The Nats limped their way into the All-Star Break with a 5-3 loss to the visiting Yankees on Sunday afternoon. Mark & Al convene after the New York sweep that put Washington a game below .500 through 97 games. All three losses included the Nationals fumbling away a lead that they took in the 7th inning stretch.

(08:00) Any chance the organization "rents" a reliever at the Trade Deadline?

(12:00) Analyzing if Dylan Crews could have made the catch when Ben Rice tripled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 8th off of Andrew Alvarez.

(17:30) Cade Cavalli returned from suspension and only allowed two runs in six innings of work Cavalli struck out five Yankees and he will enter the All-Star Break with a 3.83 ERA.

(21:20) James Wood led off the game yet again with a homer for the 10th time this season. Wood is now up to 28 homers and last year he did not reach that stage until September 23rd. Wood is ahead of Juan Soto for the highest OPS in the NL (.985).

(27:00) Abimelec Ortiz was called from AAA on Sunday and doubled while hitting in the 3rd spot. Ortiz was sent back down to Rochester after the game because the pitching staff was one man down on Sunday due to the impending pause in the schedule. Ortiz was one of the players acquired in the MacKenzie Gore trade with Texas.

(29:15) James Wood will not participate in Monday's Home Run Derby in Philadelphia. The Nationals resume play on Friday in Sacramento against the Athletics.

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The Nats coughed up another lead on Saturday due to the continued ineptitude of the bullpen. Mark & Al dig into the 4-2 loss to the visiting Yankees that served as the team's 27th blown save this season. Washington led 2-0 entering the top of the 8th, but three Yankee homers later they trailed by two runs entering the bottom of the frame.

(07:00) The Nationals are now back at .500 after dropping these two games vs. New York. What would the record be with a halfway decent bullpen?

(10:30) Blake Butera went with righty relievers this time against the lefty Yankee lineup and it not work out at all. Orlando Ribalta and Clayton Beeter combined to allow four decisive runs in the 8th.

(22:00) PJ Poulin served as the Opener and pitched into the top of the 2nd. Miles Mikolas then took over and tossed four shutout innings. Mikolas' appeal has been heard and he will begin his five game suspension on Sunday afternoon.

(25:00) The offense slugged a pair of homers off of CY Young candidate Cam Schlittler. James Wood homered on the first pitch he saw and Curtis Mead also went deep early in the affair. Wood is now up to 27 homers on the year and nine of them have come in the lead-off spot.

(29:00) Sunday is the final game before the All-Star Break and it also will decide which side of .500 the Nats find themselves. Cade Cavalli is expected to take the mound fresh off of serving a five game suspension.

(31:00) Foster Griffin was a late addition to the NL Roster on Saturday evening. Griffin's recognition is well deserved as his ERA is sub 3.00.

(33:30) Learn about Chris Hacopian, who the Nats selected at #11 overall from Texas A&M. Hacopian grew up locally as a diehard Nationals fan before playing at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, MD.

(36:00) Checking in on last year's #1 pick Eli Willits. He is currently in High-A Wilmington and is the 3rd ranked Prospect in the MLB Pipeline. Willits is still only 18 year old and his stated goal is to be in the Big Leagues by the age of 20.

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The Nats suffered a familiar gut punch on Friday night as the Yankes rallied with three runs in the top of the 9th. Mark & Al examine the 5-3 defeat that was highlighted by a questionable pitching decision by first year Manager Blake Butera.

(05:00) Diving into the choice to replace Clayton Better with LHP Matt Krook in the 9th inning. It was only the 15th career appearance for Krook and his career ERA is a astronomical 16.62 with saves.

(08:00) Beeter retired the only batter he faced in the 8th after inheriting a jam. His ERA this season is just 2.96 and he has notched seven saves thus far.

(12:00) It is a new process in charting pitching matchups and scenarios for the organization.

(15:30) Why Krook instead of fellow southpaw PJ Poulin?

(22:00) Carson Palmquist was the Opener but stayed on the mound for three innings of work. Littell then took the baton and struck out five Yankee hitters as he lasted for four innings.

(24:30) Keibert Ruiz and James Wood went back-to-back in the bottom of the 7th to take a 3-2 lead. Wood now has 26 homers on the season and his OPS currently sits at .962.

(26:00) Brad Lord has been placed on the 15-Day IL due to left side tightness.

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