Opening Day , moments before delivering an RBI single to walk off the
Atlanta Braves on April 6, 2021. The Nationals invited President
Joe Biden to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day, which had been scheduled for April 1 at home against the division-rival
New York Mets. Biden declined the invitation. The April 1 game was postponed to a date to be determined after the Nationals suffered a
COVID-19 outbreak, with at least four players testing positive and as many as seven others directed to quarantine under MLB's health and safety protocols. With three games against the Mets and one game against the
Atlanta Braves postponed due to COVID-19, the Nationals' Opening Day was rescheduled for April 6 at home versus the division-rival Braves. Before the game, the Nationals and an announced crowd of 4,801 observed the ceremonial raising of Washington's
2019 World Series champion flag. Opening Day starter
Max Scherzer toed the slab and delivered his first pitch to Braves right fielder
Ronald Acuña Jr. at 4:06 p.m. EDT, a fastball at the top of the zone that Acuña turned on and drove into the seats above the visitors' bullpen in left field. Two batters later, Scherzer surrendered another home run to Braves first baseman and reigning
National League Most Valuable Player Freddie Freeman. After starter
Drew Smyly provided Atlanta with a scoreless bottom of the first inning, the Braves scored again on another solo shot off the bat of shortstop
Dansby Swanson, giving them an early 3–0 lead. The Nationals answered in the bottom of the second. With two outs, second baseman
Hernán Pérez came up with Washington's first base hit, a line drive single into left field. After left fielder
Andrew Stevenson reached on a sharp groundball deflected by Atlanta second baseman
Ozzie Albies, which was ruled an error, the newest member of the Nationals organization, catcher
Jonathan Lucroy—signed and selected to the roster to replace
Alex Avila and
Yan Gomes, who were placed on the injured list due to COVID-19 protocols, and tasked with catching Scherzer for the first time in his career on Opening Day—poked an 0–2 pitch up the left field line to score both runners. The Braves quickly got one of those runs back as Acuña again took Scherzer deep to left-center. But Scherzer rallied, striking out the next two batters and working around a two-out single by Braves left fielder
Marcell Ozuna to escape the inning. In the bottom of the third, Scherzer led off with a lineout to Acuña in right field, in his first at-bat in a non-exhibition game since Game 2 of the
2019 National League Championship Series. But after center fielder
Víctor Robles walked with one out, shortstop
Trea Turner—a surprise inclusion on the Opening Day roster after he missed a full-team workout the previous day, reportedly while the Nationals were waiting for a negative COVID-19 test result—lined a home run to left field off Smyly, evening the game at 4–4. The Nationals loaded the bases themselves in the bottom of the seventh against Braves reliever
Tyler Matzek, on a single by Stevenson and walks by pinch-hitter
Carter Kieboom and the leadoff hitter Robles, but
Josh Tomlin relieved Matzek and got Turner to fly out to Ozuna in left field to strand the bases loaded.
Opening Day lineup Season standings National League East National League Wild Card Record vs. opponents April appeared in five games with the Nationals in April while the team dealt with a
COVID-19 outbreak. After winning on a
Juan Soto walk-off single on Opening Day on April 6, the Nationals played a doubleheader April 7 against the
Atlanta Braves, making up the postponed April 5 game. While both games were close, the Braves swept the Nationals, getting to starter
Erick Fedde in the matinee before tacking on the eventual winning run on a wild pitch by reliever
Wander Suero in the seventh inning and shutting out the Nationals in the evening game. The second of the two games was a pitchers' duel between Nationals co-ace
Stephen Strasburg and 22-year-old starter
Huascar Ynoa, with neither team scoring until the seventh, when Atlanta pinch-hitter
Pablo Sandoval slammed a two-run home run to center off reliever
Tanner Rainey to give the Braves their margin of victory. Replacement player
Cody Wilson and left-handed reliever
Sam Clay made their major league debuts in the matinee game, with Clay striking out Braves sluggers
Freddie Freeman and
Marcell Ozuna in his scoreless inning of work. Wilson was returned to the Nationals' alternate training site on April 9, as infielder
Jordy Mercer, catchers
Alex Avila and
Yan Gomes, and reliever
Brad Hand were activated from the injured list. The Nationals also optioned infielder
Carter Kieboom to the alternate training site in
Fredericksburg, Virginia, and reassigned catcher
Tres Barrera and reliever
Ryne Harper to the "taxi squad" of available players for a series on the road against the
defending world champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Nationals were swept by the Dodgers over three games, despite strong starts from
Joe Ross on April 9 and
Max Scherzer on April 11. In both of those games, the Nationals were shut out. In the April 10 game, a two-homer day for Soto was spoiled by a -inning stinker for returning starter
Patrick Corbin, who was activated as reliever
Kyle McGowin was optioned that day but gave up six earned runs in his 2021 season debut. The Nationals activated first baseman
Josh Bell, outfielder
Kyle Schwarber, and infielder
Josh Harrison off the injured list on April 12 ahead of a three-game series against the
St. Louis Cardinals. Outfielder
Yadiel Hernández and infielder
Luis García were optioned, and catcher
Jonathan Lucroy was designated for assignment after appearing in just five games with the Nationals. The Nationals snapped their five-game losing streak behind a resurgent start from Fedde at
Busch Stadium on April 12. While Fedde didn't qualify for the win, exiting in the fifth inning, the Nationals got to St. Louis starter
John Gant for three runs and tacked on two more against the Cardinals' bullpen to win 5–2, reliever
Kyle Finnegan being credited with the win. The Cardinals struck back against Strasburg and veteran Nationals left-handed reliever
Luis Avilán on April 13, as Strasburg and Avilán combined to give up 14 runs over the first five innings of the game. Strasburg exhibited reduced velocity and struggled to command his arsenal throughout the game, giving up three home runs. The Nationals turned over the ball to a position player, utilityman
Hernán Pérez, in the eighth inning; he struck out two as he retired the side in order. The Nationals lost 14–3. The Nationals shut out the Cardinals in the rubber game, an April 14 matinee, for their first series win of the season. Riding another strong, six-inning outing by Ross, who also singled and scored a run in the contest, the Nationals won 6–0. Returning home for a four-game series against the
Arizona Diamondbacks, the Nationals sent out Corbin for his second start of the season on April 15. It went even more poorly than his first start, as he gave up 10 runs over just two innings to his former team to take the loss. Adding injury to insult, Avilán, who appeared in long relief behind Corbin in the defeat, was diagnosed with a torn
ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow in his left throwing arm after the game; he went to the injured list and elected to undergo
Tommy John surgery. The Nationals rebounded from the April 15 loss to win their next two games, the first time in the season that Washington had strung together back-to-back wins. On April 16, Scherzer provided seven scoreless innings, followed by scoreless innings for Hudson and Hand. Schwarber broke the scoreless tie with a solo home run that traveled to right field, the deepest walk-off home run ever hit at Nationals Park, in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game. Fedde turned in another strong start to lead the Nationals to a 6–2 victory on April 17, backed by a strong offensive performance from his batterymate Gomes. Strasburg was scheduled to start the fourth game of the series, but he was placed on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation before the game, along with Suero, who strained his oblique while pitching in the previous game. Having already recalled McGowin to replace Avilán on the roster earlier in the series, the Nationals summoned right-handers
Paolo Espino and
Ryne Harper to fill in, with Espino shouldering the loss in a spot start just hours after the Nationals selected his contract. The Nationals' rotation woes continued as Ross, who hadn't allowed a run in his first two starts, was bombed for 10 earned runs in a rematch with the Cardinals at Nationals Park on April 19. Ross took the loss as the Nationals were unable to mount a comeback. After pitching two perfect innings in relief, Harper was optioned to the alternate training site on April 20, and right-handed pitcher Steven Fuentes was recalled to the major leagues for the first time to give the Nationals a fresh arm in the bullpen. The Nationals also called up Hernández to rejoin the team after placing Soto, who struggled at the plate in the series against Arizona, on the injured list with a left shoulder strain. Corbin rebounded in the April 20 game with his first quality start of the season, pitching six scoreless innings. Although Rainey blew the save as St. Louis took a one-run lead in the seventh inning, the Nationals won 3–2 on a game-tying single by shortstop
Trea Turner and a go-ahead bases-loaded walk by the catcher Gomes versus Cardinals reliever
Giovanny Gallegos. Hudson picked up the win and Hand locked down the save. In the rubber game of the series on April 21, the Nationals won their second consecutive 1–0 game started by Scherzer, with the catcher Avila doubling home Bell for the game's only run in the second inning. St. Louis starter
Carlos Martínez took the loss despite pitching six otherwise strong innings. Heading back out on the road, the Nationals opened a series against the division-rival
New York Mets on April 23 by facing their originally scheduled Opening Day opponent, two-time
Cy Young Award-winner
Jacob deGrom. Sporting a fastball up to and secondary pitches that rarely dipped below , deGrom blitzed through a complete-game shutout, giving up just two hits while recording a new career high in strikeouts with 15. Opposing deGrom on the mound, Fedde matched deGrom through four innings before deGrom himself drove in the game's first run with an RBI double in the fifth inning. Fedde gave up two more runs before relievers
Austin Voth and
Kyle McGowin surrendered three more, and the Nationals lost 6–0. Ross rebounded with a capable outing on April 24 to knot the series at one win apiece, giving up one run over six innings while driving in a run himself as he earned the win. For the second time in the series and the fifth time in the young season, the Nationals were shut out in the rubber game, unable to score off
Taijuan Walker or the Mets bullpen. Corbin again struggled to his third loss of the season, allowing all four of the Mets' runs before he was lifted with no outs in the fifth inning. Turner exited the game after being hit by a Walker fastball near the elbow. Traveling to
Dunedin, Florida, for their first interleague game of the season against the
Toronto Blue Jays, the Nationals split a pair in the two-game set. Former National
Tommy Milone, pitching in relief for the Blue Jays, was credited with the win in the first game on April 27, as Scherzer squandered an early three-run lead by giving up a go-ahead grand slam to
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Jays never looked back. Guerrero set a new career high with three home runs in the game, the first two off Scherzer and the third off Finnegan, driving in seven of Toronto's nine runs in the contest. Returning to the lineup two days after being hit by a pitch, Turner also had a multi-homer game, going deep in his first two plate appearances. The Nationals salvaged a series split on April 28 as they pounded Toronto starter
Steven Matz for six runs in an 8–2 win, three of those runs driven in on a home run by their second baseman Harrison. The Nationals returned home to begin a three-game series against the division-rival
Miami Marlins, which they opened with a win on April 30.
Jon Lester made his first start of the season, coming off the injured list to replace Fuentes, who had not appeared in a game in more than a week on the roster. Lester pitched five scoreless innings, but Miami starter
Pablo López kept Washington off the board as well. The game went into extra innings, the first time the Nationals had been forced to play past the ninth inning in 2021, under a temporary rule placing a runner on second base to start each half-inning beginning with the tenth. The Marlins drove in their free baserunner for the first run of the game, but the Nationals immediately answered back with a game-winning blast off the bat of Schwarber leading off the bottom of the tenth, driving in their own unearned runner and topping Miami 2–1. Overall, the Nationals had a losing record in April, going 10–12 to begin the season. Their record was good for third place in the
National League East Division and left them one game back of the division-leading
Philadelphia Phillies.
May and wife Erica welcomed their third child in May. For the first time in 2021, on May 1, the Nationals won a third consecutive game, topping the division-rival
Miami Marlins behind a strong seven innings from
Patrick Corbin and big offensive performances from catcher
Yan Gomes, who hit a two-run home run, and first baseman
Josh Bell, who drove in four including via a bases-clearing double. On May 2,
Max Scherzer and the Nationals won 3–1 to complete their first series sweep of 2021 and extend their winning streak to four games. First baseman
Ryan Zimmerman supplied all of Washington's offense with a three-run home run off Marlins starter
Trevor Rogers, while Scherzer went the distance, allowing only a solo home run in the ninth inning by second baseman
Isan Díaz. Immediately after the game, Scherzer left the team to be with his family for the birth of his third child. Coming off their sweep of the Marlins, the Nationals were swept in turn by another division rival, the
Atlanta Braves. Before the May 4 game, the Nationals designated utilityman
Hernán Pérez for assignment and optioned reliever
Kyle McGowin, clearing space on the roster to activate outfielder
Juan Soto and setup man
Will Harris. But the May 4 game went poorly, as 22-year-old Atlanta starter
Huascar Ynoa effectively shut down the Nationals' offense, allowing just one unearned run over seven strong innings—as well as slugging a grand slam off struggling Washington reliever
Tanner Rainey in the sixth inning. The Braves won 6–1, with Nationals starter
Joe Ross shouldering the loss. The Braves won again on May 5, 5–3, with the help of a
Marcell Ozuna grand slam. This time, however, it was a Nationals pitcher who had a notable achievement, as reliever
Kyle Finnegan threw the fifth
immaculate inning in team history. Coming on in relief of
Erick Fedde in the sixth inning, Finnegan struck out
Austin Riley,
Dansby Swanson, and
William Contreras on nine pitches. Meanwhile, Gomes and shortstop
Trea Turner homered to account for the Nationals' only runs of the game. The Braves completed the sweep on May 6 as Washington could muster only a pair of runs to back veteran starter
Jon Lester, who pitched into the sixth inning while allowing three runs. The Nationals proceeded to drop two of three to both the
New York Yankees in interleague play at
Yankee Stadium and the division-rival
Philadelphia Phillies at home. On May 7 in
New York City, the Yankees led by a run heading into the eighth inning, but the visiting Nationals rallied for six runs, led by a three-run homer by second baseman
Josh Harrison. Soto also contributed with a two-homer performance in his first start since being activated from the injured list. The Nationals won 11–4. Unfortunately for Washington, any momentum from the big comeback win was stymied by poor bullpen performances in the ensuing games. A sterling start by Scherzer, making his first appearance May 8 since becoming a father for the third time and pitching into the eighth inning while allowing just one run, was squandered as closer
Brad Hand gave up the tying run in the eighth inning and then again after the Nationals took the lead in the ninth inning. Rainey ultimately loaded the bases in the eleventh inning before surrendering the game-winning run on an infield hit by
Gleyber Torres. The Nationals once again sent out Hand to attempt to force extra innings on May 9 with the score tied at two runs apiece in the ninth inning, after left fielder
Kyle Schwarber hit a seventh-inning home run to erase the Yankees' lead. But as he had the previous night, Hand was unable to keep New York off the board, as
Giancarlo Stanton laced a game-winning single against a
slider up in the zone for the Yankees' second straight walk-off win. As Washington's skid continued in
Philadelphia, Fedde took the loss again on May 11. Jeered by fans in his first game in front of a crowd at
Nationals Park since the
2019 season, former National and Phillies right fielder
Bryce Harper hit a deep home run off Fedde that effectively set the tone for the game, a 6–2 Philadelphia victory. Although they returned reliever
Wander Suero from the injured list, optioning right-handed swingman
Paolo Espino in a corresponding move before game time, the Nationals' losing streak ran to four games as Hand once again collapsed on May 12, spoiling six innings of one-run ball from Lester by blowing the save in the ninth inning on a home run by Phillies center fielder
Odúbel Herrera, then combining with Finnegan to give up three more in the tenth inning. After manager
Dave Martinez called a team meeting following the loss, the Nationals clambered back into the win column on May 13 behind a stellar start from Corbin, who struck out nine and allowed just one run over seven innings. Schwarber and first baseman
Josh Bell got the scoring started early in the 5–1 win, tacking four runs on the board with two-run homers in the first inning. Third baseman
Starlin Castro capped the scoring with an RBI double in the sixth inning. As had Scherzer earlier in the month, Corbin left the team after his win to be with his wife, Jen, who gave birth to the couple's first son. Espino was recalled as Corbin was placed on the paternity list. Heading to
Phoenix, the Nationals routed the
Arizona Diamondbacks on May 14, winning 17–2 behind five shutout innings from Scherzer and a huge offensive performance by Gomes, who tallied five hits and was just a home run short of
hitting for the cycle for the first time in his major league career. On May 15, it was the Diamondbacks' turn to blow out the Nationals, downing the visitors 11–4. Ross battled command issues in his start, coughing up a home run to Arizona third baseman
Eduardo Escobar in the fourth inning that accounted for three of the eight earned runs he surrendered in the game. The Nationals rallied to win the series, shutting out the Diamondbacks 3–0 on May 16 behind a resurgent seven-inning performance from Fedde and the bullpen, including Hand, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the save. There was no score in the game until the eighth inning, when pinch-hitter
Yadiel Hernández put Washington on top with a home run. Despite a cheering reception from fans, Lester struggled against his former team, the
Chicago Cubs, taking the loss on May 17 as the Nationals began a four-game series at
Wrigley Field. While Schwarber, also a former Cub, hit a two-run homer in his return to Wrigley Field, Lester allowed three homers of his own, giving up five runs without making it through six full innings. Returning for his first start as a father on May 18, Corbin allowed three runs over five innings, but it was Harris who took the loss, surrendering a two-run home run by
David Bote in the sixth inning that broke the tie and put the Cubs on top for good. Optioned to make room on the active roster for Corbin, Espino wasn't down for long, being recalled alongside McGowin the next day when Fedde tested positive for
COVID-19 and Rainey was also placed on the COVID-19-related injured list as an
unvaccinated close contact. Neither Espino nor McGowin appeared May 19 as the Nationals bounced back to defeat the Cubs, as Scherzer allowed two runs over five innings while striking out eight Chicago players and Soto became just the sixteenth player to homer off the scoreboard at Wrigley Field, blasting a home run off Cubs starter
Jake Arrieta amid a three-hit performance. The Nationals were unable to clinch a series split on May 20, however, despite back-to-back first-inning home runs by Bell and Schwarber, as Ross was wobbly again, allowing four runs before he was knocked out in the fourth inning. The Cubs won 5–2. Returning home to Nationals Park, the Nationals swept their interleague rivals, the
Baltimore Orioles, over a three-game series. Starting pitcher
Stephen Strasburg was activated May 21, with McGowin once again optioned to Triple-A
Rochester, and earned the win in that night's game by pitching into the sixth inning while allowing just a single hit, although he also walked four Orioles and only struck out one. A high-scoring affair ended in favor of the Nationals, 12–9, the following day. Lester allowed six runs, four of them on one swing by Baltimore first baseman
Ryan Mountcastle in the first inning, but the Nationals answered back with a grand slam of their own, courtesy of Harrison in his first career appearance as a center fielder, as they tallied five runs off Orioles starter
Bruce Zimmermann. After Zimmermann exited, the Nationals took the lead in the fourth inning on a three-run homer by their own first baseman, longest-tenured National
Ryan Zimmerman. Reliever
Daniel Hudson was credited with the win as he came on in the eighth inning after Harris failed to retire any of the three batters he faced, and Hand earned the save. Harris was placed on the injured list following the ineffective outing with what the Nationals described as right hand inflammation, a recurring issue for the veteran right-hander. He was joined by center fielder
Víctor Robles, who was sidelined with a sprained right ankle. McGowin was once again recalled to the active roster. On May 23, the shorthanded Nationals eked out a win even after Corbin gave up three runs in the first inning, as they scored four in a bottom of the first highlighted by a two-run Schwarber homer, then rallied again after the Orioles tied the game with their fourth run off Corbin to take the lead on a sacrifice fly by Turner. Soto made a mental mistake as he didn't run out a popup around home plate batting after Turner, allowing catcher
Pedro Severino, his former Nationals teammate, to throw him out at first base even after failing to catch the skied ball. Martinez told the media after the game that Soto's mistake was "embarrassing for the whole club" and that at his behest, Soto apologized to his teammates, even though the Nationals held on to win the game. Rainy weather rolled into the
Washington, D.C., metropolitan area as the Nationals hosted the
Cincinnati Reds and
Milwaukee Brewers from the
National League Central Division, but the Nationals' hitters did little to bring the rain themselves. On May 25, the Nationals narrowly avoided a shutout when Bell homered in the ninth inning, but the lack of offense doomed them and consigned Scherzer to a hard-luck loss after he allowed just two runs, on solo home runs, over seven innings. The Nationals led 3–0 in the fourth inning on May 26 when rain forced that game to be suspended. After clearing COVID-19 protocols, Rainey was activated from the injured list for McGowin the following day. The Nationals held on to win the suspended game 5–3 despite an unsteady performance by Hudson in the eighth inning, getting crucial insurance runs after recently recalled infielder
Luis García delivered a pinch-hit triple in the sixth. But the bats went silent in a shutout loss that evening, in a seven-inning game. Strasburg took the loss as he gave up all three Reds runs, including a leadoff home run by
Eugenio Suárez, over five innings of work. Following that series loss to the Reds, the Brewers swept the Nationals over three games, including both ends of a May 29 doubleheader after a scheduled May 28 game was rained out. The home team mustered just three runs over the series against Milwaukee, including another 3–0 shutout loss on May 30 as Scherzer once again did not receive run support from his teammates. The Nationals also received bad news May 30 as Harris was diagnosed with
thoracic outlet syndrome, which required season-ending surgery to address. At month's end, García was sent back to Triple-A Rochester and Robles was activated from the injured list, having recovered quickly from his sprained ankle. On the field, the last-place Nationals' woes continued as they traveled to
Atlanta and were unable to recover from a three-run first inning authored by Ross. They lost the first of four games versus the Braves, falling to 21–29 on the season and finishing with an 11–17 record in May.
June set a franchise record for home runs in a month, going on a historic tear at the plate, in June. The Nationals opened June with a series split against the division-rival
Atlanta Braves on the road. After the Braves won May 31, the Nationals answered back with wins on June 1 and June 2. In the former game, Strasburg was struck on the glove by a line drive comebacker by
William Contreras in the second inning and pulled from the game as a precautionary measure, having allowed a run in a wobbly first inning. Reliever
Austin Voth provided three innings in long relief, allowing two runs on a
Ronald Acuña Jr. home run, and earned the win in the 11–6 game. Right fielder
Juan Soto and first baseman
Ryan Zimmerman were major contributors to the Nationals' efforts on offense, both hitting two-run homers in the game. The following day, although Strasburg had escaped serious injury as a result of the Contreras comebacker, the Nationals placed him on the injured list once again with what they described as a right neck strain. The Nationals called on veteran
Jon Lester to pitch on three days' rest in the June 2 game, and he pitched into the sixth inning, allowing one run. Top setup man
Daniel Hudson struggled again and suffered a blown save in the seventh inning when
Ozzie Albies doubled in a pair of runs, but batterymate
Yan Gomes picked him up with a go-ahead home run in the top of the eighth, and shortstop
Trea Turner tacked on an insurance run with a single in the ninth. Closer
Brad Hand shut the Braves down to save the 5–3 contest. Washington failed to secure a series win on June 3, however, as starter
Patrick Corbin ran into trouble and couldn't escape the sixth inning, and the Nationals didn't score their first run until the ninth. The visitors lost 5–1. Although ace starter
Max Scherzer once again did not benefit from much run support on June 4 as the Nationals took on the
Philadelphia Phillies, he got just enough to win. Scherzer pitched into the eighth inning, allowing just one run, and the Nationals' go-ahead run in the sixth inning courtesy of a Soto homer held up in the 2–1 finish. That ended up being the Nationals' only win of the three-game series in
Philadelphia. On June 5, Washington starting pitcher
Joe Ross accounted for the team's only hit through the first six innings, and Ross was rocked for a three-run home run by
Andrew McCutchen after first baseman
Josh Bell booted a routine groundball in the fourth inning. Despite not being charged with an earned run in the appearance, Ross shouldered the loss in the 5–2 game. Bell, who had committed the crucial error, supplied his team's only scoring offense with a two-run home run late in the game. The Nationals gave up twelve runs in the rubber game the following day. The game was filled with mishaps, some of them dangerous. Washington's spot starter, Voth, exited early after he was hit in the face by a
Vince Velasquez fastball in his first plate appearance. Although the visitors rallied for three runs against former Nationals reliever
Brandon Kintzler, relievers
Sam Clay,
Kyle Finnegan,
Paolo Espino, and
Tanner Rainey all struggled mightily, the latter of the quartet surrendering a three-run home run by
J. T. Realmuto to give the game its final score, 12–6. The game was interrupted in the eighth inning, with the Nationals at bat, when the protective netting behind home plate collapsed, forcing a lengthy game delay. Before beginning a two-game interleague series visiting the
Tampa Bay Rays, the Nationals placed Voth on the injured list with a broken nose, suffered when he was struck by Velasquez's pitch in
Philadelphia. To replace Voth in the bullpen, they recalled right-hander
Ryne Harper from Triple-A
Rochester. That two-game set ended up as a split, with the Nationals losing 3–1 on June 8 and winning 9–7 on June 9. Tampa Bay starter
Tyler Glasnow handily outdueled Lester in the former game, as Lester exited in the fourth inning after issuing four walks. Reliever
Wander Suero allowed back-to-back walks that led to two runs scoring in the fifth inning, giving the Rays a lead they would not relinquish. While their pitching struggled more in the latter game, the Nationals' bats roared to life. Gifted a two-run lead right away, courtesy of a Soto home run, Corbin responded by walking the bases loaded to start the bottom of the first inning. All three runs scored before Corbin settled in to pitch through five innings, with the three runs in the first inning the only damage against him. Leading by a pair of runs into the seventh inning, the Nationals watched the thin lead disintegrate. Finnegan gave up a run in the seventh, then Hudson was saddled with his second blown save in a week's span as he was tagged for a game-tying home run by
Joey Wendle in the eighth. The Nationals opened extra innings by scoring twice in the top of the tenth inning, but Hand gave both runs back (one being the unearned automatic baserunner) in his second inning of work, with Wendle again delivering the game-tying hit with a single. The Nationals again scored twice in the top of the eleventh inning, and this time, Rainey was able to close out the game for his first career save. Returning home, the Nationals were greeted by rain. A June 10 tilt against the visiting
San Francisco Giants was scrapped by inclement weather. For the Nationals, the series opener on June 11 was little worth the wait—
Anthony DeSclafani shut them out, allowing two hits over nine complete innings, after Scherzer exited just twelve pitches into the game with inflammation in a groin muscle. Coming on in long relief of Scherzer, Espino pitched well, followed by a shutout from the rest of the Nationals' bullpen, but the Giants did all the damage they needed on a solo home run by
Buster Posey off Espino in the fourth inning. Playing the makeup of the canceled June 10 game, the Nationals returned the favor the next day, with
Erick Fedde returning from a stint on the injured list for
COVID-19 to strike out seven Giants over five innings and lead a seven-inning shutout. Left fielder
Kyle Schwarber slugged a leadoff home run against Giants starter
Kevin Gausman, which turned out to be all the offense the home team needed in the contest. The Nationals handed the ball to right-hander
Jefry Rodríguez, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Rochester with outfielder
Yadiel Hernández optioned down, for the nightcap, and he rewarded them with four uneven but scoreless innings. Neither team managed to plate a run until extra innings, with the scoring opened courtesy of MLB's automatic baserunner rule. Finnegan allowed both the unearned runner and a second earned run to score, then after third baseman
Starlin Castro doubled home the unearned runner in the bottom of the eighth inning, center fielder
Víctor Robles was hit by a pitch and subsequently attempted to tag up from first base to reach second on a flyout by Bell. While Castro advanced to third, Robles overslid second base and was called out. The game ended on a Turner popout. Manager
Dave Martinez was critical of Robles in postgame comments, describing his aggressive play for second base as "not a very smart decision". The Nationals salvaged the series split in the four-game set the following day, coming out on the winning side of the third shutout of the series, 5–0. Ross turned in one of the best starts of his career, striking out nine Giants over eight innings. Schwarber hit another leadoff home run, then followed it up with a home run in his second at-bat of the game. All five Nationals runs, four of them earned, were charged to Giants starter
Johnny Cueto. Even with Scherzer and Strasburg on the shelf, Washington's strong pitching performances continued. Over three games starting June 14, the Nationals swept the last-place
Pittsburgh Pirates at Nationals Park, holding them to four total runs in the series after limiting the Giants to three runs over four games previously. They won the series opener 3–2 behind a solid start by Lester and effective work from the bullpen, with the winning run scored on another home run by Schwarber, this time off
Clay Holmes in the seventh inning. Gomes and Turner led the way on June 15, with the former contributing a first-inning grand slam and the latter notching four hits, along with Corbin, who pitched into the ninth inning while allowing just one run. Scherzer officially landed on the injured list with groin inflammation that day, and the Nationals selected the contract of right-handed reliever
Justin Miller to replace him on the roster, designating Triple-A pitcher
Rogelio Armenteros for assignment to clear space on the roster. The following day, the Nationals made another move, placing Castro on the restricted list to attend to an unspecified family matter and recalling infielder
Luis García from Triple-A. The roster shakeup pressed Espino into duty in the starting rotation, and on June 16, he earned his first major league win at age 34, pitching five scoreless innings against the Pirates. Bell and Gomes homered to put the Nationals over the top in the 3–1 game. Following a flurry of roster moves as Castro and Voth were activated, Harper was optioned, and outfielder
Andrew Stevenson was placed on the injured list with an oblique strain, the Nationals won another shutout game on June 18. Hosting the division-rival
New York Mets, the Nationals broke a scoreless tie in the ninth inning as Gomes snuck a base hit up the left field line to drive in Soto and pin a loss on Mets closer
Edwin Díaz. Fedde turned in a strong start with seven scoreless innings. For the first time in ten days, the Nationals allowed more than two runs as the Mets struck back for a 5–1 win in the first game of a doubleheader the following day, a makeup of the
Opening Day contest that was canceled by the Nationals' first COVID-19 outbreak. Mets shortstop
Francisco Lindor drove in all five of his team's runs in the matinee, including via a pair of home runs, while
David Peterson and the New York bullpen stifled the Nationals' offense. Reliever
Aaron Loup allowed the only RBI hit by the Nationals in the game, a fifth-inning single by Soto, as Ross took the loss. The Nationals answered back to capture the nightcap 6-2, with Lester finally earning his first win of the season, buoyed by another two-homer performance by Schwarber. On June 20, the Nationals secured the series win behind Corbin and an enormous day for the red-hot Schwarber. As Corbin pitched six innings of two-run ball in the start, Schwarber slugged three home runs, including yet another leadoff homer. The June 20 game also notably marked the return of outfielder
Gerardo Parra, a fan favorite from the
2019 Washington Nationals season, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Rochester in place of García, who was optioned back down; Triple-A pitcher
Ben Braymer was designated for assignment in a corresponding move. Parra stepped up to the plate for a pinch-hit appearance in the seventh inning to his familiar walkup music,
Pinkfong's "
Baby Shark", and cranked a double, to the delight of the home crowd of 30,371. The Nationals made a quick two-game stop back in Philadelphia, where they swept the Phillies. Scherzer returned from the injured list on June 22, with Finnegan headed to the injured list with a hamstring strain in a corresponding move, and led his team to a 3–2 win. The game marked the first in which Nationals pitchers had to submit to regular inspections for foreign substances as MLB cracked down on the use of so-called "sticky stuff". Phillies manager
Joe Girardi asked for an additional inspection of Scherzer after two regular checks had already been performed. After Scherzer, who was deemed clean, stared down Girardi after a strikeout to end the fifth inning, then brandished his glove and cap in the dugout as players and coaches traded insults, Girardi erupted from the home dugout and was summarily ejected from the game. On June 23, the Nationals came out on top in a 13–12 slugfest. Fedde allowed five unanswered runs over four innings, including a three-run homer by
Travis Jankowski in the second inning, but the Nationals roared back, and Schwarber hit a three-run homer off
Archie Bradley to tie the game in the fifth inning. Nationals reliever
Kyle McGowin immediately handed it back, giving up a pinch-hit McCutchen grand slam—answered then in the top of the sixth by two-run Turner single followed by a grand slam by McCutchen's former Pittsburgh teammate, Bell. The Phillies rallied again off the Nationals' bullpen, pinning a blown save on Rainey in the eighth inning and taking the lead on singles by
Alec Bohm and
Ronald Torreyes, but Castro delivered the lead back to the Nationals with a two-run single in the ninth off
Héctor Neris. Espino came on for the ninth inning and locked down his first career save, working around a two-out error in which second baseman
Jordy Mercer was hit in the face by a
J. T. Realmuto bounding ball. Continuing a run of games against
National League East Division competitors, the Nationals next traveled to
Miami to challenge the
Miami Marlins in a four-game series. The visitors enjoyed another two-homer game by Schwarber, who hammered a leadoff home run into the second deck and then hit a three-run homer in the second inning off Marlins starter
Cody Poteet, and a strong seven-inning performance from Ross. Miami finally got on the board in the eighth inning, when Miller served up a three-run home run to
Jazz Chisholm Jr., but ultimately fell, 7–3. The Marlins drubbed the Nationals on June 25, taking them down by an 11–2 score, ending the team's second five-game winning streak of the month. Lester labored, giving up seven runs and getting knocked out in the third inning, while
Pablo López tossed six innings for the Marlins. One of the two runs López allowed was a solo home run by Schwarber in the third inning, with Zimmerman singling in Turner for the other. The series ended in a split, as the Marlins took the third game over Corbin on June 26 and the Nationals won June 27 behind Scherzer. The Nationals' hottest hitter, Schwarber, was held hitless in both contests. Injuries persisted even as the Nationals continued their strongest stretch of the season to date. The Nationals returned Fedde to the injured list, this time with an oblique strain, and recalled right-handed reliever
Andrés Machado from Triple-A Rochester. Making up another game from the canceled opening series of the season, the Nationals hosted the Mets for a single game on June 28, which they won 8–4. Espino started in place of Fedde, twirling five shutout innings. Schwarber homered twice, including to lead off the game. Turner also homered immediately after Schwarber in the bottom of the first, and Parra homered in the second. After the Mets got within a run by homering twice off Miller in the eighth inning, Zimmerman answered with a three-run home run. Hand, who relieved Miller in the eighth inning, pitched a clean ninth inning, earning a save despite the Nationals winning by four runs. With the win, the Nationals' win–loss record improved to 38–38 for the season, the first time they were at .500 since May 2. The following day, the Nationals designated Miller for assignment and placed Rainey on the injured list with a stress reaction in his right
tibia. Harper was recalled, joined in the bullpen by left-hander
Kyle Lobstein, whose contract the Nationals selected from Triple-A Rochester, although neither pitched in the June 29 game as the Nats hosted the Rays. For the second straight game, Schwarber homered to lead off for the Nationals, followed by Soto for his first home run at Nationals Park in 2021. Robles also hit his first homer of the year. Ross gave up two runs as he pitched into the seventh inning, earning the win as the Nationals moved above .500. The Nationals finished out the two-game sweep over Tampa Bay on June 30 in convincing fashion, winning 15–6. On his 28th birthday, Turner
hit for the cycle for the third time in his career. However, sliding into third base for a triple to complete the cycle, Turner jammed his finger and was lifted from the game. Soto was also removed with a left hamstring cramp. Mercer finished the game but was later reported to be dealing with pain in his right quadriceps. Lester gave up five runs in the game, and Lobstein struggled in his Nationals debut, collecting just one out in the ninth inning before McGowin relieved him. Despite entering the game on a hot streak, Schwarber went hitless, ending with sixteen home runs in June. Schwarber was named the
NL Player of the Month for June, his first such honor. The Nationals posted a winning record in June at 19–9, their first month with a win–loss record above .500 since
September 2019 and their winningest month since
August 2019. They ended the month with a 40–38 record, two games behind the Mets for first place in the NL East.
July in July. Coming off their best month in nearly two years, the Nationals immediately ran into an obstacle in July: the
defending world champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who arrived in
Washington, D.C., for a four-game series and summarily swept their hosts. The July 1 series opener was truncated by rain, ending with the Dodgers up 6–2 in the fifth inning. The shorthanded Nationals turned to backup catcher
Alex Avila to make his first career start at second base, with both usual shortstop
Trea Turner and utility infielder
Jordy Mercer day-to-day with injuries. With
Patrick Corbin on the mound, the Nationals led by a run into the fifth inning, but
A. J. Pollock hit a home run that cleared the left-field wall by feet, before the Dodgers loaded the bases and unloaded them again on a grand slam by
Max Muncy. A downpour foreclosed any possibility of the Nationals rallying back, as play was stopped minutes later and the game was later called. The Nationals again were off to a strong start July 2, as
Max Scherzer pitched six innings of one-run ball against Los Angeles, but the Dodgers battled back once Washington's ace was out of the game.
Mookie Betts singled in a pair of runs off Nationals reliever
Austin Voth, pinning him with a blown save and giving the Dodgers the lead in the seventh inning, part of a nine-run outburst that put the game out of reach. The Nationals fell, 10–5. Of more significant concern, however, the Nationals were forced to take star left fielder
Kyle Schwarber out of the game after he pulled up lame rounding first base on a second-inning base hit. The injury to Schwarber came on the same day that Washington placed Mercer on the injured list with a right quadriceps strain and selected the contract of journeyman shortstop
Humberto Arteaga, and it led to an IL stint for Schwarber as well as he was diagnosed with what the team called a "significant" right hamstring strain. Additionally, after playing second base two days earlier, Avila landed on the injured list with bilateral calf strains on July 3. The Nationals also cut Arteaga after he went hitless with a sacrifice fly in his sole game with the major league team, designating him for assignment, and acquired
Alcides Escobar in a minor deal with the
Kansas City Royals, sending cash considerations for the veteran infielder playing for the Triple-A
Omaha Storm Chasers and immediately selecting his contract to join the team in Washington. Catcher
Tres Barrera and outfielder
Yadiel Hernández were recalled from Triple-A
Rochester. The July 3 game saw the Dodgers take a three-run lead in the fourth inning against
Paolo Espino but the Nationals answered with a three-run home run by catcher
Yan Gomes off Dodgers ace
Clayton Kershaw. After a rain delay, the Dodgers went on the attack, taking advantage of a botched double-play by the new up-the-middle combo of Nationals shortstop Escobar and second baseman
Josh Harrison to plate the go-ahead run on an infield single by
A. J. Pollock off reliever
Wander Suero in the sixth inning, while shutting out the Nationals the rest of the way. The loss dropped the Nationals' win–loss record back under the .500 mark, at 40–41. The Nationals' bats were quiet as the Dodgers completed the sweep, 4–1, in the traditional morning
Independence Day game on July 4. Starter
Joe Ross pitched fairly well, striking out eleven Dodgers and allowing three runs as he pitched into the seventh inning, but the Nationals grounded into three inning-ending double plays over the course of the game, including by Barrera in the ninth inning to end it. The Nationals broke into the win column for the month as they visited the
San Diego Padres on a
West Coast roadtrip, beginning July 5. After a first-inning home run by the returning Turner, the Nationals squandered an early five-run lead, as the Padres answered back to tie the game off Washington starting pitcher
Jon Lester in the fourth inning. However, first baseman
Josh Bell put the visitors on top with a seventh-inning home run, part of a three-hit day for Bell as well as Escobar, and the Padres couldn't mount a second comeback. The Padres rebounded to even the series at one win apiece on July 6, greeting starting pitcher
Erick Fedde rudely, as he and reliever
Kyle Finnegan returned from the injured list to replace optioned relievers
Ryne Harper and
Kyle Lobstein. Fedde allowed three runs in the fourth inning, but after Harrison hit a three-run homer to answer, manager
Dave Martinez sent his starter back out to the mound to begin the fifth inning. Fedde put two runners on base before being relieved by
Sam Clay, who let in both inherited runners plus one of his own. The Nationals were unable to recover, falling 7–4. Harper returned to the active roster the following day, as Ross was placed on the injured list with what the Nationals described as right elbow inflammation. Despite the mounting injuries, the Nationals enjoyed a romp at
PETCO Park that evening, as Corbin led a 15–5 blowout of the Padres. Right fielder
Juan Soto opened the scoring with a three-run home run in the first inning off Padres starter
Chris Paddack, setting the tone for a game in which neither San Diego's starting pitcher nor its bullpen could slow down the Nationals' offense. The Nationals' scoring frenzy carried into the July 8 game, the series finale in San Diego, as they ran roughshod over San Diego ace
Yu Darvish and opened up an eight-run lead by the fourth inning with Scherzer silencing the home team's hitters. In the fourth inning, however, Scherzer unraveled. Padres shortstop
Fernando Tatís Jr. answered his Washington counterpart Turner's second home run of the game by opening the fourth with a long solo home run off Scherzer. With one out, Scherzer loaded the bases and walked in a run before striking out catcher
Victor Caratini to get within one out of escaping the jam with a six-run lead intact. Padres manager
Jayce Tingler opted not to go to a pinch-hitter, sending rookie reliever
Daniel Camarena to the plate. Scherzer quickly got ahead with two strikes and tried to finish off the inning by enticing a swing and a miss on a fastball below the knees; instead, Camarena swung and connected, pulling a grand slam home run into the stands beyond right field. Tatís drove in another run on a single to cap the Padres' seven-run inning, which closed the deficit to just a run. The Nationals' bats went quiet as they were held to one hit for the rest of the game, while
Tommy Pham doubled in the game-tying run in the sixth inning and then scored on
Trent Grisham's walk-off single off Clay in the ninth. Coming off the stunner in San Diego, the Nationals were swept over three games against the first-place
San Francisco Giants. Clay took the loss for a second straight game on July 9, giving up a go-ahead home run in the fifth inning to
Darin Ruf after starter
Paolo Espino exited. Gomes, the Nationals' hot-hitting catcher, came out of the game with a left oblique strain after taking warmup tosses in the second inning. Nationals center fielder
Gerardo Parra was thrown out at home plate attempting to score in both the fourth and seventh innings, then grounded into a rally-ending double play in the eighth inning. With Gomes sidelined, the Nationals placed him on the injured list and selected the contract of Triple-A catcher
Jakson Reetz, designating Lobstein for assignment to clear a roster spot. As he had in a game the previous month, Giants starter
Anthony DeSclafani dominated the Nationals on July 10, pitching six scoreless innings while his teammates beat up on Lester, who again could not get through the third inning. McGowin was also hit hard, ultimately landing on the injured list the next day. While the Nationals mounted a rally against the Giants' bullpen, keyed by a two-run triple by Escobar and a pinch-hit double by Reetz in his major league debut, the visitors came up well short in the 10–4 loss. Washington managed to score just once in the final game before the
All-Star Break, and Fedde took the loss as he allowed three runs over five innings. Four Nationals were named as National League All-Stars: Schwarber, Scherzer, Soto, and Turner. Schwarber was injured and unable to participate in the All-Star Game on July 13, which Scherzer started for the National League. Soto also participated in the Home Run Derby, advancing to the second round over favorite
Shohei Ohtani of the
Los Angeles Angels and setting a new Home Run Derby record with a homer at
Coors Field, before falling to defending champion and eventual winner
Pete Alonso of the
New York Mets. As the season resumed on July 16, Nationals third baseman
Starlin Castro was placed on administrative leave by
Major League Baseball over an alleged violation of the league's policy against domestic violence, which an investigation ultimately substantiated. The Nationals distanced themselves from Castro, with Martinez telling reporters he was "shocked" by the news. "We don't tolerate that kind of behavior," Martinez said. To replace Castro on the active roster, the Nationals activated Mercer from the injured list. They also announced the signing of veteran catcher
René Rivera to a major league contract, replacing Reetz as their backup catcher, as Reetz was optioned to Triple-A Rochester. In a rematch with the Padres at
Nationals Park, Washington gave up the most runs in a game in franchise history as San Diego cruised, 24–8. Padres second baseman
Jake Cronenworth hit for the cycle, while
Wil Myers homered twice, including a grand slam off Fedde in the second inning. The July 17 game was headed toward another Nationals defeat when, as Finnegan was walking off the mound after striking out Myers in the top of the sixth inning,
a series of gunshots were fired outside the stadium. Panicked fans stormed the field, some taking cover in both the home and visiting dugout and clubhouse, and the game was suspended until July 18. No one inside Nationals Park was wounded by the gunfire. The Nationals dropped the continuation of the game on July 18 but bounced back to win the regularly scheduled game that day to avoid the series sweep and end a six-game losing streak, overcoming four runs allowed by Scherzer over seven innings and then a blown save by closer
Brad Hand to pin a blown save and a loss on former Nationals closer
Mark Melancon, now of the Padres. Escobar delivered the walk-off hit off Melancon, lofting a flyball over Grisham in center field to bring home Barrera in the bottom of the ninth. The Nationals carried their winning forward into the first two games against the division-rival
Miami Marlins, blowing out the last-place Miami team by a score of 18–1 on July 19. Lester turned in his best start as a National, going seven scoreless innings and contributing to the offense with a three-run homer to deep center field off Marlins reliever
David Hess. Rookie catcher Barrera also hit his first career home run in the contest, a missile into the Red Porch off former National
Ross Detwiler to lead off the bottom of the second. The Nationals scored early and often, knocking out Detwiler in the second inning and sticking him with the loss. They won again July 20. Espino turned in five scoreless innings in his start, but Voth couldn't hold the two-run lead in the sixth inning. While the Nationals rallied the next inning and ultimately won the game, the official scorer determined that the win should instead be awarded to Finnegan, who pitched effectively in the seventh inning and would have earned a hold in the game, invoking an obscure rule that gives the scorer discretion when a reliever is ineffective but had not been invoked since the
2013 season. However, the decision was reconsidered and the win instead given to Voth. Despite six strong innings by Fedde, the modest three-game winning streak for the Nationals came to an end July 21, when the Marlins took advantage of the extra-innings automatic baserunner rule to break a 1–1 tie in the top of the tenth inning.
Jorge Alfaro belted a go-ahead double off Hand, followed by a
Miguel Rojas sacrifice fly, and the Marlins won 3–1. After having been swept by their interleague rivals back in May, the
Baltimore Orioles returned the favor as they hosted the Nationals for three games. Corbin was shelled on July 23 as the Orioles held the Nationals to a single run, on a solo home run by Bell in the fourth inning. On July 24, and with trade rumors beginning to swirl, the Nationals were set to send out Scherzer versus
Matt Harvey. Instead, Scherzer was scratched with what the Nationals described as right triceps discomfort, and Harvey dominated the Nationals, one-hitting them for his six innings of work, as Lester was hit for three runs as the visitors' replacement starter. Although the Nationals were able to come up with their first run in the seventh on a Soto homer, followed by a two-run single by Turner in the eighth, they could not solve
Dillon Tate in the ninth inning and lost, 5–3. The Nationals were poised to salvage the series as they led by one run in the ninth inning on July 25, but Hand loaded the bases with no outs before allowing a game-tying sacrifice fly. A groundball to third baseman
Carter Kieboom, who was recalled to replace Mercer on the active roster after Mercer landed back on the injured list with a calf strain, was fielded cleanly, but Kieboom's throw to the catcher Barrera was too late to cut down
Ryan McKenna, who scored the winning run as the Orioles walked off. The Nationals changed venues but experienced much the same result on July 26 as they visited the division-rival
Philadelphia Phillies. Although Hand inherited a two-run lead this time, following an effective start from Ross in his return from the injured list, the Nationals' closer allowed a leadoff double by
Jean Segura, then walked
Bryce Harper. After
J. T. Realmuto struck out,
Andrew McCutchen crushed a three-run opposite-field homer for the win, sticking Hand with his fifth blown save of the season. Even as the Nationals' shot at contention slipped away, Hand achieved some measure of redemption the following day, as he faced a similar situation in the ninth—three outs to get, up by two runs, facing Segura—and worked around a two-base error by Kieboom for a scoreless inning and his 21st save as a National. The game was overshadowed, however, by Turner's early exit after he and the team learned he had tested positive for
COVID-19. The scheduled July 28 game was pushed to July 29 after eleven more Nationals personnel, including three more players—Voth, Avila, and reliever
Daniel Hudson—tested positive for COVID-19 as well. Martinez said none of the twelve were experiencing serious symptoms and all but one had been
vaccinated. The COVID-19 outbreak was reported just 24 hours after starting pitcher
Stephen Strasburg was officially diagnosed with
thoracic outlet syndrome after being shut down from a planned return to the team, requiring season-ending surgery. Prior to the July 29 doubleheader, the Nationals announced that Hand had been traded to the
Toronto Blue Jays for catcher
Riley Adams, whom Washington assigned to Triple-A Rochester. The Nationals tabbed Scherzer, who reported feeling no more triceps discomfort, to start in the first game as scouts from rival organizations looked on from the stands at
Citizens Bank Park. Scherzer rewarded the Nationals with six strong innings, allowing just a solo home run to Realmuto, before Finnegan locked down the seventh-inning save, the first of his career. Harrison doubled twice in the game, and in his return from the injured list, Gomes gave the Nationals the lead with a two-run homer in the seventh. Scherzer earned his 92nd and last win in his seven-season run with the Nationals, as hours after the first game ended, rumors began to circulate that the Nationals were deep into discussions with the Padres, and then the Dodgers, to trade Scherzer. Meanwhile, on the field, the Nationals built a seven-run lead over the Phillies in the second game, then watched it disintegrate as Corbin and the bullpen couldn't hold back the Philadelphia offense. Rainey, just activated from the injured list, gave up a game-tying single by Realmuto before Clay surrendered an eighth-inning walk-off grand slam by
Brad Miller. Within hours of the walk-off loss, the Nationals began announcing more trades. Schwarber, still working back from his hamstring strain, was shipped to the
Boston Red Sox for minor league pitcher
Aldo Ramírez. Hudson, freshly placed on the COVID-19-related injured list, was traded to the Padres for reliever
Mason Thompson and minor league infielder
Jordy Barley in a deal announced just after midnight on the
East Coast. Later that day, Gomes and Harrison were traded together in a deal for three minor league prospects, headlined by catcher
Drew Millas, from the
Oakland Athletics. In the biggest trade at the deadline, the Nationals sent Scherzer and Turner to the Dodgers for four prospects: catcher
Keibert Ruiz, starting pitcher
Josiah Gray, Double-A pitcher Gerardo Carrillo, and Double-A outfielder
Donovan Casey. The Nationals finished their selloff, the team's largest since
moving to Washington in 2005, by fencing Lester to the
St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder
Lane Thomas. Replacing the losses to their roster, the Nationals selected the contract of relief prospect
Gabe Klobosits and longtime infield farmhand
Adrián Sánchez from Triple-A Rochester on July 30, then recalled their newly acquired reliever Thompson on July 31, as they faced the similarly trade-depleted
Chicago Cubs at home. Klobosits gave up a run on a pair of hits in his major league debut on July 30, while another fresh roster addition, infielder
Luis García, hit a home run to help lead Espino and the Nationals over the Cubs. The Cubs evened the series on July 31, hammering Ross for five runs—four of them scoring in the fourth inning, thanks in part to a two-run shot to straightaway center by
Rafael Ortega—and knocking him out in the fifth inning. Long man
Jefry Rodríguez negotiated three innings of relief, allowing one more run, while battling command issues. After being stymied by Cubs starter
Kyle Hendricks over seven innings, in which Hendricks allowed just one run on a Hernández double, the Nationals brought the tying run to the plate twice in the eighth inning but failed to cash in. Soto grounded into a double play to end the game in the ninth inning. The Nationals finished a difficult July with a win–loss record of 8–18, well under the break-even point for the season with an overall record of 48–56. They fell games behind the first-place Mets while clinging to fourth place in the National League East Division.
August , the
Nationals' first pick in the
2005 draft, set a franchise record for games played. The Nationals opened August by winning the rubber game of their three-game series with the
Chicago Cubs. Although Cubs center fielder
Rafael Ortega hit three home runs in the game, accounting for all five Chicago runs driven in, the Nationals topped the Cubs with a multi-homer performance from one of their own outfielders: left fielder
Yadiel Hernández, who gave Washington the walk-off win with a home run, his second of the day, off rookie reliever
Manuel Rodríguez to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning. Next up, the division-rival
Philadelphia Phillies swept a four-game series at
Nationals Park. Freshly recalled to his new team, with reliever
Tanner Rainey optioned to the minors in a corresponding move, Nationals starting pitcher
Josiah Gray allowed just one run over five innings, striking out two while inducing weak flyballs and popups, on August 2. In his own Nationals debut, newly acquired reliever
Mason Thompson worked a scoreless inning in relief. But after rookie
Gabe Klobosits retired the side on four pitches in the eighth inning, manager
Dave Martinez opted to give Klobosits a chance for the save in the ninth. After consecutive singles to start the ninth inning, Martinez turned to veteran reliever
Wander Suero, who had allowed a game-tying home run to Ortega the previous day. Both inherited runners came around to score, along with three more runs charged to Suero, and despite a two-run home run by third baseman
Carter Kieboom in the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies won 7–5. A
praying mantis that perched itself on
Victor Robles' hat during the eight and ninth innings was made light of on Twitter by both fans and the Nationals' and Phillies' respective Twitter accounts. The following day, having blown back-to-back saves, Suero was optioned to the Triple-A
Rochester Red Wings, following Rainey as one of Martinez's former go-to high-leverage relievers to have fallen out of favor due to poor performance. The Nationals also placed backup catcher
René Rivera on the injured list, recalling newly acquired catcher
Riley Adams and selecting the contract of veteran right-hander
Javy Guerra to replace Suero and Rivera on the roster. Washington starter
Patrick Corbin pitched well for six innings, allowing just one run on a leadoff home run by
Jean Segura, before giving up three more runs in the seventh inning. The Nationals were able to plate four runs against Phillies ace
Zack Wheeler, who pitched into the eighth inning, but the difference in the game ended up being a solo home run by former National
Bryce Harper off Guerra in the top of the eighth. Adams made his Nationals debut as a pinch-hitter, striking out to end the game in the ninth inning. Nationals second baseman
Luis García homered twice on August 4, his first career multi-homer game, and Washington's youth movement was on display as center fielder
Víctor Robles and the third baseman Kieboom went deep as well, but starting pitcher
Paolo Espino struggled, the rest of the Nationals lineup did as well, and the Phillies won, 9–5. Harper again got the better of Guerra in a late-game situation, doubling in an insurance run off the right-hander in the eighth inning. The Phillies came from behind, overcoming a three-run home run by Nationals first baseman
Josh Bell and a strong offensive performance by right fielder
Juan Soto, on August 5, taking advantage of a wild throw by Kieboom at third base that extended the ninth inning and ultimately scoring four unearned runs off Nationals reliever
Kyle Finnegan. A hit by Bell that kicked off the second base bag closed the deficit to a single run, but the Nationals could not level the game, and after scoring on the odd play, Soto reported pain in his left knee. The Nationals lost their fifth straight game in the series opener on the road against the division-rival
Atlanta Braves. Starting pitcher
Erick Fedde labored, Guerra surrendered three runs in relief, and with Soto sitting out due to his tweaked knee, the Nationals' depleted lineup was held to five hits in an 8–4 loss on August 6. Fedde batted in a run for the first time in his career, lofting a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth inning, but he was knocked out of the game in the bottom of the fifth as the Braves rallied to take a lead they would not relinquish. The visitors appeared to be headed for their sixth straight loss on August 7, as despite a strong five-inning start from top prospect Gray, who struck out ten Braves and allowed just one earned run, and effective work from the Nationals' bullpen,
Charlie Morton led the Atlanta pitching staff in throwing eight shutout innings. But Washington's fortunes changed in the top of the ninth inning, as Bell walked, veteran pinch-hitter
Ryan Zimmerman doubled, and Bell scored on a García groundout to the right side of the infield to halve the deficit. The rookie catcher Adams then delivered his first hit as a National, a no-doubt two-run homer into the second deck in left field for his first career home run and RBIs. Finnegan closed out the Braves for his third save, and journeyman reliever
Andrés Machado picked up his first career win after pitching a scoreless eighth inning. A late rally on August 8 in the rubber game was not enough for the Nationals, however. Corbin gave up five runs over six innings, and while the Nationals were able to chip away with RBI singles by Robles and Zimmerman off reliever
Jesse Chavez in the seventh and an RBI double by Zimmerman off
Chris Martin in the ninth, Bell—playing right field for the first time as a National—grounded out to strand the tying run on second and end the game. The next series on the Nationals' schedule got off to an unusual start, as the Nationals started the first of a three-game series at the division-rival
New York Mets on August 10 despite heavy storms covering much of
Downstate New York. Back in the lineup for the first time since injuring his knee, Soto jacked a three-run home run off Mets starter
Carlos Carrasco, then Espino gave up a run on two hits in the bottom of the first inning, before play was halted with no outs and Adams on first in the top of the second inning. Before the suspended game resumed, the Nationals optioned left-handed reliever
Sam Clay and selected the contract of left-hander
Sean Nolin, who had last appeared in a major league game late in the
2015 season. The Nationals blew two three-run leads in the continued game on August 11, as the Mets scored four runs off Ross, pitching in long relief, then chipped away with a run off Klobosits, then scored twice off Thompson—taking advantage of a throwing error by the rookie reliever—in the eighth inning before
Edwin Díaz nailed down the save. The second game was rained out, prompting two seven-inning games to be scheduled August 12 to conclude the series. In the first game, Nolin gave up four runs, three of them on a second-inning home run by
Brandon Nimmo, and was knocked out in the fourth inning. The Nationals scratched across just one run, off a tiring and dehydrated
Marcus Stroman in the sixth inning, and lost 4–1. In the second game, Fedde labored to get through four innings and Rainey, summoned for the day from Triple-A Rochester as the Nationals' 27th man, gave up two insurance runs on a blast to straightaway center by
Jonathan Villar in the bottom of the sixth. The Mets again led 4–1 in the seventh inning, but
Trevor May struggled and the Mets went to
Jeurys Familia, who uncorked a wild pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the seventh before giving up a seeing-eye single by left fielder
Andrew Stevenson that tied the game. But Finnegan couldn't keep the score tied in the bottom of the seventh.
Pete Alonso clubbed a solo home run just beyond the reach of the leaping Stevenson to give the Mets a walk-off win and sweep. Zimmerman started the game at first base, setting a new
Montreal–
Washington franchise record for games played. The Nationals returned home for a series against the Braves. The August 13 opener was delayed more than three hours by rain before beginning at 10:17 p.m.
EDT. The Nationals struck early for two runs off Atlanta starter Morton in the first inning, notching three straight hits before Bell made the first out on a sacrifice fly. But Morton and the Braves' pitching staff buckled down, shutting out Washington the rest of the way despite several scoring opportunities. All four Braves runs in the game came on solo home runs, three of them off Gray, who suffered his first losing decision as a National. Before the second game of the series on August 14, the Nationals made a minor move, designating Rivera for assignment and acquiring reliever
Patrick Murphy off waivers from the
Toronto Blue Jays. Murphy was optioned to Triple-A Rochester, joining fellow 40-man roster relievers Rainey, Suero, and Clay and the rehabbing
Kyle McGowin. On the field, the Braves once again punished Corbin, scoring six runs off him and knocking him out in the fifth inning, pushing his
earned run average for the season over 6. They tacked on three more against Guerra and then
Jefry Rodríguez in relief. Braves shortstop
Dansby Swanson homered twice in the game, batting in six. Stymied by Atlanta's
Max Fried, the Nationals mustered just two runs on RBI singles by Bell and Hernández. Between the second and third games of the series, the Nationals announced the results of an
MRI on Ross' right arm, taken after his rocky relief appearance against the Mets: a partial tear of the 28-year-old's
ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow, which had been
replaced during the
2017 season. Ross was placed on the injured list before the August 15 game, and the Nationals recalled outfielder
Lane Thomas, who had just been acquired from the
St. Louis Cardinals the previous month. Thomas collected two hits in the game, which marked the Nationals' seventh straight loss, their longest losing streak of the season to date. After Espino gave up three early runs, the Nationals answered back to level the score in the third inning, but Atlanta tacked on three more in the fifth inning—their sixth run of the game coming on a bases-loaded wild pitch by the rookie Klobosits, who took over in relief after Espino gave up back-to-back home runs to lead off the inning. The Nationals scored twice more but couldn't convert other scoring opportunities. They fell 6–5, as Braves third baseman
Austin Riley robbed his counterpart Kieboom on a sharp grounder to end the game, stranding two runners on base. The Nationals snapped their losing streak with a two-game sweep of the visiting Blue Jays. Adams, traded the previous month from the Blue Jays, had three hits in a 12–6 win on August 17. Fedde pitched well through the first four innings, allowing just one run, but gave up another pair of runs in the fifth inning. The Nationals drubbed Toronto rookie starter
Alek Manoah, scoring seven runs off him over three innings of work. On August 18, Gray turned in another strong start, giving up two runs—both on solo homers—over six innings while using his
slider to great effect. Gray was backed by three-run homers by Soto and Bell, contributing to an 8–5 win. The Nationals rallied after a meltdown by reliever
Ryne Harper in the top of the seventh that briefly gave the visitors the lead, as Bell and Kieboom hammered home runs off former Nationals closer
Brad Hand, who was the Blue Jays' return in the Adams trade, saddling him with the blown save and loss. The winning streak ran to three games as the Nationals claimed the first in a three-game series visiting the
Milwaukee Brewers on August 20. Corbin turned in his best start since mid-June, pitching into the seventh inning while only allowing one run, a seventh-inning solo home run by
Avisaíl García. Thomas powered the Nationals' offense, tripling in a pair of runs in the fourth inning off Brewers starter
Brett Anderson. Adams and Bell also provided RBIs. But the Brewers swung the bats well on August 21, snapping the Nationals' winning streak. They knocked out Espino in the fifth inning, scoring three runs against him. The third and final run charged to Espino scored when
Omar Narváez popped up a pitch from Klobosits, who came on in relief in the fifth, which was caught in foul ground by the first baseman Zimmerman, and
Kolten Wong scored from third after no one covered home plate on the play. Thomas turned in another strong offensive performance while also throwing out a runner,
Luis Urías, at second base in the sixth inning, and Hernández homered to tie the game after Espino and Klobosits combined to blow the Nationals' early three-run lead. Guerra came in to protect a tied game in the eighth inning, but he loaded the bases, then hit Wong with a pitch to force in the go-ahead run, then gave up a grand slam to
Christian Yelich—part of a two-homer game for the former
National League Most Valuable Player—to blow the game wide open. The Nationals scored twice in the ninth inning but lost, 9–6. The following day, Guerra was designated for assignment, and the Nationals activated relievers
Kyle McGowin and
Austin Voth from the injured list, reinforcing a shaky bullpen. Stevenson was optioned to Triple-A Rochester in a corresponding move. The Nationals also tapped longtime minor league utility player
Brandon Snyder to take over from Brett Austin as bullpen catcher, after Austin took a coaching job at
North Carolina State University and regular bullpen coach
Henry Blanco took on bench coaching duties for
Tim Bogar, who underwent back surgery. In the rubber game, Nolin, tabbed for his second start for the Nationals, couldn't overcome Wong. The Brewers' second baseman drove in three runs against Nolin, homering and tripling, and Milwaukee tacked on in the sixth and seventh innings, as Klobosits wobbled through an inning in which he gave up two runs without allowing a hit—both scoring on a routine grounder to first base that Bell threw over the catcher Adams' head as he attempted to turn a 3-2 double play—and Rodríguez gave up a mammoth two-run homer to left by
Lorenzo Cain. The Brewers walked 11 times in the contest. Thomas again reached base four times and enabled Adams to score on a stolen base when catcher
Manny Piña's throw deflected off Thomas' batting helmet at second base. Kieboom homered in the ninth inning off reliever
Hoby Milner, and back-to-back hits by Thomas and shortstop
Alcides Escobar forced Brewers manager
Craig Counsell to insert his closer,
Josh Hader. But Hader induced a game-ending groundout by Soto to seal the 7–3 win for Milwaukee. On August 23, the Nationals made another acquisition off the waiver wire, adding first baseman
Mike Ford from the
Tampa Bay Rays and optioning him to Triple-A Rochester. Ross was transferred to the 60-day injured list, officially ending his season, to make room for Ford on the 40-man roster. Rodríguez was also designated for assignment and Klobosits optioned back to Rochester the following day, with Clay and Murphy recalled to take their spots in the bullpen. In the August 24 game visiting the division-rival
Miami Marlins, Fedde led the Nationals to a convincing 5–1 win with a career-high ten strikeouts. The Nationals hammered Marlins starter (and Nationals
2016 third-round draft pick)
Jesús Luzardo, scoring all five of their runs off him, including a two-run homer by catcher
Tres Barrera. Miami won the next two games in the three-game series, however. In a marquee matchup between two top pitching prospects, the Marlins could only scratch across a pair of runs against Gray on August 25 over six strong innings of work, but their own starter,
Edward Cabrera, cracked in his seventh inning of work in his major league debut after six shutout innings. Bell and Hernández hit back-to-back home runs to score three quick runs and chase Cabrera from the game. However, Machado couldn't hold Gray's lead, giving up a leadoff triple and then an RBI single in the next frame. The game headed to extra innings. In the top of the tenth, Adams singled and the automatic runner Kieboom attempted to score from second base, but Marlins right fielder
Jesús Sánchez cut Kieboom down with a strong throw to the plate. With his closer Finnegan on the mound in the bottom of the tenth to try to preserve the tie, Martinez intentionally loaded the bases with one out, but
Jorge Alfaro rifled a single to left to walk off the visiting Nationals. The Marlins sacked Corbin in the August 26 rubber game, scoring six times off him over four innings, with four of those runs coming in the left-hander's first inning of work. The Nationals fought back, scoring their first two runs on a Soto home run to right-center in the fifth off
Elieser Hernández and ultimately bringing the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth inning, as Adams pinch-hit for García against Miami reliever
Dylan Floro. Adams flew out to stifle a two-run rally and end the game. Murphy made his Nationals debut in the game, pitching a scoreless inning of relief. The Nationals repeated the pattern in three games visiting the Mets: They won the first game on August 27, with Espino also setting a new career high in strikeouts with seven as he outdueled veteran
Rich Hill, then dropped the series by losing August 28 and August 29. Nolin turned in his best start to date as a National in the former game, giving up two runs before departing in the sixth inning, but Harper and Thompson combined to give up three runs in the seventh inning—on a deep home run by pinch-hitter
Michael Conforto, immediately after Thompson came on in relief of Harper—that ended up being the difference. The Mets hammered Fedde in the rubber game, scoring five runs off him—the first coming after
Francisco Lindor danced off third base, feinting toward home, with two outs in the first inning, prompting Fedde to
balk. The Nationals tallied just three hits in the game, all of them home runs: two by Bell, one by Soto. The game was overshadowed by controversy in New York, as Lindor and teammates
Javy Báez, who also homered in the contest, and
Kevin Pillar flashed "thumbs-down" signs after reaching base, which Báez explained after the game was a signal of disapproval for home fans who booed players' performance. "When we don't get success, we're going to get booed," Báez explained to reporters. "So they're going to get booed when we have success." Mets team president
Sandy Alderson criticized Báez's remarks, calling them "totally unacceptable" and the thumbs-down sign "unprofessional". For the Nationals, another piece of team news outshone the series loss as well. Martinez announced August 29 that the Nationals would call up top prospect
Keibert Ruiz to catch Gray, his former teammate in the
Los Angeles Dodgers organization before both were included in July's blockbuster trade of
Max Scherzer and
Trea Turner to the Dodgers. Barrera was optioned in a corresponding move after the August 29 game. As expected, ahead of their August 30 home game versus the Phillies, the Nationals recalled Ruiz from Triple-A Rochester. The following day, the Nationals made a flurry of roster moves, placing their closer Finnegan on the paternity list and recalling Suero from Triple-A Rochester, as well as optioning Robles to Rochester, sending him to the minor leagues for the first time since the
2018 season, and recalling Stevenson. Despite taking a three-run lead through the first five innings, the Nationals were blown out on August 31, losing 12–6, as Corbin and Machado combined to give up six runs in the sixth inning and Suero gave up three more in the ninth inning. Kieboom homered for the second straight game in the loss. The Nationals finished August having gone 7–20 over the course of the month, their worst record over the course of a full month since
April 2009. They fell 15 games behind the first-place Braves in the
National League East Division, with a 55–76 record on the season that put them just one game ahead of the Marlins for fourth place in the division.
September repeatedly kept the Nationals in the fight during a five-game series against the division-rival
New York Mets. Rained out for their scheduled series finale against the division-rival
Philadelphia Phillies due to the remnants of
Hurricane Ida sweeping through the
Northeast, the Nationals did not play September 1. With rosters expanding to 28 players, the Nationals activated veteran catcher
Alex Avila from the injured list after nearly two months out of action, and they also selected the contract of 28-year-old journeyman left-handed reliever
Alberto Baldonado from their Triple-A affiliate, the
Rochester Red Wings. The Nationals also became the first
Major League Baseball organization to fire employees for not getting
vaccinated against
COVID-19, which the team declared to be a
condition of employment. They dismissed eight scouts, at least two for failure to present proof of vaccination.
Bob Boone, Washington's vice president of player development, told
The Washington Post he would
resign rather than be vaccinated. The Nationals concluded their series hosting the Phillies by losing 7–6, with the visitors coming back from a six-run deficit to complete the sweep. Nationals starter
Paolo Espino outdueled the Phillies'
Aaron Nola, who gave up home runs to Washington center fielder
Lane Thomas and right fielder
Juan Soto, but he ran into trouble in the top of the sixth inning after five shutout innings. Rookie reliever
Mason Thompson was unable to get an out, with Philadelphia left fielder
Andrew McCutchen halving the lead with a bases-clearing double. After a scoreless seventh inning by Baldonado in his major league debut, rookies
Patrick Murphy and
Andrés Machado combined to give up four runs in the eighth inning, victimized twice by poor fielding on the part of second baseman
Luis García on two potential double play balls. After first baseman
Josh Bell doubled to put the tying run on base in the bottom of the ninth, rookie catcher
Keibert Ruiz barreled up a pitch from Phillies closer
Ian Kennedy but flew out just in front of the warning track in deep center field to end the game. The Nationals also released third baseman
Starlin Castro, after he finished serving a 30-game suspension under MLB's domestic violence and child abuse policy. Two games to begin a five-game series against the visiting
New York Mets followed much the same script: The Nationals fell behind early, only to rally their way back to tie the game in the final inning of regulation play before losing in extra innings. On September 3, the Nationals entered the ninth inning looking to avoid being shut out while trailing by a pair of runs, with starter
Sean Nolin on the hook for the loss. Soto opened the bottom of the ninth with a solo homer just inside the left field foul pole off Mets closer
Edwin Díaz, then catcher
Riley Adams doubled in pinch-runner
Andrew Stevenson, who collided with Mets catcher
Chance Sisco several feet from home plate and tumbled in before touching the plate to score. But reliever
Austin Voth melted down in the top of the tenth inning, allowing the unearned automatic runner to score from second base along with three more earned runs, and
Jeurys Familia retired the Nationals in the bottom of the tenth. In the first game of a doubleheader scheduled September 4 to make up a postponement from the scheduled opening series of the season, the Mets pounced on starter
Erick Fedde, scoring seven runs to chase him after three innings, then plated another pair of runs against reliever
Wander Suero. The Nationals rallied from the nine-run deficit, as
Ryne Harper and Baldonado put up three scoreless innings in relief, the Nationals took advantage of some defensive miscues to close the deficit to two runs in the bottom of the sixth, and Stevenson hit a two-run homer off
Seth Lugo with two out in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game. Baldonado's scoreless eighth inning put the Nationals in a position to walk off in the bottom of the eighth, under the seven-inning doubleheader rule in effect for the season, but pinch-hitter
Gerardo Parra struck out with the bases loaded and Ruiz flew out. In his return from the paternity list,
Kyle Finnegan gave up a two-run homer facing
Francisco Lindor in the top of the ninth inning, and the Mets held on to win the game. To start the second game of the doubleheader, the Nationals selected the contract of left-handed pitcher
Josh Rogers from the Red Wings, placing reliever
Kyle McGowin on the 60-day injured list—and thereby ending his season—after he was diagnosed with a sprained right
ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow. Pitching in the major leagues for the first time since the
2019 season, Rogers gave up a run, on a single by
Michael Conforto, before he could record an out in the top of the first inning, but he settled down and held the Mets hitless after that through five innings. In the sixth inning, after Rogers landed awkwardly after throwing a pitch and was checked out by the Nationals' training staff, the Washington spot starter gave up a two-run homer by
Kevin Pillar. Those three runs off Rogers, who was replaced after retiring one more batter in the sixth inning, accounted for New York's scoring total in the nightcap. Meanwhile, the Nationals answered back with a leadoff homer by Thomas and an RBI single by third baseman
Carter Kieboom in the first inning, then a two-run homer by
Alcides Escobar in the fifth inning, all against Mets starter
Tylor Megill. Finnegan returned to the mound to record the seventh-inning save, striking out Mets first baseman
Pete Alonso to snap the Nationals' seven-game losing streak. Rogers earned the win, his first as a National. On September 5, the Nationals placed Parra on the injured list with inflammation in his surgically repaired right knee, keeping Rogers on the active roster after he played as the "extra man" under doubleheader rules the previous day. Rookie
Josiah Gray, tabbed with the start for Washington, struggled through three innings of work, giving up six runs. Murphy and Thompson combined for four scoreless innings of relief, and the Nationals battled back against Mets starter
Taijuan Walker, with Thomas hitting another leadoff home run and Bell following with a two-run homer in the first inning before adding three more runs in the fifth inning. Walker exited in the fifth, having given up six runs of his own. The Mets took the lead in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly by
Patrick Mazeika off Machado, and while Baldonado was able to stifle the scoring threat in the eighth, Voth again imploded when asked to keep the game close in the top of the ninth, surrendering six runs without recording an out. The Nationals lost, 13–6. The Nationals rallied yet again, this time coming away with the win, in a September 6 day game that marked the series finale against the Mets. Starter
Patrick Corbin wobbled his way through seven innings, allowing eleven hits and a walk but limiting the damage to three runs, leaving him in line for the loss. However, Finnegan stopped New York in its tracks with two scoreless relief innings, before Stevenson once again delivered a game-tying RBI in the ninth inning, facing Díaz as a pinch-hitter and singling home Escobar from second base with a line drive into right field. The next batter, Kieboom, chopped a grounder toward shortstop that Lindor couldn't glove, bringing in Bell as the game-winner and dropping the Mets back to .500. The Nationals next headed to
Cobb County, Georgia, where they dropped two of three hard-fought games against the division-rival
Atlanta Braves. On September 7, the Braves greeted Espino with a three-run homer by
Adam Duvall in the first inning, then tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning. While
Max Fried only gave up one run over six innings, the Nationals battled back against reliever
Tyler Matzek in the seventh, with Soto lining an RBI single to cut the deficit to three runs before left fielder
Yadiel Hernández mashed a three-run home run into the left field stands to even the score. The Braves quickly answered with a two-run
Ozzie Albies homer to left against the struggling Harper in the bottom of the inning, and Albies added another RBI against
Sam Clay in the eighth. Before inducing a game-ending double play from Bell, Braves closer
Will Smith hit Soto—who had homered off him in an
August 2020 game after Smith upbraided him for watching his warm-up pitches from behind home plate, then later hit a walk-off single against him on
Opening Day 2021—in the ribs with a fastball. The next day, Nationals starter Nolin responded by throwing behind reigning
National League Most Valuable Player Freddie Freeman's back, then hitting him in the buttocks with a fastball. Nolin was ejected from the game after the umpiring crew convened and determined there was intent behind Nolin's pitch, although Nolin denied intentionally trying to hit Freeman after the game. Soto met Freeman at second base after the inning was over, and the players put their arms around each other before Freeman went over to the visitors' bullpen to speak and exchange fist bumps with Nationals manager
Dave Martinez. Martinez said after the game that he told Freeman he never tells his pitchers to try to hit batters, and Freeman told reporters that while he believed Nolin threw at him intentionally, he told Soto that Smith did not intend to hit him the previous night and that there were no hard feelings on his part. Despite losing their starter after just a third of an inning, the Nationals won the game, with Murphy taking over from Nolin, collecting eight outs without allowing a hit, and leading the bullpen in only giving up two runs over the course of the game. Soto hit a solo home run out to right-center field off
Richard Rodríguez in the seventh inning, putting the Nationals on top with the eventual game-winning run. The following day, the Commissioner's Office meted out a five-game suspension for Nolin and a one-game suspension for Martinez over the Freeman incident. Washington dropped two of three visiting the
Pittsburgh Pirates, one of just two teams in the
National League to boast a worse record to that point in the season than the Nationals. After multiple come-from-behind rallies against the Mets and Braves, on September 10, it was the Nationals' turn to blow a late lead. While Rogers, tasked with his second start as a National, pitched into the seventh inning and allowed a pair of runs, and the Nationals scored twice off starter
Steven Brault plus a solo home run by Bell, a former Pirate, in the sixth against reliever
Sam Howard, acting manager
Tim Bogar elected not to insert Finnegan in the ninth inning, instead turning to the rookie Murphy for the save. Murphy struggled, giving up a leadoff single and a walk while uncorking two wild pitches. Bogar sent Baldonado to the mound with runners on second and third and one out, but
Colin Moran grounded out to tie the game and then
Ke'Bryan Hayes roped a base hit down the right field line to walk the Nationals off. The next night, playing in front of first responders and family members of
United Airlines Flight 93 crash victims in honor of the 20th anniversary of the
September 11, 2001, terror attacks that claimed lives in both
Western Pennsylvania and the
National Capital Region, the Pirates again rebounded from a deficit. The Nationals' struggling top prospect Gray gave up five runs, the last three on homers by
Bryan Reynolds and
Ben Gamel to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth. Washington faced one of its former prospects,
Wil Crowe, who started for Pittsburgh and pitched four innings, giving up all three of his runs allowed on a bases-clearing double by Ruiz. Ruiz later exited the game after a stray pitch from reliever
Kyle Keller hit him in the side of the head in the top of the sixth inning. In the bottom of the sixth, the Pirates scored four times to take the lead, walking four times against an ineffectual tag-team of Baldonado and Machado to go ahead, then adding on with an infield single and a two-run error by García. Despite a pinch-hit home run from longest-tenured National
Ryan Zimmerman in the eighth, the Nationals failed to rally, losing their third straight game. The Nationals succeeded in flipping the script on September 12, salvaging the series behind seven innings of two-run ball from Corbin and home runs by García, Thomas, and Avila—the latter's first as a National. Thompson and Finnegan shut down the Pirates the rest of the way to secure the win. On September 13, the Nationals activated infielder
Jordy Mercer from the injured list after nearly two months, designating utilityman
Adrián Sánchez for assignment in a corresponding move. After a powerful showing the previous game in Pittsburgh, the Nationals' bats went silent as they hosted the division-rival
Miami Marlins on September 13. Marlins ace
Sandy Alcántara pitched very well despite being struck in the leg by a Soto comebacker in the bottom of the fourth, taking a
perfect game into the sixth inning, until it was broken up by Ruiz's sharp grounder to second baseman
Jazz Chisholm Jr., which was ruled an error; and a
no-hitter into the seventh inning, before Bell blasted a long two-out single off the right field wall; while leading the Marlins to a 3–0 shutout. Espino took a hard-luck loss despite giving up just one run over six strong innings. The Nationals rebounded to roll over the Marlins on September 14, winning 8–2 behind a strong start from Fedde, battering Marlins starter and former Nationals prospect
Jesús Luzardo for four runs and knocking him out in the fifth inning before blowing the game open against reliever
Sean Guenther in the eighth. The Marlins' only two runs were scored by rookie first baseman
Lewin Díaz, who homered twice. Zimmerman crushed a homer off Luzardo out to left field that traveled an estimated , the veteran's longest home run since the
2018 season. The Nationals enjoyed five innings of one-hit, shutout ball from Rogers to start the rubber game on September 15. While Rogers exited with a two-run lead, the bullpen almost immediately gave it up, as
Jesús Sánchez homered into the visitors' bullpen following a four-pitch walk by Baldonado in the sixth. The two teams traded runs over the next few innings. The Nationals retook the lead on a Soto sacrifice fly off
Anthony Bass in the bottom of the sixth, lost it again on
Miguel Rojas' RBI infield single off Thompson in the top of the seventh, and retook it on a bases-loaded walk by Thomas and RBI single by Escobar against
Richard Bleier in the bottom of the seventh. Solo homers by Bell and
Bryan De La Cruz in the eighth effectively canceled each other out, and the Nationals entered the ninth inning up by two. Rojas singled to bring Miami within a run, then De La Cruz drove in Chisholm with a groundout to shortstop to tie the game. Sánchez then hit his second home run of the game to put the Marlins on top. Marlins closer
Dylan Floro retired the side in order to lock down the save and pin another series loss on the Nationals—their tenth straight against the National League East. Also on September 15, the Nationals dismissed pitching coordinator
Brad Holman, Boone, and other staff members who refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Holman and fired minor league pitching coach Larry Pardo threatened a lawsuit against the Nationals, alleging religious discrimination. The Nationals lost their next series against the
Colorado Rockies. The September 17 game at Nationals Park aped their loss in the previous game, with the two teams trading blows in the mid- to late innings. The Nationals chased Colorado starter
Germán Márquez after four innings, scoring six runs off him—three on a long home run into the Red Porch by Thomas—but despite marshaling just three hits against Gray, the Rockies scratched across five runs against the Nationals' rookie starter before taking the lead with a
Sam Hilliard two-run homer off Baldonado, who relieved Gray in the sixth inning. After Escobar tied the game with a cue shot into right field in the bottom of the eighth, Bell beat out a potential double play ball to bring home Thomas and put the Nationals back on top. But Finnegan, tasked again with getting the save in the ninth inning, immediately served up a home run down the left field line by
Elías Díaz.
Brendan Rodgers dunked a soft single into shallow left field to score Hilliard for the go-ahead run a few batters later, and the Nationals failed to equalize in the bottom of the ninth, losing 9–8. With the loss, the Nationals were officially eliminated from postseason contention. On September 18, the Rockies blanked the Nationals 6–0. The visitors pummeled Corbin, scoring three runs off him in the first inning before blowing the game open with a
Trevor Story three-run homer in the fourth inning. While Harper and Nolin combined to shut out the Rockies the rest of the way, the Nationals were unable to score against
Kyle Freeland and the Rockies' bullpen, grounding into four double plays to quash multiple scoring opportunities. Although he did not appear in the loss, reliever
Tanner Rainey was recalled to join the Washington bullpen before the September 18 game, with Suero optioned back to Triple-A Rochester in a corresponding move. Rainey contributed a scoreless inning, striking out the side in the seventh inning, as the Nationals returned the favor by shutting out the Rockies 3–0 on September 19. Espino led the charge, pitching into the sixth inning without allowing a run.
Jon Gray lost, giving up an RBI single by Hernández in the first inning and then a Soto homer to nearly straightaway center field in the third. García also singled in a run against
Lucas Gilbreath in the sixth to cap the scoring. Finnegan picked up his tenth save after back-to-back blown save opportunities. In their third matchup in two months, Fedde again outdueled Luzardo as the Marlins hosted the Nationals for a series starting September 20. But Fedde was bedeviled by the longball, giving up two long homers to Chisholm and one more to Sánchez.
Lewis Brinson nearly homered to left, but Bell, playing left field, leaped to snare the ball before it landed on the other side of the outfield wall. Despite scoring five runs off Luzardo over four innings, plus two more against the Marlins' bullpen, the Nationals fell in extra innings, 8–7. Murphy and Voth combined to give up the lead in the seventh inning, with the tying run scoring on a Brinson grounder that deflected off Escobar's glove for an error, one of two charged to the shortstop in the contest. Rainey struck out the side again in the ninth inning, and with García on second base to start the top of the tenth as the automatic baserunner, Thomas hit a leadoff double on which García failed to score, having misread the opposite-field flyball and tagged up too late to go all the way home. After Escobar grounded out and Soto walked to load the bases, Bell hit a groundball to the first baseman Díaz, who threw home to force out García, then was unable to receive catcher
Nick Fortes' return throw as it hit Bell in the back. Bell was called out for a double play for running inside the baseline, leaving the Nationals livid and prompting Martinez to be ejected for berating the umpiring crew. In the bottom of the tenth, with Clay facing Brinson and nobody out, the automatic runner Chisholm stole third base before scampering home on a spiked curveball that barely missed Brinson's foot before deflecting away from Ruiz for a wild pitch. An irate Martinez, who was ejected from Game 6 of the
2019 World Series, as well as from the game versus the
Chicago Cubs on May 19, 2021, for arguing similar calls against
Trea Turner, told reporters in his postgame press conference that the interference call against Bell that led to the double play was "brutal", suggesting that the umpires "use [their] freaking common sense one time" and not "reward" off-target throws by the catcher. He singled out crew chief
Bill Miller for twice refusing the Nationals' attempts to challenge calls on the field—namely whether Fortes' throw to first was legitimately obstructed and whether Clay's walk-off wild pitch hit Brinson—in the tenth inning. "Go home," Martinez said, addressing Miller in his comments. "If you don't want to be on the field and do your job, go home." The Nationals also dismissed baserunning and outfield coordinator
Gary Thurman, along with three minor league coaches, the next day. The Nationals bounced back on September 21 to win behind innings of one-run ball from Josh Rogers, who outdueled the Marlins'
Trevor Rogers while also making a spectacular shovel-flip to Bell at first base in the sixth inning to retire Chisholm on a softly hit groundball. The Nationals waited out Trevor Rogers, who struck out ten before unraveling in the sixth and giving up four runs. Escobar and Soto drove in three to break the game open against
Taylor Williams in the ninth inning. In the September 22 rubber game, Gray pitched through six innings, giving up a pair of runs, to earn his first career win. The Nationals backed him with three home runs off Miami starter
Elieser Hernández, one of them by a red-hot Soto, who reached base in all five plate appearances and came a triple short of the cycle. After Harper was ineffectual to start the ninth inning, giving up three runs to narrow the score to 7–5, Rainey entered and retired both batters he faced for his second save of the season. The series win was the Nationals' first of the month and snapped a streak of ten consecutive series losses against Washington's NL East division rivals. Yadiel Hernández left the team to be with his wife for the birth of their second child before the Nationals visited the
Cincinnati Reds beginning September 23. To replace Hernández on the roster, the Nationals selected the contract of right-handed relief prospect
Jhon Romero from Triple-A Rochester. Catcher
Jakson Reetz, who had spent most of the past two months with the Double-A
Harrisburg Senators, was designated for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Romero. Corbin pitched into the seventh inning without allowing a run, and the Nationals beat the Reds in the series opener, 3–2. Both runs were given up by Finnegan, who struggled once again in the closer's role. Soto homered twice, once off Reds starter
Luis Castillo and then again off reliever
Luis Cessa. He also worked a walk in the first inning to set a new team record for walks in a season. Soto walked more four times in the next game on September 24, although
Amir Garrett struck him out in the fifth inning to snap his streak of consecutive plate appearances reached at twelve. Ruiz also hit his first Nationals home run, while Escobar also homered. The Nationals jumped out to a four-run lead against Reds starter
Sonny Gray, but their starter Espino and a procession of relievers combined to give up seven unanswered runs. Thomas and Escobar doubled in the ninth against
Mychal Givens, then with the bases loaded and the Nationals down to their last out, García smacked a two-run single to tie the game. Neither team was able to drive in the unearned automatic baserunner in the tenth inning, and after the Nationals again came up short in the top of the eleventh,
Aristides Aquino led off the bottom of the eleventh with a hard grounder off Thompson, which kicked off the second baseman García's glove for a walk-off single. Romero made his major league debut in the contest, pitching a perfect bottom of the eighth. With Hernández returning from the paternity list the next day, the Nationals elected to keep Romero on the active roster, instead optioning Clay to Rochester to clear a roster spot for Hernández. A back-and-forth game on September 25 tipped the Reds' way, as both Cincinnati starter
Vladimir Gutiérrez and Washington's starter Fedde struggled. Ruiz homered for the second straight night to briefly put the Nationals on top in the seventh inning, but Machado gave up a game-tying double to
Kyle Farmer that knotted the score at six runs apiece. After pitching a scoreless eighth inning, Murphy came back out for the ninth to try to force extra innings, but
Nick Castellanos blasted a home run to straightaway center for another Reds walk-off win. The Reds won their third straight over the Nationals to cap the four-game series on September 26. While Rogers put up four scoreless innings in front of a large cheering section of friends and family from neighboring
Indiana, his home state, the Reds broke through with back-to-back home runs by
Tyler Stephenson and Castellanos in the fifth inning, ultimately chasing Rogers from the game. Farmer busted the game open against Harper in the seventh, launching a hanging curveball into the second deck in left field for a no-doubt grand slam. The Nationals scratched across two runs in the game, both of them on Reds misplays: an error by second baseman
Jonathan India on a Thomas groundball in the fifth inning and a wild pitch by reliever
Jeff Hoffman in the ninth. The Nationals dropped two of three visiting the Rockies in their final away games of the 2021 season. They eked out a 5–4 win on September 27, Gray's second career win, as the rookie pitched into the sixth inning before Colorado could do any damage against him. Gray hit Rodgers in the head with a pitch in the first inning, although the Rockies infielder's helmet prevented serious injury. While Gray settled in after that, in the sixth inning, his command faltered again. With the bases loaded,
Ryan McMahon gashed a bases-clearing double that accounted for all three runs Gray gave up. But the Nationals had already scored four times off Márquez to that point, and their bullpen was able to hold the home team down until the ninth inning, when
C. J. Cron doubled off Rainey to score the Rockies' fourth run. Fortunately for the visitors, Escobar had singled in an insurance run in the top of the ninth, and Rainey retired McMahon for the save. Corbin turned in another effective start on September 28, continuing his September resurgence as he pitched six innings with two runs allowed, on an RBI double by McMahon and a home run by Story. But Rockies starting pitcher Freeland was better. Corbin took the loss as the Nationals were only able to get one run in, with the previously red-hot Soto failing to reach safely and snapping a fourteen-game on-base streak. A rain-delayed rubber game swung the Rockies' way on September 29. Espino was clobbered for four runs before exiting after two innings and a lengthy delay. While the Nationals piled on five runs of their own, three against Colorado starter
Peter Lambert, over the first three innings to take the lead back, the Rockies' bullpen shut them down the rest of the way while scoring six more times. The Rockies won, 10–5, closing out the Nationals' slate of September games. Overall, in September, the Nationals went 10–18 while winning just one series. They finished the month with a 65–94 record, placing them last in the National League East Division.
October Three games were scheduled for the Nationals in October, hosting the
American League's
Boston Red Sox at Nationals Park with the Sox battling for a playoff spot. Boston took the first game of the series on October 1, holding the Nationals to two runs—on solo homers by veteran infielders
Alcides Escobar and
Jordy Mercer—while waiting out Nationals starter
Josh Rogers, who held the visitors scoreless for five innings before giving up four runs on back-to-back homers by
Hunter Renfroe and
Bobby Dalbec in the sixth. With Rogers' season done, the Nationals placed him on the injured list with a strained hamstring the next day to free up a roster spot for veteran outfielder
Gerardo Parra, activated after close to a month on the injured list with right knee inflammation. On October 2, rookie
Josiah Gray pitched well in his last start of the season, giving Washington six innings while striking out seven and allowing just one run, on a solo home run by
Rafael Devers. The Nationals tied the game in the eighth inning when right fielder
Juan Soto ripped a pitch from Red Sox reliever
Austin Davis to deep center field, just missing a grand slam but settling for a sacrifice fly. But right-handers
Tanner Rainey and
Mason Thompson combined to give back that run plus three more in the ninth inning, all with two outs. While the Nationals were able to claw back two runs when catcher
Keibert Ruiz walked and left fielder
Andrew Stevenson homered to lead off the bottom of the ninth, they went quietly from there. To start their final game of the season on October 3, the Nationals called up 23-year-old pitching prospect
Joan Adon from the Triple-A
Rochester Red Wings to make his major league debut. Infielder
Luis García, who had not appeared in the series yet after sitting out the first two games, was placed on the injured list with an oblique strain in a corresponding move. Adon pitched into the sixth inning while striking out nine, a
2021 season high for a pitcher making his major league debut. Devers homered in the fourth inning to put the Red Sox on the board, then Adon ran into trouble after striking out Devers in the sixth inning. Reliever
Patrick Murphy retired the side after allowing one inherited runner to score on an infield single by
Christian Vázquez. The Nationals, meanwhile, got to Boston starter
Chris Sale, who struck out seven but gave up a second-inning RBI double to Mercer and then walked
Ryan Zimmerman with the bases loaded, and then tacked on three more against
Garrett Richards in the fifth inning. The big blow was struck by veteran catcher
Alex Avila in what he had already said would be his final major league game, doubling in Soto and Bell in the fifth. With their
Wild Card Game berth on the line, the Red Sox evened the score against
Erick Fedde in the seventh inning. Devers singled in
Kyle Schwarber, whom the Nationals had traded to Boston at the deadline in July, before
Alex Verdugo delivered a game-tying double. The Nationals failed to score in the eighth inning, and in the ninth inning, Mercer bungled a routine Schwarber grounder for an error before Finnegan served up a no-doubt two-run homer to Devers, his second of the game and third of the series, onto the batter's eye in center field. Former Nationals prospect
Nick Pivetta retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth inning, with Soto striking out for the third time of the day to end the game. Being swept at the hands of the Red Sox in their only series of the month, the Nationals went 0–3 in October to fall to a 65–97 record of wins and losses in the 2021 season, fifth in the
National League East Division and third-worst in the
National League. Soto finished second behind former teammate
Trea Turner, who played for the Nationals through July and then played for the
Los Angeles Dodgers in August, September, and October after being traded, for the
National League batting title. Soto overtook Turner for a few days in September before fading down the stretch to finish with a .313 batting average. He finished first in on-base percentage (.465) in both the National League, where he earned his second straight
Silver Slugger Award and finished second to
Bryce Harper of the
Philadelphia Phillies in
Most Valuable Player Award balloting, and all of MLB.
Patrick Corbin, on the other hand, finished the season with a career-worst 5.82 ERA, the highest among all qualified pitchers.
Notable transactions in September after he was suspended under MLB's domestic violence and child abuse policy. • April 12, 2021: The Nationals designated catcher
Jonathan Lucroy for assignment; he elected free agency. • April 18, 2021: The Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitcher
Paolo Espino from the alternate training site. • May 4, 2021: The Nationals designated infielder/right-handed pitcher
Hernán Pérez for assignment; he elected free agency. • May 12, 2021: The Nationals signed outfielder
Destin Hood to a minor league contract. • May 29, 2021: The Nationals signed infielder
Corban Joseph to a minor league contract. • June 4, 2021: The Nationals signed left-handed pitcher
Josh Rogers to a minor league contract. • June 12, 2021: The Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitchers
Andrés Machado and
Jefry Rodríguez from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings. • June 15, 2021: The Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitcher
Justin Miller from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings and designated right-handed pitcher
Rogelio Armenteros for assignment; he was outrighted to Class-AAA Rochester. • June 20, 2021: The Nationals selected the contract of outfielder
Gerardo Parra from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings and designated left-handed pitcher
Ben Braymer for assignment; he was outrighted to Class-AAA Rochester. • June 29, 2021: The Nationals selected the contract of left-handed pitcher
Kyle Lobstein from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings and designated right-handed pitcher
Justin Miller for assignment; he was selected off waivers by the
St. Louis Cardinals. • July 2, 2021: The Nationals selected the contract of infielder
Humberto Arteaga from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings. • July 3, 2021: The Nationals acquired minor league infielder
Alcides Escobar from the
Kansas City Royals for cash considerations, selected his contract from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings, and designated infielder
Humberto Arteaga for assignment; he was outrighted to Class-AAA Rochester. • July 6, 2021: The Nationals signed right-handed pitcher
Nick Goody to a minor league contract. • July 9, 2021: The Nationals signed infielder/outfielder
Derek Dietrich to a minor league contract. • July 10, 2021: The Nationals selected the contract of catcher
Jakson Reetz from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings and designated left-handed pitcher
Kyle Lobstein for assignment; he was purchased by the
Milwaukee Brewers for cash considerations. • July 16, 2021: The Nationals signed catcher
René Rivera to a major league contract. • July 29, 2021: The Nationals acquired catcher
Riley Adams from the
Toronto Blue Jays for left-handed pitcher
Brad Hand and minor league pitcher
Aldo Ramírez from the
Boston Red Sox for outfielder
Kyle Schwarber. • July 30, 2021: The Nationals acquired right-handed pitcher
Mason Thompson and minor league infielder
Jordy Barley from the
San Diego Padres for right-handed pitcher
Daniel Hudson; right-handed pitchers Gerardo Carrillo and
Josiah Gray, catcher
Keibert Ruiz, and minor league outfielder
Donovan Casey from the
Los Angeles Dodgers for right-handed pitcher
Max Scherzer and shortstop
Trea Turner; minor league catcher
Drew Millas and minor league pitchers
Richard Guasch and
Seth Shuman from the
Oakland Athletics for catcher
Yan Gomes and infielder/outfielder
Josh Harrison; and outfielder
Lane Thomas from the
St. Louis Cardinals for left-handed pitcher
Jon Lester; and selected the contracts of right-handed pitcher
Gabe Klobosits and infielder
Adrián Sánchez from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings. • August 3, 2021: The Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitcher
Javy Guerra from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings. • August 11, 2021: The Nationals selected the contract of left-handed pitcher
Sean Nolin from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings. • August 14, 2021: The Nationals claimed right-handed pitcher
Patrick Murphy off waivers from the
Toronto Blue Jays and released catcher
René Rivera. • August 22, 2021: The Nationals designated right-handed pitcher
Javy Guerra for assignment; he elected free agency. • August 23, 2021: The Nationals claimed first baseman
Mike Ford off waivers from the
Tampa Bay Rays. • August 24, 2021: The Nationals designated right-handed pitcher
Jefry Rodríguez for assignment; he was outrighted to the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings. • September 1, 2021: The Nationals selected the contract of left-handed pitcher
Alberto Baldonado from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings. • September 3, 2021: The Nationals released third baseman
Starlin Castro. • September 4, 2021: The Nationals selected the contract of left-handed pitcher
Josh Rogers from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings. • September 13, 2021: The Nationals designated infielder
Adrián Sánchez for assignment; he was outrighted to the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings. • September 23, 2021: The Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitcher
Jhon Romero from the Class-AAA
Rochester Red Wings and designated catcher
Jakson Reetz for assignment; he was outrighted to Class-AAA Rochester.
Major league debuts • April 7, 2021:
Cody Wilson,
Sam Clay • July 10, 2021:
Jakson Reetz • July 30, 2021:
Gabe Klobosits • September 2, 2021:
Alberto Baldonado • September 24, 2021:
Jhon Romero • October 3, 2021:
Joan Adon Game log Game suspended in the middle of the 6th with the Padres leading, 8–4, due to
Nationals Park shooting; completed on July 18 before the regularly scheduled game.
Game suspended in the top of the 2nd with the Nationals leading, 3–1, due to rain; completed on August 11 before the regularly scheduled game. ==Roster==