Nationals' bullpen blows another home lead in loss to Yankees

Washington Nationals pitcher Clayton Beeter. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Nationals' bullpen blows another home lead in loss to Yankees

By Andrew Wright | Last updated Jul 11, 2026 7:15 PM ET

There's no nice way to say this. The Washington Nationals have the worst bullpen in Major League Baseball.

Night after night, it seems that the Washington bullpen has blown a game. That happened again on Saturday afternoon in a 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees.

The Nationals' bullpen blows another game

Washington entered the eighth inning of Saturday's game against New York leading 2-0. Clayton Beeter was the man tasked with completing the eighth and getting the Nationals back to the plate with a 2-0 lead.

That didn't happen, and when Beeter exited the game after not recording an out, it was the Yankees who led 4-2. Beeter surrendered home runs to Ryan McMahon, Paul Goldschmidt and Trent Grisham.

It was Grisham's two-run home run that gave New York a 3-2 lead, its first of the game. Beeter's season ERA jumped from 2.96 to 3.62 after his disaster outing.

See ya

Trent Grisham mashes a 2-run shot to put the @Yankees ahead in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/V9UsalNPN8
— MLB (@MLB) July 11, 2026

Washington's bullpen has collapsed late in games

Entering Saturday, the Nationals bullpen had blown 26 of their 53 save opportunities, the most in baseball. The bullpen also entered Saturday with a 5.05 ERA, the worst in the National League and fourth worst in baseball.

It has especially been the eighth and ninth innings of home games that have been the worst for the bullpen, as shown by the following numbers:

Where the Nationals in the 9th inning of home games this season (49 innings)…

Last in ERA: 8.08
Last in runs: 46
Last in HR: 14
Last in BB: 30
Last in OPS vs: .988

Their 9th inning home OPS against is 88 PTS worse than anybody else.

Maddening.
— Grant Paulsen (@GrantPaulsen) July 11, 2026

What does the front office do at the trade deadline?

Washington is a year ahead of schedule in terms of their competiveness this season, making the upcoming trade deadline a tricky one.

It's clear that the lineup can compete and give the team a chance to win games, so does the front office capitalize on that and go out to get bullpen arms? Does the front office stand pat and trust the team it's put on the field?

It'll be intriguing to see what the Nationals' 26-man roster looks like after the Aug. 3 trade deadline has passed.

Andrew Wright

Andrew "Dew" Wright graduated from Charleston Southern University with a degree in Communication Studies. He is a lifelong Chicago Cubs and Washington Commanders fan.

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