WASHINGTON, D.C. - MARCH 30 - The Washington Nationals avoided being swept by their rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies, with a decisive 5-1 win on Sunday afternoon. An excellent start from Mitchell Parker and timely offensive sparks gave the team a dominant path to its first win of the 2025 season.

Parker took the bump for the first time this season and did not disappoint. While it wasn’t strikeout upon strikeout like Opening Day, Parker was just as dominant as MacKenzie Gore had been on Thursday. He pitched 6.1 scoreless innings, and while he allowed seven hits and two walks, he did a great job of keeping the pitch count low and stranding runners. Dave Martinez wanted him to get through the seventh, but after a single, a flyout, and then another single, he pulled Parker in favor of lefty reliever Jose A. Ferrer.

This move undoubtedly gave many Nats fans a scare, as the bullpen had allowed 16 runs in eight innings of work in the first two games of the series. While Ferrer first justified those fears by hitting Kyle Schwarber with a pitch to load the bases, he immediately forced Alec Bohm to ground into a double play that ended the inning without a scratch. Jorge Lopez then pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Brad Lord made his MLB debut in the ninth and loaded the bases without recording an out, which made Martinez summon Kyle Finnegan. A groundout allowed one of the runs to score, but that was all of the damage. Finnegan shut the door with a strikeout and another groundout, earning his first save of the season.

On the offensive side, it took a minute for things to heat up. Paul DeJong got the team’s first hit off Aaron Nola in the bottom of the third, but nothing came of it. Only with two outs in the fourth did the magic begin. Keibert Ruiz was hit by a pitch, Nathaniel Lowe followed with a single, and Josh Bell cranked a homer to center field to give the Nats a 3-0 lead. Then, in the sixth, Keibert Ruiz singled to set up a Nathaniel Lowe two-run shot to the batter’s eye.

While those would be the only runs scored today, getting five runs off of Aaron Nola is huge because it showed that this Nationals team is capable of punishing mistakes. Nola is a great pitcher, so it's nice to see the veteran power hitters provide that spark like they were brought here to do.

Ultimately, today’s win proved that the Nationals are capable of locking a team down for an entire game and never letting up. That kind of energy, combined with the performances from the starting pitching staff all weekend, suggests that this team could be way more dangerous than anyone expected.

Up next…

The Nationals will head up to Toronto for a Monday - Wednesday series, where they plan to start Michael Soroka, Trevor Williams, and Gore against a lineup that boasts league-wide stars. As the Nationals look to continue proving themselves to be a threat, this series will serve as another great measuring stick.