It all started so well, but the Nats dreams of winning the home opener collapsed quickly, as the Dodgers lineup showed why they are elite. The Nats were up 3-0 after two innings thanks to a CJ Abrams homer, but the Dodgers turned that into an 11-4 deficit in what felt like a blink of an eye. While the Nats have competed with the Cubs and Phillies, the Dodgers showed them levels today.
In this game, one thing stuck out like a sore thumb, and it was the performance of starting pitcher Miles Mikolas. He re-wrote Nationals history today, but not in a good way. The veteran right hander allowed 11 earned runs, the most in team history. Both of Mikolas’ starts with the Nats have been shaky at best, and he has not given the team a chance to win.
The craziest part is how fast things got out of control. Through the first two innings, Mikolas was cruising, getting the first six Dodgers hitters out. However, when you don’t have elite stuff, things can get ugly if you make mistakes. That is exactly what happened for Mikolas.
Blake Butera was in awe of the Dodgers lineup, saying Mikolas “had to be almost perfect against these guys”. He was perfect in the first two innings, but when he stopped being perfect, disaster struck. From the third inning on, it felt like the Dodgers were taking batting practice. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages all took Mikolas deep.
He was facing a tough lineup, but it just feels like Mikolas is a guy at the end of the line. The veteran will not be going anywhere, at least for now. Butera said they will watch the video, then Mikolas and the staff will work on how to make adjustments. It would feel a bit unfair to only give Mikolas two starts, but he is going to have to put together some competitive outings, and fast.
Between the third and fifth inning, the Dodgers scored 11 runs. This avalanche just drowned the Nats, even though their offense was solid today. Later in the game, Kyle Tucker hit the Dodgers fifth home run. It was his first one with the club, and it was the cherry on top for the defending champs.
While the Mikolas disaster will rightfully take up the headlines, the Nats offense looked promising once again. Everyone in the lineup actually got a hit. You do not see that often in a game you lose by 7. I guess that just shows the might of the Dodgers lineup.
One guy I want to highlight is the man who got the party started and sent Nats fans into a frenzy in the first. That would be CJ Abrams, who hit his second home run in as many games. Both of his homers were quite similar. He has a unique ability to pull outside pitches for homers. That is what he did for both of his three run shots in the last couple games.
Hot starts are nothing new for Abrams. He has had tremendous first half numbers each of the last two seasons before tailing off at the end. For his part, Blake Butera does not really think Abrams is off to a hot start. He said, “I am not really sure I would call this a hot start, this is just CJ”.
He acknowledged that Abrams does need to put a full season together, but is confident that will happen. Butera talked about how if CJ can stick to his process, take things day to day and not get too wrapped up in small samples one way or the other, the consistency will come.
I am pretty bullish on Abrams keeping things up. With the new coaching staff and technology, he will have more tools to lean on when he inevitably goes through a rough stretch. The big thing for Abrams is preventing those rough weeks from turning into rough months.
Another hitter that has impressed me, really since Spring Training is Brady House. He looks like a completely different hitter this season. The confidence looks way higher and he is much more in control of his at bats.
House taking two walks today felt really notable. He already has four walks in seven games. Last season, he only had 8 walks in 73 games. This is not a fluke, House just looks way more comfortable.
House has a history of starting slow at a new level before solving it. We saw that in Triple-A, where he really struggled in 2024, before mashing his way to a big league call up in 2025. Now, it looks like he is figuring things out at the MLB level. Big league pitchers will adjust back, so he will have to be constantly evolving. However, House feels like he has found his footing in the box.
Obviously, today was a very discouraging home opener, but you could still find some silver linings. Jake Irvin will take the mound tomorrow, and hopefully his new look arsenal will play against the Dodgers. He was impressive in his first start of the season, but the homer prone righty is going up against an unforgiving Dodgers lineup.
Hopefully, the Dodgers got all the runs out of their system today and the Nats can bounce back these next two games. It was not the result anyone wanted, but it was nice to be back at Nationals Park and covering the home opener for the first time in the press booth.