Nats issues exposed in epic collapse against Giants
There are collapses, and then there is what the Washington Nationals did Wednesday afternoon against the San Francisco Giants.
Entering the bottom of the 8th inning with a 9-1 lead against the home team, the Washington Nationals had a 99.9% win probability, according to SI. The team had used a four-run sixth inning and a three-run seventh inning to blow the doors off what had been a close 2-0 game since the third inning.
I was seconds from turning off the game and moving on with my afternoon when Matt Chapman hit his second home run of the day to lead off the bottom of the 8th. The win probability and my mood would continue to drop from there.
Rafael Devers followed Chapman's homer with a solo shot of his own. But while the Giants' bats were clearly getting hot, it wasn't yet time to panic because the Nats still had a comfortable six-run lead while needing just six outs to seal the victory and the road sweep of the Giants.
The Giants would score three more runs in the frame, making the game 9-6. The Nats got back one of those runs in the top of the 9th, setting the scene for the dramatic 9th-inning walk-off grand slam from Washington D.C.-area native and future star Bryce Eldridge.
Besides the cruelty of the baseball gods, there were numerous other factors working against the Nationals on Wednesday.
2 factors lead to the Nats collapse against the Giants
The first, most glaring, and perhaps most concerning factor that led to the Nats demise is that this has been the team's modus operandi all season. The team has lacked a killer instinct when given the opportunity to sweep a team.
Ahead of the Giants series, the Nats had four opportunities to sweep a team in just the past four weeks, coming up short each time against the Reds, Orioles, Guardians, and Diamondbacks.
The Nats just played the Diamondbacks before heading to San Fran, and while their game 3 loss there wasn't as dramatic as Wednesday's, it says something about the team that it can't seem to finish the job in these series.
When you are hovering around .500 and fighting for a wild card spot, those five (including San Francisco) opportunities start to add up.
The other factor working against the Nats was their bullpen, which was completely taxed.
After Paxton Schultz, Orlando Ribalta, and Gus Varland proceeded to give away the 8-run lead the Nats offense had given starting pitcher Foster Griffin (who only allowed 1 earned run across 6 innings), it was clear the Nats were running out of arms.
When the camera caught reliever Mitchell Parker leaving the visitors' bullpen area just before he gave up the grand slam, the only other player in the pen was starter Miles Mikolas. The Nats were really down to their last arms as they wrapped up their six-game road trip.
But despite the fact that the team could have easily been 6-0 on this road trip, the Nats go back to D.C., increasing their winning record on the road. But after getting swept by the Marlins at home last week, the team find's themselves third in the division and 1 game back of the final wild card spot.
As surprising as the team has been this season, Wednesday afternoon's San Francisco debacle is a good reminder that the 2026 Washington Nationals still have a couple of major issues to iron out.
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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 9:33 AM.