On July 23, 2023, the Washington Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-1, in Washington. Led by a young core of Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, Lane Thomas, CJ Abrams, Keibert Ruiz, and Luis Garcia, with veteran contributions from Jeimer Candelario and Dom Smith, the Nationals took all three games in the series from the contending Giants.
This sweep snapped a two-year stretch in which Washington, absent every player in these three games, had last swept a three-game series. The Nats already had broken a record set more than century ago by the Philadelphia Athletics, who went 89 series without sweeping one of its seven American League opponents between 1914 and 1917. The sweep of the Giants ended the Nationals’ dry run at 96 series of three or more games without one.
When Washington ended its dubious streak, the Royals had the next longest streak without a series sweep at just 34. Several sources reported that Washington had set the all-time record by failing to sweep the Padres in late June – the 90th in a row. The Nats had played, and not swept, six more series since then.
The streak started after the Nationals swept the Pirates on June 16, 2021. In that game, Paulo Espino recorded his first major league win. In 2022, Espino was part of a rotation in which Washington starters went a record 43 games in a row without recording a victory. At 0-9 for the season, Espino came close to setting a record for innings pitched without winning a game.
The good news is that four young players obtained in the two big trades GM Mike Rizzo made – sending Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Dodgers in 2021 and Juan Soto and Josh Bell to the Padres in 2022 – are paying dividends: Gray, Ruiz, Abrams and Gore, so far, with three others progressing in the minors.
The 2023 Nationals showed flashes of excellence in the second half, and their 71-91 record was 16 games better than the woeful 107-loss 2022 team. That would mirror the improvement of the 2009 to 2012 Nats, who improved by 10 games or better for three season before winning the division in 2012.
Washington baseball history 