On April 3, 2012, the Nationals placed
Drew Storen and
Michael Morse on the disabled list to start the season, and
John Lannan was optioned to Triple-A
Syracuse. The Nationals also started a "Take Back Our Park" campaign vs.
Philadelphia so Nationals fans in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. could receive tickets for the series on May 4–6 in an advanced pre-sale. On April 28, 2012, top prospect
Bryce Harper made his Major League debut vs.
Los Angeles in Los Angeles, finishing with a double and a go-ahead sacrifice fly. The Nationals, however, would lose the game on a Matt Kemp walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. At the All-Star break, which began on July 9, 2012, the Nationals were in first place in the NL East with a 49–34 record, four games ahead of the second-place
Atlanta Braves. On July 30, 2012, despite having an off day, the Nationals obtained the best record in baseball due to a loss by the Cincinnati Reds. This was the first time that a Washington baseball team held sole position of first place in MLB since 1933. On September 20, 2012, the Nats clinched their first Playoff berth since moving to Washington, with a 4–1 win over the L.A. Dodgers. On October 1, 2012, the Nats clinched the NL East when the Braves lost 2–1 to the Pirates. The Nats finished the season on October 3, 2012, defeating the Phillies 5–1. They finished with a 98–64 record, the best record in Major League baseball that year. The Nationals played 20 extra inning games during the season, the most of any MLB team in 2012.
All-Star Game Nationals starting pitchers
Stephen Strasburg and
Gio González, and shortstop
Ian Desmond, were chosen to represent the Nationals in the 2012 All-Star Game. Desmond decided not to participate in order to rest a sore
oblique muscle;
Michael Bourn of the
Atlanta Braves was chosen to go in his place.
Giancarlo Stanton of the
Miami Marlins declined to participate because of a serious knee injury which required surgery, so the Nationals'
Bryce Harper was chosen to play in his place. This made the 19-year-old Harper the youngest position player and the third youngest player to be named an All-Star. The Nationals therefore had four All-Stars, the most since they moved to Washington, D.C. The game was played on Tuesday, July 10, in Kansas City, and the
National League won, 8–0. Gonzalez and Strasburg each pitched one scoreless inning; Gonzalez struck out one batter, and Strasburg allowed a hit and a walk. Harper entered the game in the fifth inning as a pinch hitter and played the remainder of the game in left field; at the plate, he went 0–1 with a walk.
Season standings Record vs. opponents Opening Day lineup Roster Attendance The Nationals drew 2,370,794 fans at Nationals Park during the regular season in 2012. It was the first time since
2006 that they had drawn more than 2,000,000 fans, and only the 2,731,993 they drew in their first season in Washington in
2005 exceeded it. It placed them ninth in attendance for the season among the 16 National League teams, also their best showing since 2005. Their highest attendance at a home game was on May 19, when they drew 42,331 for a game against the
Baltimore Orioles, while their lowest was 14,520 for a game against the
Houston Astros on April 18. Their average home attendance was 30,010 per game, second-highest since their arrival in Washington and the first time they had averaged over 30,000 a game since their first season in Washington in
2005.
Game log ==Postseason==