Nationals Do Something They Haven't Done in 3 Years With Series Win Over Padres
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The Washington Nationals won two out of three games against the San Diego Padres to close out the month of May.
That was their third consecutive series victory, and all three came against teams with winning records as they took down the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Guardians before their most recent set against the Padres.
It's been an impressive stretch for the Nationals. And with their win in the finale on Sunday, they secured victory No. 16 in the month of May. But even more notable was the fact that Washington's 16-12 record was their best in a single month since August of 2023.
Nationals Have Their Best Single-Month Record in Three Years
Three years ago, the Nationals were in a much different place when it came to their rebuild. CJ Abrams was 22 years old, Luis Garcia Jr. was 23 and Keibert Ruiz and MacKenzie Gore were both 24. And when they won 17 games to post a record of 17-11 in August, it seemed like the future was bright for this franchise.
Of course, history showed that wasn't the case following the completion of that month, as Washington had to replace both Mike Rizzo and Dave Martinez after the rebuild appeared to stall out. But with the new regime in place, led by president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and manager Blake Butera, things are once again looking up for the Nationals.
Not only did they win 16 games in May, but they did so against good competition by taking down two first-place teams, an NL Wild Card leader and two other teams that are within two games of holding their own Wild Card spots. And when facing a daunting 16-game stretch during the month that could have gotten their season off the rails, the young group instead performed well and came out on the other side with momentum that pushed them to finishing May with a winning record.
How Things Look Heading Into June
With an overall record of 31-29, Washington sits third in the NL East standings. They also find themselves just 1.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the National League, which is not something many people expected coming into the 2026 campaign.
The good news is the Nationals might be able to keep things rolling in June. At the time of writing, they are scheduled to face five teams with losing records (Miami Marlins, San Francisco Giants, Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox). They are also set to face only one first-place team (Tampa Bay Rays) and two last-place teams (Marlins and Red Sox).
On paper, this is a soft schedule for Washington in the June, and they should be poised to take advantage of that based on how they performed in May.
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Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai