrieve the grounder and make an off-balance throw to first base to keep his no-hit bid in check. But the 6-foot-4, 223-pound right-hander limped off the field and into the dugout, where he was immediately attended to by the coaching and medical staff.
“I’m feeling better,” Cavalli said after Washington's 10-inning, 5-4 walk-off win over Miami. “We got some soft tissue work on it. We were trying to loosen it up, it just tightened up. I didn’t want to risk anything compensating with my upper body and putting my arm in a weird position. It just felt a little uncomfortable pushing off. We’re just being more cautious than anything.”
Cavalli had X-rays, which came back negative. He described the immediate discomfort as a “charley horse” or “dead leg.”
“I expect it to be day to day, but also it depends on how he comes in tomorrow,” said manager Blake Butera.
The Nationals began warming up the bullpen shortly after Cavalli walked off the field. Lefty Erik Tolman replaced Cavalli for the fifth inning, and Tom Cosgrove, Brad Lord and Orlando Ribalta covered the rest of the extra-innings game. Ribalta earned his first career win as the Nationals got their first walk-off victory of the season.
“Not how I wanted it to happen, obviously,” Cavalli said of his outing. “I felt really good today. But it was awesome seeing our team get that kind of win.”
Cavalli had overcome a high pitch count (70) to hold the Marlins hitless with eight strikeouts and three walks in four frames. He struck out the side in the first inning, pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, and threw a 1-2-3 inning in the third. In what turned out to be his final inning of the game, he recovered from a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the fourth to retire the next three batters.
“It looked like they wanted to make sure he was able to land his offspeed in the zone; they weren’t going to chase it,” said Butera. “I thought they did a really good job of that. Cade then had to make an adjustment to landing those pitches earlier in at-bats to be able to get ahead.”
Over his last eight starts, Cavalli is 6-1 with a 1.69 ERA and a .187 opponents’ batting average. In addition to his four no-hit innings on Saturday, he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Cubs on Aug. 13.
Cavalli, 28, was named the Nationals' Opening Day starter in the first full season of his Major League career. After debuting on Aug. 26, 2022, Cavalli missed nearly three years because of a series of injuries. He is 12-5 with a 3.12 ERA in 29 starts across 152 2/3 innings this season.
“He works his tail off every day,” said Dylan Crews, who recorded his first career walk-off hit. “It’s awesome to see him come out here and set the tone like he did and be on the roll that he’s been on recently.”