{"id":91851,"date":"2024-12-17T15:47:37","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T20:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=91851"},"modified":"2024-12-17T15:47:37","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T20:47:37","slug":"nationals-top-moments-20-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/17\/nationals-top-moments-20-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Decades of Nationals Baseball: The Most Iconic Moments"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Twenty years ago, in late 2004, the Montreal Expos embarked on a new chapter, relocating to Washington, D.C. and rebranding as the Nationals. Since then, the franchise has experienced a transformative journey, marked by four National League East division titles and the pinnacle of success \u2013 a World Series championship in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

As the Nationals celebrate two decades in the nation’s capital, we take a look back at some of the most iconic moments that have defined the franchise’s history.<\/p>\r\n

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A Two-Decade Tribute to the Nationals<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Washington’s First Game at Nationals Park<\/h3>\r\n

The Nationals kicked off their tenure in Washington, D.C. with three seasons at RFK Stadium, the former home of the Senators. In 2008, they made the highly anticipated move to Nationals Park in Navy Yard. The inaugural game at the new ballpark was a thrilling one, with the Nationals facing off against their division rivals, the Atlanta Braves.<\/p>\r\n

In a dramatic finish, Ryan Zimmerman<\/a> made history by hitting a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, securing a 3-2 victory for the Nationals. This impressive feat made Zimmerman just the third player in baseball history to hit a walk-off homer in the first game at a new MLB stadium.<\/p>\r\n

Stephen Strasburg<\/a>‘s Electrifying Debut<\/h3>\r\n

On June 8, 2010, rookie sensation Stephen Strasburg took the mound for his highly anticipated major league debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The hype surrounding his arrival did not disappoint. Strasburg dominated, striking out 14 batters over seven innings while surrendering just two earned runs and no walks. His impressive performance set a new franchise record, surpassing John Patterson<\/a>‘s previous mark of 13 strikeouts. Strasburg’s dazzling debut marked the beginning of an exciting era for Nationals fans.<\/p>\r\n

2012 NLDS Game 4<\/h3>\r\n

The Nationals made history in 2012 by clinching their first NL East title and postseason berth. As the top seed, they faced off against the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS. Down 2-1 in the series, Washington needed a spark in Game 4. Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Jayson Werth<\/a> stepped up to the plate against Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn<\/a>. After fouling off 12 pitches, Werth crushed the 13th pitch into left field for a thrilling walk-off home run, forcing a decisive Game 5.<\/p>\r\n

Two No-Hitters at Nats Park<\/h3>\r\n

On the last day of the 2014 regular season, right-hander Jordan Zimmermann<\/a> pitched the first no-hitter at Nationals Park. Washington shut out the Miami Marlins 1-0, but it wasn’t easy. Needing one more out, Zimmerman allowed Christian Yelich<\/a> to hit a line drive to left field. However, Steven Souza Jr.<\/a> made an incredible diving catch to seal the no-no for the Nationals.<\/p>\r\n

On June 20th, 2015, Cy Young<\/a> winner Max Scherzer<\/a> took the mound against the Pirates. Scherzer was one strike away from the first perfect game in Nationals history. However, the pitch struck Pittsburgh’s Jose Tabata<\/a> in the elbow, allowing him to take first base. Many fans speculate that Tabata leaned into the pitch. Luckily, the next Pirates at-bat resulted in a flyout, giving Scherzer a no-hitter.<\/p>\r\n

Max Scherzer’s 20-Strikeout Game<\/h3>\r\n

In 2016, Max Scherer looked to build on his impressive first season with the Nationals. On May 11, he faced his former team, the Detroit Tigers, and delivered a historic performance. Scherer set a franchise record and became just the fourth pitcher in MLB history to record 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. He threw 116 pitches, including an astonishing 96 strikes, to dominate the Tigers. This masterpiece was a highlight of Scherer’s Cy Young Award-winning season.<\/p>\r\n

2019 World Series Run<\/h3>\r\n

After starting the 2019 season with a 19-31 record, the Nationals went on to make a miraculous run to the postseason. In the NL Wild Card Game, Juan Soto<\/a> made a clutch hit that scored three runs to lift the Nationals to victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. In Game 5 of the NLCS, Howie Kendrick<\/a>‘s grand slam homer in extra innings helped Washington eliminate the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers. The Nationals then swept the Cardinals in four games in the NLCS.<\/p>\r\n

Finally, Washington’s World Series matchup with the Houston Astros went seven games. Kendrick hit another clutch home run in Game 7 that gave the Nationals their first World Series title<\/a> in franchise history.<\/p>\r\n

Main Photo: \u00a9 Scott Taetsch-Imagn Images<\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty years ago, in late 2004, the Montreal Expos embarked on a new chapter, relocating to Washington, D.C. and rebranding as the Nationals. Since then, the franchise has experienced a transformative journey, marked by four National League East division titles and the pinnacle of success \u2013 a World Series championship in 2019.\u00a0 As the Nationals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5242,"featured_media":92294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,19],"tags":[419,2133,79,322,270],"class_list":["post-91851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-nationals","tag-howie-kendrick","tag-juan-soto","tag-max-scherzer","tag-ryan-zimmerman","tag-stephen-strasburg"],"modified_by":"Matt Graves","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91851"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92291,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91851\/revisions\/92291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}