The 2025 season is yet another lost one for the Washington Nationals, a team that just couldn't find a way to return to winning ways after hoisting the World Series trophy in 2019. They entered their Thursday night game against the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies with a 48-72 record — which is “good” for the third-worst record in MLB.

But every now and then, even teams that have been struggling as much as the Nationals have this season stumble into some magic. On Thursday, the Nationals' pitching staff, which has had more than its fair share of poor moments this season, found a way to quiet the Phillies' bats down in a 3-2 win.

In fact, this game marks some firsts for a few members of the Nationals' pitching staff. For one, this was the first big-league win for relief pitcher Shinnosuke Ogasawara, who found a way to strike out Kyle Schwarber to keep the deficit at 2-1 in the seventh inning before the Nationals took the lead in the bottom half of the frame.

And then in the ninth inning, 26-year-old rookie Cole Henry picked up his first career save — making it a night to celebrate all around for the Nationals franchise.

In a season full of tough moments for the Nationals, they need to cherish every win they can get. Ogasawara, in particular, hasn't found life in the big leagues to be very smooth-sailing. Prior to Thursday night, Ogasawara had recorded an unsightly 6.43 ERA in 14 innings of work (six games, two starts). But he came up huge against the Phillies, striking out Schwarber with a nasty 79-mph slider breaking towards the outside of the zone.

Meanwhile, Henry ended the game by inducing a swinging strikeout from Trea Turner, which could convince Nationals manager Miguel Cairo to turn over the closer spot to him full-time.

Nationals turn biggest weakness into a strength on Thursday

Washington Nationals starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore (1) pitches against the Houston Astros in the first inning at Daikin Park.
Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The Nationals have had one of the worst pitching corps in MLB heading into Thursday. In fact, they rank 29th in the league in terms of runs allowed, with only the hapless Colorado Rockies allowing more runs than they've done all season long.

But over the past week or so, the Nationals are at least finding a bit of footing on that side of the ball. In addition to this 3-2 win over the Phillies, they also shut out the San Francisco Giants last week, 8-0, with MacKenzie Gore redeeming himself after their debacle against the Athletics last week.

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