CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. reach 20 home run mark as the Nationals secure a series win

· Yahoo Sports

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 08: Luis García Jr. #2 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring on a hit by Daylen Lile #4 during the third inning against the Houston Astros at Nationals Park on July 08, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images) | Getty Images

You don’t get to say this that often with the Nats, but that was a nice, easy, comfortable win. The offense was firing on all cylinders, and Foster Griffin threw another gem. A night after Blake Butera complained about all the walks, the Nats pitching staff did not issue a free pass all night.

On the other side of things, the offense was grinding out at bats all night long and worked 10 walks, while striking out just three times. Even when the Nats were not scoring in the first couple of innings, it only felt like a matter of time before they broke through.

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That is exactly what happened in the middle innings, with the Nats scoring all 8 of their runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. They had three straight multi-run innings, and put the game out of reach in a hurry. It started with the Nats walking two times to start the third, and then cashing in on those free passes. CJ Abrams hit a sac fly, then Daylen Lile smashed an RBI double off the wall.

However, the 4th inning is when this offense really started going into a feeding frenzy. They made two quick outs before just wearing out Spencer Arrighetti. Keibert Ruiz got a two out knock, before they pitched around James Word. The Astros must not have gotten the memo that Luis Garcia Jr. is the hottest hitter in baseball. He punished them by destroying a 3-run bomb to right.

Garcia reached the 20 home run mark for the first time in his career at just the 87 game mark. He has hit an insane 15 home runs in his last 30 games and has a 1.219 OPS in that time. I did not think Garcia had anything like this in him, and I am certainly not alone in that sentiment. He has always had some sneaky pop and good bat to ball skills, but the power is not very sneaky these days.

In the 5th inning, CJ Abrams also reached the 20 home run milestone. He has hit 20 before, but this ties a career high for him. Abrams has inevitably slowed down a little bit since an insane April, but he has still been highly productive. This was a very good series at the plate for him. In 6 games in July, Abrams already has 3 walks, which is a good sign because he only had 4 all of June.

Abrams seems to be locking in again in these last few games. The approach has been better, and he is getting on base much more consistently. CJ’s second half struggles have been well documented, but with this new coaching staff, I have faith that CJ will have at least a solid second half. He is off to a great start in July after a mediocre June.

We have only talked about the offense so far, but arguably the biggest story of the night was Foster Griffin. The Nationals left hander threw 7 innings of one run ball while striking out 9. He got a career high 22 whiffs, including 9 on his cutter. Despite only throwing in the low-90’s, Griffin is not just a smoke and mirrors guy. He has legit swing and miss stuff.

As he got deeper into the game, he showed that off. His 7th inning was absolutely brilliant. His first strikeout of the inning came on a beautiful changeup that he pulled the string on. Griffin finished off his night by getting Brice Matthews to chase a curve in the dirt.

Griffin has such a deep bag of pitches, and all of them work so well together. For the season, he has a 2.77 ERA in 110.1 innings. Griffin has just smashed all the expectations anyone may have set for him when he signed from Japan for $5.5 million. He has been a legitimate ace for this team and should be an All-Star.

Overall, this was a great night for the Nats. The offense was clicking, Griffin was outstanding and the bullpen did not make things overly tense. Just a nice, easy win. While the 12-11 wins are fun, your heart can only take so many of those. This was just a comfortable, relaxing win.

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