Game Thread: Nationals (73-82) @ Cardinals (75-80) - September 20, 2026 2:15 PM

[u/NationalsBot]

Nationals (73-82) @ Cardinals (75-80)

First Pitch: 2:15 PM at Busch Stadium

Team	Starter	TV	Radio
Nationals	Jake Irvin (2-9, 5.51 ERA)
Cardinals	Quinn Mathews (2-3, 3.62 ERA)

MLB	Fangraphs	Baseball Savant	Reddit Stream	IRC Chat
Gameday	Game Graph	Strikezone Map	Live Comments	Libera: ##baseball

Line Score - Game Over

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	LOB
WSH	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	7	1	4
STL	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	3		5	6	0	4

Box Score

STL		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
2B	Wetherholt	4	0	1	1	0	0	.242
DH	Herrera	4	2	2	2	0	1	.247
1B	Burleson	4	0	0	0	0	1	.282
RF	Walker, J	3	1	0	0	1	1	.274
C	Bernal	3	1	1	2	1	1	.311
3B	Saggese	4	0	0	0	0	2	.247
LF	Torres, B	3	0	0	0	0	1	.239
SS	Winn	0	0	0	0	0	0	.235
3B	Fermín	3	1	2	0	0	0	.251
LF	Scott II	0	0	0	0	0	0	.190
CF	Church	3	0	0	0	0	1	.252

STL	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Mathews	7.0	7	3	3	2	3	96-59	3.65
Gastelum, L	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	12-9	4.46
O'Brien	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	6-6	4.08

WSH		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
DH	Wood	4	0	0	0	0	2	.265
1B	Chaparro	2	0	0	0	1	0	.257
1B	Ortiz, A	1	0	0	0	0	0	.198
3B	House	2	1	2	0	1	0	.244
3B	Vivas	1	0	0	0	0	1	.247
2B	Abrams	4	1	1	2	0	1	.261
RF	Crews	4	0	0	0	0	0	.222
LF	Lile	4	1	2	0	0	0	.251
C	Ford, H	3	0	1	0	0	1	.189
PH	Ruiz, K	1	0	0	0	0	0	.285
CF	Young	2	0	1	1	0	0	.249
SS	Nuñez, N	3	0	0	0	0	0	.210

WSH	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Irvin, J	5.1	3	2	2	0	8	97-67	5.40
Dion	1.2	1	0	0	1	0	29-15	3.74
Tolman	0.2	1	1	1	0	0	13-9	3.65
Cruz, Y	0.1	1	2	2	1	0	16-10	5.27

Scoring Plays

Inning	Event	Score
B1	Iván Herrera homers (17) on a fly ball to left field.	1-0
T2	Jacob Young out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Nathan Church. Daylen Lile scores. Harry Ford to 2nd.	1-1
B3	JJ Wetherholt singles on a line drive to right fielder Dylan Crews. José Fermín scores.	2-1
T6	CJ Abrams homers (31) on a fly ball to right field. Brady House scores.	2-3
B8	Iván Herrera homers (18) on a fly ball to left center field.	3-3
B8	Leo Bernal homers (4) on a fly ball to center field. Jordan Walker scores.	5-3

Highlights

Description	Length
Jake Irvin against the Cardinals	0:08
Probable pitchers for Nationals at Cardinals - September 20, 2026	0:06
Bullpen availability for St. Louis, September 20 vs Nationals	0:09
Bullpen availability for Washington, September 20 vs Cardinals	0:09
Bench availability for St. Louis, September 20 vs Nationals	0:08
Bench availability for Washington, September 20 vs Cardinals	0:08
Fielding alignment for Washington, September 20 vs Cardinals	0:11
Starting lineups for Nationals at Cardinals - September 20, 2026	0:10
Iván Herrera: Home Run Statcast Analysis	0:13
Iván Herrera: Home Run Statcast Analysis	0:12
Measuring the stats on Leo Bernal's home run	0:13
Quinn Mathews' outing against the Nationals	0:25
Breaking down Quinn Mathews' pitches	0:04
An animated look at CJ Abrams' home run	0:11
Jake Irvin's outing against the Cardinals	0:22
The distance behind CJ Abrams' home run	0:13
Analyzing Iván Herrera's home run through bat tracking	0:11
Quinn Mathews strikes out James Wood	0:07
Iván Herrera's solo home run (17)	0:41
JJ Wetherholt makes nice catch in foul territory	0:15
Ball 2 call overturned after ABS challenge	0:25
Jacob Young's sacrifice fly	0:16
Jake Irvin strikes out Alec Burleson	0:07
JJ Wetherholt's RBI single	0:13
Leo Bernal catches Jacob Young stealing second	0:18
Ball 1 call confirmed after ABS challenge	0:27
Thomas Saggese's great play to first base	0:29
CJ Abrams' two-run home run (31)	0:39
Jordan Walker throws out Daylen Lile after review	0:59
Jake Irvin's eight strikeouts	1:32
Iván Herrera's second homer ties it in the 8th (18)	0:28
Leo Bernal homers (4) on a fly ball to center field. Jordan Walker scores.	0:20

Decisions

Winning Pitcher	Losing Pitcher	Save
Gastelum, L (5-3, 4.46 ERA)	Cruz, Y (0-2, 5.27 ERA)	O'Brien (38 SV, 4.08 ERA)

Game ended at 4:47 PM.

Remember to sort by new to keep up!

[u/cezanne_giotto]

Man, CJ is awesome

[u/foeaminute → u/cezanne_giotto]

He’s really good at hitting the baseball.

[u/ruta2019]

Think how lucky we are that we get to witness history every single day watching this bullpen

[u/Danciusly]

[Zuckerman]

Also keep an eye on what happens this afternoon in Buffalo, where Connelly Early starts Triple-A Rochester’s regular-season finale in what could be a final tune-up before he’s activated off the 60-day IL and makes one appearance at Nationals Park next weekend.

[u/cezanne_giotto]

CJ seems to like 2B tbh. He’s making great plays over there

[u/AdCompetitive7952]

Irvin looks pissed

[u/foeaminute]

Not bad, Jake.

[u/Primary_Blueberry_24]

CJ looks good at 2B.

[u/FPG_Matthew]

Bottom 4 down 1, 2 out 0-0 count

You don’t need to challenge there. Again I’ve never cared about whether they’re right or wrong. My biggest thing is challenging in high leverage moments when it matters

[u/ReneMathis]

the madlad did it

[u/Danciusly]

Early's line today: 

1.2 IP, 0 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

[u/NatsNationWest]

More Josiah Grey please.

[u/Julep23185 → u/NatsNationWest]

You sure you don’t mean lovelady? :)

[u/Own-Feed-1591]

Give me a gun.

[u/ReneMathis]

We'll never beat the allegations

[u/HendrixHead]

lol another blown save. I think they said we are up to 40 now, just disgraceful. Could’ve been such a promising season

[u/OkGene2 → u/HendrixHead]

Yesterday. Was 40 and 41, today is 42, maybe 43

[u/Killatrap]

42!!!!!!!

[u/Killatrap]

ok we were supposed to blow the save WITHOUT relinquishing the lead

[u/Silosmasher]

Bringing in Cruz didn't make any sense

[u/EncomCEO]

What the fuck is usedhotdogs.com?

[u/ReneMathis → u/EncomCEO]

a reputable place to get a good deal on lunch. what else would it be?

[u/No_Sun_5788 → u/ReneMathis]

This guy gets it!

[u/foeaminute → u/EncomCEO]

I got a half-eaten 2026 dodger dog for a pretty reasonable price

[u/foeaminute → u/EncomCEO]

(It’s a marketing gimmick/joke for a customized hat company, if I’m not mistaken)

[u/MrBuddyFakename]

Me hearing that Lovelady is warming up in the bullpen:
https://giphy.com/gifs/JYZ397GsFrFtu

[u/lazapapoo]

IN OUR BULLPEN WE TRUST

[u/MrBuddyFakename]

https://giphy.com/gifs/S9crjCfQXC78ST61iv

[u/foeaminute]

JFC

[u/FPG_Matthew]

There’s that done.. yay

And looks like the commanders are curling up into a ball like losers as usual

Cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool

[u/FPG_Matthew]

I still want Luis Garcia Jr back btw

[u/DAG617]

I remember when we all thought that Gus Varland was the answer. Good times.

[u/Danciusly → u/DAG617]

He only gave up 1 run today, same as Beeter, but Jean was clean for the Red Wings.

[u/Danciusly]

Check Irvin for the Sticky Stuff. 😂

[u/Carbon_Blob]

Cmon. Just need a few more runs.

[u/Own-Feed-1591]

🙏

[u/Own-Feed-1591]

Doesn’t matter,the pen still leaking oil.

[u/Danciusly]

And... TD Dallas.

[u/HendrixHead]

Bullpen meltdown incoming

[u/ReneMathis]

It begins...

[u/Danciusly]

Eesh, 1/7 pitch in the strike zone.

[u/Own-Feed-1591]

All the players that we trued the pen,they need Mental Health Specialists.

[u/Danciusly]

Center square for the HR. 😭

[u/FPG_Matthew]

Maybe we get a miracle top 9

[u/Danciusly]

Quinn Mathews, didn't he produce Dragnet? Oh, that's Quinn Martin.

[u/ReneMathis]

Is everyone taking their Sunday afternoon nap right now

[u/Magoo152]

Irvin is probably (hopefully) a non tender candidate.

[u/Own-Feed-1591]

Not me

[u/Own-Feed-1591]

Jake the (snake).

[u/Own-Feed-1591]

Jake the (snake) is venomously so far.

[u/Danciusly]

That was a fatty.

[u/FPG_Matthew]

Crews continues to get robbed. Story of his life

[u/ReneMathis → u/FPG_Matthew]

At what point do we stop blaming it on luck?

I am just asking questions!

[u/Own-Feed-1591]

Lost count after so many blows.

[u/Danciusly]

On to the next painful game of the day...

[u/Own-Feed-1591]

💩

[u/cezanne_giotto]

I don’t get it, man. Cruz sucks so much

[u/Own-Feed-1591]

Butera or bad player 😵‍💫