Nationals' Home Opener Nightmare

It's April 4th. Washington Nationals News Today starts now, AI-powered and game-ready.

I'm Cory with the story.

The Washington Nationals 2026 home opener turned into a nightmare, Friday, dropping a 13-to-6 decision to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Right in that's Park.

Starter.

Miles Mikolas had the worst outing of his career, surrendering 11 earned runs in just 4.1 innings, which set a franchise record,

and marked the first time in majorly history for that exact stat line.

Mikolas also gave up 11 hits, four strikeouts, one walk, and four of the five homers the Dodgers smashed,

putting the gnats in a deep hole early.

CJ Abrams provided the lone bright spot, crushing his second homer of the year, a 387-foot-3 run shot in the first to jump ahead.

Three nothing, then adding his fourth RBI later to match a career high not seen in nearly three years.

But the Dodgers fired right back with five in the third, two in the fourth, and four more in the fifth.

Turning a close game into a route before the bullpen Gus Varlin, Ken Waldechuk, and Andre Grinillo couldn't fully stem the tide.

Now sitting at three and four with three straight losses under the new Blake Boutera era, the gnats hope to bounce back Saturday April 4th at four.

05 PM and salvage the series.