While it hardly ranks with Babe Ruth being thrown out to end the 1926 World Series, Riley Adams on April 5, 2025, became the first Nationals’ catcher to end a game by throwing out a would-be base stealer.
Adams gunned down the Diamondback’s Alex Thomas, whose grounder had driven in a run to cut the Nats’ lead to 4-3. Although Thomas had been credited with a single, he reached base when National closer Kyle Finnegan didn’t get over in time, and Thomas beat first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to the bag.
The Diamondbacks challenged the close play at second on the steal attempt, delaying the Washington celebration, but umpire Will Little’s out call was upheld after the video review. The throw by Adams was on a target but a bit high, so shortstop CJ Abrams had to apply a quick slap tag.
During the franchise’s years in Montreal, three games in 35 seasons had ended with a caught stealing, but no Washington catcher had done it in the Nationals’ first 20 seasons.
The happy finish ended the Nats four-game losing streak and was the first of four wins in a row. Finnegan earned his second save. He got his third the next day against the Dodgers.
“They like to run,” Adams told reporters after the game. “You just have to be ready for that.”
“I want to beat his hand to the bag, Abrams said. ‘It was a missile by Riley, so [that] made it easier.”
“I’m happy I was able to show up in that moment,” said Adams, who admitted he’s been doing extra work on his throws and overall defense.
After a less than stellar spring at bat and behind the plate, Adam likely remained the Nats’ backup catcher because he was out of minor league options. He was 0-for-3, striking out three times in this game, and 0-for-5 for the season, but manager Davey Martinez said he wasn’t worried about that.
He’s “a backup catcher,” Martinez said about Adams in the post-game session with the media. “Put the right fingers down, get a chance to throw somebody out; that’s his job. If he hits, great.”
Ruth’s famous failed steal attempt, by the way, came in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1926 World Series against the Cardinals. The Yankees were trailing 3-2 when the 39-year-old Grover Cleveland Alexander in relief, walked the Babe.
Asked months later by Cardinal’s catcher Bob O’Farrell why he took off, Ruth replied that he didn’t think the great Alexander was paying him any attention. Other accounts, however, say that the Yankees’ Bob Meusel swung and missed at the first pitch on a hit-and-run attempt, allowing O’Farrell to throw Ruth out.
Washington baseball history 