Washington Nationals: Comeback victory shifts momentum
By Drew Douglas
 The Washington Nationals mustered up quite the fight on Monday night, coming back from a 6-1 deficit. That and more in the Daily Washingtonian.
Good morning, Washington Nationals fans!
Today is Tuesday, April 17, 2018. The Capitals and Wizards both play postseason games tonight, but the Nats have a big game as well.
Tonight, Gio Gonzalez and the Nats will square off against Zack Wheeler and the New York Mets. Fortunately, the Nats have all of the momentum after stealing a victory in game one of the series.
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Entering Monday night, the Nats were 47-16 at Citi Field since 2011. They have dominated the Mets at their ballpark, but Monday night appeared to be different.
Despite Jeremy Hellickson‘s stellar debut, the Nats trailed 6-1 heading into the eighth. Then, the offense came alive for a six-run inning against the Mets’ bullpen. The Nats’ offense has been lackluster for most of the season, partially due to various injuries, but finally showed what it is capable of on Monday night.
Any win over a division opponent is big, but Monday night’s victory was exceptionally important.
The Mets entered the game at 12-2 and felt like they could do no wrong. Everyone is healthy for the first time in a while, and they appeared to be cruising to a division title.
The Nats have now reminded the Mets that they are a great team as well. Coming back to beat the Mets at Citi Field was the perfect revenge for their sweep at Nationals Park a couple weeks ago.
Now, here is what we are reading:
District on Deck predicts a breakout season for Matt Wieters
Last year, Matt Wieters had a nightmarish debut season in DC. He got off to a hot start in April, but struggled in all facets of the game for the rest of the year. Now, he is 15 pounds lighter and has been working with new hitting coach Kevin Long. Do not be surprised to see him return to form in 2018.
WTOP analyzes the Nats’ slow start
Despite being heavily favored to run away with the division and possibly win a World Series, the Nats have gotten off to a slow start. There have certainly been outstanding performances, such as Adam Eaton‘s 5-for-5 game and Max Scherzer‘s complete game shutout, but the team has underperformed. Noah Frank analyzes what has caused the slow start.
After a strong spring, it became obvious that Victor Robles would join the Nats for good soon. Unfortunately, it will not be as soon as anticipated after he suffered an elbow injury in the minors. While the injury will delay his arrival in the majors, he does not need surgery. Matt Kelly provides an update on the Nats’ top prospect.
Max Scherzer has won two consecutive Cy Young Awards and is now off to a great start in 2018. Through his first four starts, he has pitched to a 1.33 ERA. He was exceptionally dominant this week, allowing just two runs over 16 innings. Incredibly enough, he also recorded two hits and stole a base. Byron Kerr recaps his unbelievable week.
Next: Jeremy Hellickson impresses in debut
We would like to wish the Capitals and Wizards the best of luck tonight, as they both attempt to win postseason games on the road. Hopefully the Nats, Capitals, and Wizards can complete the DC trifecta tonight.