WEST SACRAMENTO -- Harry Ford didn’t have a ton of time to let his first Major League home run wash over him.
Trotting around the bases and back into the visitors’ dugout at Sutter Health Park with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, the Nationals rookie had no time to waste. Ford promptly strapped on his catching gear and took the field for the bottom of the frame.
“It goes quick,” he admitted.
That same phrase could be applied to Ford’s career so far after an impressive debut for the Nationals, who romped to a 23-4 win over the Athletics in Friday’s series opener.
Making just his ninth regular-season appearance in the Majors and his first of 2026, Ford -- the Nats’ No. 7 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- didn’t need long to launch his first career dinger.
He hammered a middle-in fastball from A’s reliever Justin Sterner over the wall in left-center, plating outfielder Dylan Crews for a two-run shot to extend the Nats’ lead to 8-2 in the fifth.
Acquired from the Mariners with pitcher Isaac Lyon last December in a trade for lefty reliever Jose A. Ferrer, Ford finished his first game as a National with an impressive stat line: two hits, a walk, three runs scored and three RBIs.
His second hit came against position player Carlos Cortes in the ninth inning of a blowout, but the ground-ball single up the middle counted just the same.
Even more impressive was Ford’s walk in the fourth inning, which came despite falling behind 0-1 against A’s lefty starter Gage Jump. Ford saw seven pitches before taking a free pass, and he saw six pitches in at-bats in both the second and sixth innings.
Although Ford struck out in each of the six-pitch at-bats, Nationals manager Blake Butera was happy to see the plate discipline.
“One, gets the pitch count up, of course,” Butera said. “Two, just the ability he has to get on base at a high clip is huge when we have the guys behind him to drive him in.”
Ford’s .370 on-base percentage in 58 games this season for Triple-A Rochester was a big reason the Nationals called him up on Friday to replace catcher Drew Millas, who landed on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with a fractured left index finger.
While on a hike in the Rochester area on Tuesday with his girlfriend Taylor, along with Red Wings teammate Zak Kent and Kent’s wife Naomi, Ford got the call: He was headed back to the big leagues. A former Top 100 overall prospect, Ford made his MLB debut with Seattle last September and appeared in eight games, going 1-for-6 with three strikeouts. He also singled as a pinch-hitter in Game 3 of the 2025 ALCS against the Blue Jays, his lone appearance of the 2025 postseason.
Now, Ford can forge new memories with a new franchise. He didn’t wait long to get started, slugging a homer that Nats starter Cade Cavalli saw coming.
“Cade was telling me all day I was going to hit one,” Ford said. “That was immediately where my mind went to. I was like, ‘Wow, he was right.’”
It wasn’t just the homer: Ford and Cavalli established a rapport quickly. They burned one of the Nats’ two ABS challenges in the first inning on a pitch Cavalli thought was a strike and Ford then challenged, but they struck gold in a key spot in the bottom of the sixth.
On a 1-2 count to A’s outfielder Tyler Soderstrom -- who hit a two-run homer in his previous at-bat -- Cavalli threw a 98.2 mph fastball toward the outer edge. The pitcher thought he’d missed, but Ford disagreed and challenged the call. The pitch was overturned to a strike, ending the inning and giving Cavalli his ninth and final strikeout of the night.
For Ford, who struck out in the top of the sixth on a 3-2 pitch the A’s challenged and overturned, winning the challenge delivered “a surge of confidence.”
“He’s got a great feel for the zone,” Cavalli said. “He saved one for me right there. Big props to Harry.”
It was a big moment that came on the heels of Ford’s home run, prompting an outpouring of support from his family, including Taylor and Ford’s father, Alan.
It took a while, but finally the young catcher had time to properly revel in the joy of his first MLB homer.
“Tonight, I’ll probably be thinking about it some more,” Ford said.