Washington Nationals Failing to Capitalize on Unstable NL East Race
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The Washington Nationals are 30-35 after dropping two out of three to the offensively-challenged Texas Rangers.
The Nationals scoring just two runs twice and were shut out on Saturday despite the team's recent offensive momentum.
As of Monday evening, the Nationals held third place in the National League East, which the New York Mets currently lead.
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The Miami Marlins, despite exciting young players like Xavier Edwards and Max Meyer, have been irrelevant to the division discussion since the end of April. But other teams who have had success this year seem to be hitting skids.
Washington Nationals Are Failing to Capitalize on Rivals' Struggles
The Philadelphia Phillies extended their losing streak to five games after being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates, one of the worst teams in the MLB, including back-to-back 2-1 defeats. They are 1-9 in their last 10, a shocking streak considering the Phillies were 11-1 in their previous 12.
The Atlanta Braves are on a seven-game losing streak after getting swept by both the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants and have gone 2-11 in their last 13. Even after the return of Ronald Acuña Jr., the offense cannot seem to find the offensive rhythm it sported over the past few years.
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The recent struggles of the Phillies and Braves gave Washington a great opportunity to gain some ground in the NL East and better their chances in the competitive Wild Card race.
After the team's four-game winning streak against the Seattle Mariners and the Diamondbacks that saw them score nine or more runs in each win, it looked like all of the young bats had figured it out at the same time. CJ Abrams, James Wood, Luis Garcia Jr., and Keibert Ruiz were all consistently producing.
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But that momentum fell flat, and Philadelphia, despite getting swept by Pittsburgh, is still seven games ahead of the Nationals in the division race. Washington is only 2.5 games ahead of the Braves.
The Nationals still have a good opportunity to save ground in their slim hopes for the postseason, but they need to hold up their own end.
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Anders Pryor is an MLB writer and contributor at On SI a part of the Sports Illustrated network. He graduated from Villanova University with a degree in Journalism and spent his senior year interning with the sports desk at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Anders loves spending his free time running in the park and being with friends.
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