Opening Day The Nationals' season started out with
Juan Soto, their starting left fielder and co-recipient of the 2019
Babe Ruth Award, testing positive for
COVID-19 and being placed on the injured list hours before first pitch on Opening Day on July 23 versus the
New York Yankees. Despite testing negative on follow-up rapid testing, Soto was unable to participate in baseball activities due to MLB and
District of Columbia health protocols. In the first game of the season the Nationals were held to one run—a solo home run from right fielder
Adam Eaton—by Yankees ace
Gerrit Cole, whom they had beaten twice during the
2019 World Series, before heavy rains forced the game to be called midway through the sixth inning. Nationals starter
Max Scherzer gave up all four of New York's runs in the loss, three of them batted in by Yankees slugger
Giancarlo Stanton.
Opening Day lineup Juan Soto tested positive for
COVID-19 and thus was placed on the
IL.
Game recap Season standings National League East National League Wild Card Record vs. opponents July on July 27 after he was released by the
Philadelphia Phillies. After dropping their first game of the season and losing outfielder
Juan Soto to the injured list with a positive
COVID-19 test, the Nationals' woes continued as ace
Stephen Strasburg, the reigning
World Series MVP, was scratched from his first start on July 25 with a nerve issue in his throwing hand.
Erick Fedde stepped in as the July 25 starter versus the
New York Yankees, contributing four innings in a 9–2 victory for Washington. The Nationals knocked out Yankees starter
James Paxton in the second inning. Center fielder
Víctor Robles had three hits, including a two-run double off Paxton and a two-run home run off the left field foul pole against reliever
Mike King.
Tanner Rainey picked up the win in relief with a scoreless inning.
Kyle Finnegan made his major league debut with a scoreless ninth inning for the Nationals. Despite an outstanding innings of work from starter
Patrick Corbin in the rubber game on July 26, the Nationals didn't get much offense going against the Yankees despite an early home run off
Jonathan Loaisiga from shortstop
Trea Turner. After Corbin allowed a seventh-inning home run to
Gleyber Torres, his only run given up and just his second baserunner allowed, manager
Davey Martinez removed him from the game in favor of
Will Harris, making his Nationals debut after signing a three-year contract early in the offseason. Harris gave up a game-tying solo home run by
Luke Voit. Nationals reliever
Sean Doolittle took the loss as Torres knocked in another run on a single in the eighth inning and
Zack Britton shut the door for New York. On July 27, the Nationals signed
Josh Harrison to a one-year deal and added him directly to the major league roster, optioning extra catcher
Raudy Read to the alternate training site in
Fredericksburg, Virginia. Nationals starter
Aníbal Sánchez surrendered four solo home runs over five innings, taking the 4–1 loss, as the Nationals opened an interleague series against the
Toronto Blue Jays later that day. With former National
Tanner Roark starting for the Blue Jays in the second game of the home-and-home series, the Nationals again managed to scratch out just one run, with second baseman
Starlin Castro committing two fielding errors that contributed to three unearned runs of five scored by the Blue Jays in the game. Washington's starter,
Austin Voth, gave up two earned runs over five innings for the loss. With
Canadian coronavirus protocols preventing the Blue Jays from playing home games in Toronto and improvements to
Sahlen Field, their temporary home in
Buffalo, New York, still under construction, Nationals Park hosted the Blue Jays as the "home team" for the next two games. The first of the two, July 29, was also the first test for the Nationals of a rule adopted for the 2020 season under which a baserunner starts each half-inning of extra innings on second base. Neither team managed to score over the first nine innings behind excellent starts for the Nationals'
Max Scherzer and Blue Jays rookie
Nate Pearson, sending the game into extra innings. Right fielder
Adam Eaton finally broke the tie for the Nationals in the tenth inning with a two-out infield single that scored runner
Emilio Bonifácio. The Nationals went on to win 4–0, with third baseman
Asdrúbal Cabrera tripling home three more runs that inning before Rainey won the game for the "home" team in the bottom of the tenth. The Nationals won again on July 30, also as the "away" team in their own ballpark, as Castro went 4-for-5 and left fielder
Michael A. Taylor hit a two-run homer off Toronto starter
Hyun-jin Ryu in the 6–4 contest. Fedde started again in place of Strasburg, but it was reliever
Ryne Harper who earned the win, his first as a National, as Fedde was pulled in the fourth inning after giving up two runs. Nationals closer
Daniel Hudson locked down his first save of the campaign. The Nationals were set to have their first roadtrip of the season starting July 31, visiting the division-rival
Miami Marlins, but the series was postponed after several Marlins players and personnel tested positive for
COVID-19. They finished July with a 3–4 record, third in the
National League East Division.
August (pictured in 2019) struggled both to stay healthy and to retire batters. After opening August with three straight days off due to the
Miami Marlins' positive
COVID-19 tests and a scheduled off day, the Nationals returned to action with a 5–3 win over the division-rival
New York Mets at Nationals Park on August 4. Left fielder
Juan Soto was activated after missing time following his own positive COVID-19 test, although he did not play in the August 4 game. The Nationals also activated reliever
Wander Suero after placing Harris on the injured list with a right flexor strain. Outfielder
Andrew Stevenson was optioned to the alternate training site. In the August 4 game, first baseman
Howie Kendrick went 4-for-4, beginning with a first-inning home run off Mets starter
Steven Matz. Left fielder
Josh Harrison recorded his first hit of the season with a second-inning home run off Matz. Starting pitcher
Patrick Corbin got the win despite allowing three runs over innings. After their return to action, however, the Nationals' failed to get their offense going. Behind
Rick Porcello, the Mets pulled out a series split by winning 3–1 on August 5.
Max Scherzer started the game for the Nationals but exited with a hamstring issue after just one inning of work, replaced by
Erick Fedde, who went on to take the loss in relief. Making his season debut, Soto drove in the Nationals' only run of the game with an RBI double off Porcello. Rosters contracted to 28 players on August 6 after starting the season at 30 players, and the Nationals chose to option reliever
James Bourque and
Emilio Bonifácio for assignment to trim their roster down to size. After another off day, the Nationals lost two games to their interleague rivals, the
Baltimore Orioles, including an 11–0 drubbing in which former National
Tommy Milone earned the win as the Orioles' starter on August 7. The Nationals led 3–0 into the eighth inning on August 8, but
Sean Doolittle gave up back-to-back home runs to trim Baltimore's deficit before closer
Daniel Hudson allowed a three-run home run by
Anthony Santander for the blown save and loss. In
Stephen Strasburg's season debut for the final game of the three-game set on August 9, the Nationals' struggles manifested themselves in a new way, as the game was postponed in the sixth inning when the Nationals Park grounds crew was unable to unroll the tarp over the infield in time for heavy rains to render the field unplayable for the rest of the night. The Nationals rebounded from three straight losses with a 16–4 drubbing of the Mets on August 10, as first baseman
Asdrúbal Cabrera went 4-for-4 with two home runs against his former team and Soto clubbed a home run beyond the apple sculpture in straightaway center at
Citi Field, the longest of his career. Corbin earned the win, giving up two runs in six innings. The Nationals followed that rout up with another win on August 11, as Scherzer and the Nationals avenged their earlier defeat by Porcello and the Mets. Shortstop
Trea Turner opened the game for the Nationals with a home run off Porcello, who took the loss, while Scherzer earned the win with six strong innings in the 2–1 contest. The Mets rallied, however, to split the four-game series by winning the next two games. In the August 12 game, they overcame two more Soto home runs, including a -blast that landed in the vacant concessions area high in the right field stands, by scoring five early to chase Nationals starter
Aníbal Sánchez in the third inning and then thumping reliever
Ryne Harper for five more in the sixth inning. The Nationals had to take two players out of the game: starting center fielder
Víctor Robles, who was hit on the hand by a pitch, and left-handed reliever
Sam Freeman, who suffered an elbow injury. Before the August 13 game, the Nationals moved both Freeman and Doolittle, dealing with a right knee issue, to the injured list. They selected the contract of left-hander
Seth Romero, one of their top pitching prospects, and activated Harris to fill the blank spots in the bullpen. The Mets won 8–2, getting to Nationals starter
Austin Voth early and forcing manager
Davey Martinez to go to his bullpen starting in the fifth inning.
Voth took the loss, but many of the runs were allowed by Romero, making his major league debut in relief, as New York catcher
Tomás Nido hit a two-out grand slam to center field to give New York a large lead.. Soto hit his fourth home run of the series in the sixth inning, but the damage was done and the Mets cruised to a win. Because of the season's modified rules, when the Nationals resumed the interrupted August 9 game against the Orioles on August 14, they did so as the "home" team at
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, proceeding to a loss. Reliever
Dakota Bacus, called up to give the Nationals a fresh bullpen arm while Harper was optioned, made his debut in the continued game with two shutout innings. While the 6–2 finish marked the second time of the month the Nationals had lost three games in a row, they suffered another loss as second baseman
Starlin Castro dove for a ball and broke his wrist, sending him to the injured list for the remainder of the season. To replace Castro on the roster and as the team's starting second baseman, the Nationals called up top prospect
Luis García from the alternate training site, selecting his contract for a major league debut in that evening's game, played as a regular home game for the Orioles. Both García and fellow rookie infielder
Carter Kieboom starred in the 15–3 win, with García singling off Baltimore's starter Milone in the third inning for his first career hit and later doubling in Soto and Cabrera for his first RBIs while Kieboom, the starting third baseman in the game, flashed the leather with 10 assists, many of them while playing in a defensive shift, to set a new team record for assists by a third baseman. h|However, the Nationals starting pitcher Strasburg exited the game after giving up a Santander home run and recording just two outs. Strasburg was later moved to the injured list and ultimately shut down for the season with carpal tunnel neuritis in his throwing hand, with Harper recalled to take his place on the roster. The Nationals and Orioles split the next two games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, with Corbin suffering his first loss of the season on August 15 as he allowed five runs over five innings before the Nationals rebounded to a 6–5 win behind Scherzer in the series finale the next day. Scherzer got the win despite allowing five runs over seven innings, with two solo home runs by Santander and a three-run home run by Scherzer's former catcher and Nationals teammate,
Pedro Severino, as Soto scored on a fielding error in the eighth inning. Another scheduled three-game series was shortened to two games by rain, but not before the Nationals split the first two with the division-rival
Atlanta Braves. The Braves pinned another blown save and loss on Hudson, struggling in his role as Washington's closer, with a walk-off home run by
Dansby Swanson capping a four-run rally in the ninth inning of the August 17 game, with a final score of 7–6. Also in this game was García's first career home run, as he became the first player born in the 2000s to hit a major league home run, with a two-run shot in the second inning off
Touki Toussaint. Hudson returned from the loss to complete the save and complete a 8–5 win for the Nationals on August 18, credited to Suero in relief after Voth was tagged for five runs over four innings. Romero, Bacus, Harris,
Javy Guerra, and
Kyle Finnegan also provided scoreless relief appearances in the game. The August 19 game was postponed by rain. After playing the rival Marlins after an earlier series was postponed by COVID-19, the Nationals lost three of five at Nationals Park, including a makeup "away" game played as part of an August 22 doubleheader. Returning after his recovery from COVID-19, shortstop
Miguel Rojas led the offense for the Marlins in a 3–2 Nationals loss on August 21, sending a three-run homer to left field off Corbin in the second inning. The Nationals split the doubleheader on August 22, winning as the home team in the matinee—while Scherzer struggled and departed in the fifth inning with the bases loaded, Finnegan struck out catcher
Jorge Alfaro to end the inning and earned his first career win—and losing in the nightcap, as prospect
Wil Crowe, selected from the alternate training site to start the game for the Nationals, was removed from the game in the fourth inning and ultimately tagged for four runs as the reliever Romero let in two inherited runners. Making his own major league debut, opposing starter
Sixto Sánchez gave up three runs over five innings, on home runs by Nationals catcher
Yan Gomes and center fielder Robles, but earned the win. Aníbal Sánchez finally earned his first win of the season on August 23, giving up just one run over seven innings. Miami turned to right-hander
Sterling Sharp, a Nationals prospect whom the Marlins had claimed in the
2019 Rule 5 draft, in relief after starter
Humberto Mejía was chased in the fourth inning. The Nationals hit Sharp hard in the fifth inning, scoring five runs off him. The Marlins designated Sharp for assignment after the game and returned him to the Nationals. Washington made its own roster move in the bullpen on August 24, with Romero out for the season after breaking his right hand in a fall on the stairs, according to manager
Davey Martinez; he was placed on the injured list and fellow southpaw
Ben Braymer was called up from the alternate training site. The Marlins had a game, with Voth again being pummeled to the tune of seven runs allowed over innings. The Nationals attempted to comeback but couldn't complete it, with the Marlins winning 11–8 despite a 4-for-5 effort from Soto and four RBIs by Eaton. For their third three-game losing streak of August, as well as their third scheduled three-game series of August truncated to two, the Nationals dropped games on August 25 and 26 to the division-rival
Philadelphia Phillies before the August 27 game was postponed. The Phillies hit off of Fedde well in the series opener, which the Nationals lost 8–3 after a lengthy rain delay, despite another leadoff home run by Turner. It was the bullpen that was the cause of the loss on August 26. Although Doolittle returned to the roster to take the place of third baseman
Carter Kieboom as Kieboom was optioned to the alternate training site, the relievers couldn't withstand a Phillies rally as Harris gave up the tying and go-ahead runs in the seventh inning, not helped by an outfield collision between Robles and Eaton. The scheduled August 27 game was postponed, as players from the Phillies and the Nationals boycotted due to the
shooting of Jacob Blake in
Kenosha, Wisconsin, earlier that week. On a roadtrip to
Fenway Park to play an interleague series with the
Boston Red Sox, the Nationals started off with an 10–2 win behind Scherzer on August 28. Braymer made his major league debut in relief, giving up one run over two innings before being optioned back to the alternate training site after the Nationals signed former longtime Red Sox utilityman
Brock Holt to a major league deal on August 29. But Washington finished out the month on yet another three-game losing streak, as the Red Sox took the next two games by handing losses to Sánchez and Voth, and Fedde in Philadelphia on August 31 allowed six runs over six innings for another loss. Overall, the Nationals went 9–16 in August and finished the month in last place in the
National League East Division.
September , pictured doing his signature "shuffle" in the batter's box, clinched his first career batting title on September 27. September started poorly for the Nationals, whose losing streak extended to seven games as they were swept by the division-rival
Philadelphia Phillies and lost their first of four games against the rival
Atlanta Braves. They were then shut out by the Phillies on September 1 and 2 before pushing the September 3 game to extra innings before losing 6–5 in the tenth. The Nationals struggled against Phillies ace
Aaron Nola on September 1, as they lost in the 6–0 shutout. After Nola threw eight innings and held Nationals'
Trea Turner and
Juan Soto went hitless, Nationals manager
Davey Martinez admitted it was the best performance he had yet seen from Nola. It was
Max Scherzer's turn to pitch on September 2, with
Zack Wheeler leading the Phillies' 3–0 shutout of the Nationals. Scherzer allowed three runs over six innings for the loss, receiving no run support. In this game, Nationals reliever
Javy Guerra suffered a hamstring injury in relief of Corbin and landed on the injured list the next day, with the Nationals recalling
Kyle McGowin to replace him in the bullpen. While the Nationals started to get their offensense going on September 3, aided by an inside-the-park home run by Turner and an over-the-fence home run by
Michael A. Taylor, reliever
Daniel Hudson failed to save the game in the eighth inning and
Sean Doolittle took the loss as the Phillies scored their automatic runner in the bottom of the tenth. The Nationals lost the first game in a doubleheader at
Truist Park in
Atlanta on September 4, as the bats again went quiet and fifth starter
Austin Voth again imploded, giving up five runs, including two home runs by
Ronald Acuña Jr., in innings en route to a 7–1 loss. To make matters worse, the Nationals scratched Soto with elbow soreness and sat fellow outfielder
Adam Eaton with a knee injury he had suffered the previous night. While still missing their usual corner outfielders, and turning again to rookie starting pitcher
Wil Crowe for the spot start in the nightcap, the Nationals pulled out a 10–9 win. Crowe was lifted from the game in the third inning, having struggled with command and given up two home runs, including Acuña's third of the day. Reliever
Tanner Rainey, the Nationals' most reliable arm all season, surrendered a grand slam to
Freddie Freeman to tie the game in the fourth inning. Led by Turner, the Nationals scored just enough runs to win, as struggling closer
Daniel Hudson gave up a two-run home run but still earned the save. The Nationals recalled third baseman
Carter Kieboom on September 5, designating longtime utilityman
Wilmer Difo for assignment in a corresponding move. "We've got to see what we've got," manager
Davey Martinez explained, describing Kieboom—despite his struggles at the plate before he was optioned to the alternate training site in late August—as his everyday third baseman for the rest of the season. The bullpen and offense came through again in the September 5 game, with McGowin making his season debut and throwing perfect innings, earning the win and picking up another lackluster start by Fedde, who allowed all four of the Braves' runs as the Nationals again scored ten times. Also that day, the Nationals announced a contract extension for general manager
Mike Rizzo through the
2023 season. Corbin struggled again on September 6 and took the loss as the Braves salvaged a series split, giving up five runs and exiting after innings, as it was Atlanta's turn to put up ten runs to three for the Nationals. In a highly unusual move, Rizzo was ejected during the game by umpire
Joe West after, West claimed, the Nationals general manager showered verbal abuse on the umpiring crew from his suite two levels above home plate over a questionable call. After placing rookie reliever
Dakota Bacus on the injured list, the Nationals recalled reliever
James Bourque. The Nationals swept the
Tampa Bay Rays in a two-game interleague set on September 7 and 8. Scherzer pitched well in the series opener, putting up seven strong innings as the Nationals prevailed 6–1. The second game was more competitive, but the Nationals won 5–3, aided by Soto's return to the lineup, Kieboom's first extra-base hit of the season (an RBI double), and perfect innings of relief from Doolittle and Rainey. The two-game sweep was tempered as veteran infielder
Howie Kendrick landed on the injured list with a nagging hamstring injury, with the Nationals selecting the contract of 32-year-old minor league outfielder
Yadiel Hernández from the alternate training site to replace him. Rainey's revival didn't last long, as he took the loss on September 10 when the Braves clawed back from a five-run deficit before
Dansby Swanson gave them the lead with an eighth-inning home run. Making matters worse, the Nationals lost Doolittle to another injury in the ninth inning. Done for the season, Doolittle was placed on the injured list with an oblique injury, and the Nationals recalled left-hander
Ben Braymer to the bullpen. Following another blown save for Hudson that sent the game into extra innings, Bourque earned his first major league win pitching in relief for the Nationals on September 11, coming on in the twelfth inning after scoreless tenth and eleventh innings authored by
Kyle Finnegan. Taylor delivered the walk-off single for Washington to cap the seesaw 8–7 affair. The Braves took the four-game series by winning the next two games, with Corbin allowing just two runs over seven innings on September 12 but getting just one run of support and Scherzer getting clobbered for six runs over innings on September 13 to take the loss. The Nationals split a pair with the Rays at
Tropicana Field. Playing without Rainey, out for the season with a right flexor strain, and utilityman
Brock Holt, out for the birth of his second child, and with reliever
Aaron Barrett and infielder
Jake Noll up from the alternate training site to replace them, the Nationals were pummeled 6–1 on September 15 as
Aníbal Sánchez gave up all of the Rays' runs in innings. They recovered to win in extra innings the next day, with
Luis García hitting a game-winning home run into right field in the tenth after another blown save by Hudson. The
Miami Marlins and Nationals had some games to make up from earlier in the season due to the Marlins'
COVID-19 outbreak, so a five-game series that included two doubleheaders in three days was scheduled. The Nationals won the first and last games of the five-game set, shutting out the Marlins 5–0 behind a strong start from
Erick Fedde, who allowed just one hit over six innings, in the matinee on September 18 and then shutting them out again 15–0 in the nightcap on September 20, with Braymer earning his first career win thanks to an effective five-inning spot start and ample run support. Sandwiched in between, the Marlins came back to crush Crowe and the Nationals' bullpen in a 15–3 blowout in the night game on September 18, which ended with a returning Holt coughing up a three-run homer to
Brian Anderson in his major league pitching debut; hammering Corbin for a career-high 14 hits allowed and sending him to yet another loss in a 7–3 game on September 19, the only nine-inning game of the series under the 2020 season's doubleheader rules; and winning the first game in the September 20 doubleheader, a tough 2–1 loss for Scherzer, with the go-ahead run scoring on a Kieboom throwing error, despite a strong pitching performance for the Nationals' longtime ace. The Nationals beat the Phillies on September 21 behind a five-inning start from Sánchez and four scoreless innings from the bullpen, although they lost Kieboom for the season when he was hit on the hand by a pitch, suffering a bone bruise. Playing their third doubleheader in the span of less than a week, the Nationals swept both games against Philadelphia on September 22, with Voth earning his first win of the season in the matinee and the 32-year-old rookie Hernández hitting his first major league home run to walk off in the nightcap, as journeyman
Paolo Espino made the spot start for the Nationals. The Phillies exacted a small measure of revenge, savaging the Nationals 12–3 and handing Fedde the loss on September 23, despite Fedde posting his longest outing of the year at seven innings while giving up three runs, two of them on home runs by former Nationals teammate and fellow
Las Vegas native
Bryce Harper. After McGowin and
Ryne Harper struggled in relief, Holt took the ball for his second pitching appearance of the season. The Nationals were formally eliminated that night from playoff contention. Finishing the season with four games against the division-rival
New York Mets, with whom they were now battling for fourth place in the
National League East Division, the Nationals dropped the series opener on September 24 as Corbin lost his seventh straight decision. To catch the Mets in the standings and finish out of last place in the division, by dint of a better head-to-head record, the Nationals had to win out—and they did, starting by winning yet another doubleheader on September 26 following a rainout. Harris notched his first save with the Nationals in the first game of two on September 26, securing the 4–3 win for Scherzer. The Nationals were propelled by an unlikely offensive powerhouse. Starting in left field and leading off for the Nationals, with Soto moving over to right field,
Andrew Stevenson hit two home runs off Mets ace and reigning
Cy Young Award winner
Jacob deGrom, including an inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning as Mets left fielder
Dominic Smith ran into a wall and couldn't get up quickly. In the second game of the doubleheader, Sánchez received support in the form of a five-run third inning that gave the Nationals all the offense they needed to win, 5–3. The Nationals punctuated the season in emphatic fashion on September 27, winning 15–5 and giving Voth his second win of the season. Turner hit a grand slam off Mets starter
Steven Matz in the game, while Soto singled to secure the
National League batting title, the youngest qualifying player ever to lead the league in hits over a season. Despite a rough start to September, the Nationals managed a 14–14 record of wins and losses over the month, bringing them to a 26–34 season record that was good for a fourth-place finish in the National League East, one year after
earning a wild card berth into the playoffs and winning the
2019 World Series.
Notable transactions • July 27, 2020: The Nationals signed infielder/outfielder
Josh Harrison to a one-year major league contract. • August 6, 2020: The Nationals designated infielder/outfielder
Emilio Bonifácio for assignment; he elected free agency. • August 13, 2020: The Nationals selected the contract of left-handed pitcher
Seth Romero from the alternate training site. • August 14, 2020: The Nationals selected the contracts of right-handed pitcher
Dakota Bacus and infielder
Luis García from the alternate training site. • August 22, 2020: The Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitcher
Wil Crowe from the alternate training site. • August 27, 2020: The Nationals acquired minor league pitcher
Sterling Sharp from the
Miami Marlins for cash considerations. • August 29, 2020: The Nationals signed infielder/outfielder
Brock Holt to a one-year major league contract. • September 5, 2020: The Nationals signed general manager
Mike Rizzo to a three-year contract extension. The Nationals also designated infielder
Wilmer Difo for assignment; he was outrighted to the alternate training site. • September 10, 2020: The Nationals selected the contract of outfielder
Yadiel Hernández from the alternate training site. • September 26, 2020: The Nationals signed manager
Dave Martinez to a three-year contract extension.
Major league debuts • July 25, 2020:
Kyle Finnegan • August 13, 2020:
Seth Romero • August 14, 2020:
Dakota Bacus,
Luis García • August 22, 2020:
Wil Crowe • August 28, 2020:
Ben Braymer • September 10, 2020:
Yadiel Hernández ''
NOTE: Dakota Bacus's debut took place in the August 14 continuation of the suspended August 9 game. In baseball records, his debut technically appears as having occurred in the August 9 game.'' ==Game log==