Turbulent Tuesday: Nats Blown Out, Red Wings Shut Out, FredNats Rained Out

Man, last night was a real tough night between all organizational affiliates. Normally, I would have done an MiLB 3 Stars of the night to recap the franchise's action across the lower levels, however, since only minor league 1 affiliate was in action on Tuesday and the game was anything other than noteworthy, I decided to do an organizational update instead to recap everything.

For starters, the 2024 Washington Nationals just can't seem to figure out the New York Mets. In fact, this season, the Mets are 10-2 against our beloved Nats, and last night's game might have been one of the worst ones. In what should have been a decent pitching matchup between righty Tylor Megill of the Mets and lefty Mitchell Parker of the Nats, the game was effectively over by the third inning. James Wood drove in the opening run of the game in the top of the third with an RBI groundout, but Mets rookie Luisangel Acuña, younger brother of Ronald Acuña Jr, doubled in his first RBI in the majors, followed by a 2-run single by Pete Alonso 3 batters later. Parker was out before the end of the 4th inning, and he finished his start by going just 3.2 innings, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks with just 1 strikeout. The game never really got any closer, and the Mets cruised to a 10-1 victory.

If there was one positive takeaway from the big league club, it's that 3 of the main pieces of the future all made contributions offensively. CJ Abrams had 1 of the team's 4 hits on Tuesday, keeping his average above the .230s as he made his first start in a few days coming back from left shoulder soreness. James Wood, as stated above, drove in the team's only run of the ballgame, but still finished the game 0/4. As for the source of the other 3 hits? Those came courtesy of MLB's #1 overall prospect, Dylan Crews. He finished the game 3/4 and was the only Nat to make it past first base, as he had a double in the 2nd inning. Although it was a tough watch for Nats fans everywhere, at least the 3 young stars made an impact.

Things down on the farm weren't much better, as the AAA Rochester Red Wings were shut out 3-0, and only mustered a pair of hits. The High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks and AA Harrisburg Senators have both wrapped up their seasons, but the Low-A Fredericksburg Nationals are still alive, and just 1 win away from a Carolina League Championship. The game was supposed to be played on Tuesday, however, the game was postponed due to inclement weather, and the FredNats and Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (Chicago White Sox) will now play a double-header beginning at 5:05 PM EST on Wednesday to decide the championship series. Both games will be just 7 innings long, and will give the FredNats an opportunity to clinch their first Carolina League title since they were the Potomac Nationals back in 2014.

You can catch the FredNats' chance at greatness on Wednesday on MiLB.TV, or the Bally Live App, and the radio broadcast will be accessible here. If you are local to the Fredericksburg area, be sure to head out to the game(s), should the weather prevail.

All stats in this article were provided by MLB.com.