Dylan Crews, Jorbit Vivas homer as Nationals beat Braves 2-0

ATLANTA — This wasn’t a normal homer for Dylan Crews.

He’s been there, done that in his major league career. Fourteen times, to be exact. But Crews hopes his solo homer in the fourth inning Saturday will be the start of a lasting big league tenure.

On an 0-2 count, Crews pounced on a slider in the strike zone and rocketed it out of the ballpark. The at-bat incorporated all the skills the Nationals wanted Crews to work on during his stint at Triple-A Rochester.

He can take a breath, now. There’s more work to do, but there’s some relief in having made an impactful play in the Nationals’ 2-0 win over the Braves.

“I got a good one that hung up there and just tried to put a good swing on it,” Crews said. “Luckily, I got the barrel to it and hit it out. Overall, a good win for us.”

Jorbit Vivas added a solo homer in the fifth, and the pitching staff was tremendous, throwing a combined one-hitter for the first time since 2014 against the Cubs.

Starter Jake Irvin was dialed in. He struck out seven over five innings but felt tightness in the back of his shoulder after the fifth.

Irvin said the decision to come out was precautionary, but that after throwing a plyo ball in the half-inning and going back to the mound to warm up for the sixth, the shoulder didn’t feel great. He’ll get an MRI on Sunday, and it would be a blow to the pitching staff if the team loses Irvin for any length of time.

“I wanted to go out there and take the ball, tried to give it a chance, and just felt like it was in our best interest to go to a fresher arm,” Irvin said.

Brad Lord entered in the sixth and recorded a 1-2-3 inning.

In the seventh inning, Lord ran into trouble. He allowed a leadoff single, and on a grounder that should have resulted in an out at second base, Vivas fumbled the ball and was unable to shovel it to CJ Abrams in time. Lord rebounded swiftly, recording three consecutive outs.

But the biggest development was Crews slugging his first homer of the season. He went 1-for-4 and struck out once.

Crews said seeing success in the minors imbued him with confidence, so one can only imagine how cathartic it was to slug his first homer back in the majors.

Getting the ball in the air gives Crews more potential for extra-base hits. He pulled the ball in the air, which the Nationals want to see from a hitter as talented as Crews.

In parts of two major league seasons he has posted solid exit velocity numbers, but far too often those hits have come on the ground — his 50.2% ground ball rate in 2025 was above the major league average of 44.2%. His homer had an exit velocity of 102.6 mph and was hit at a launch angle of 25 degrees, which is ideal to do damage.

“It’s fun to watch him play, such a talented player,” manager Blake Butera said. “That two-strike homer to left field just shows what he’s capable of doing.”

When Crews was recalled Tuesday, he said he wants to do everything he can to help the Nationals win. He wants to be impactful on defense and do the little things, such as moving runners over. But Crews has the potential to be a hitter that opposing pitchers game-plan against, like his teammate James Wood, who drew two walks Saturday.

Consistency will be key for Crews. One good day won’t automatically transfer to Sunday and the following week. In his first at-bat after the homer, Crews flied out on three pitches, two of which were out of the zone. It’s a sign that he is far from finished in his development.

Maintaining his new routine will be key as Crews regains his footing in the majors. So far, he hasn’t lifted the ball in the air as regularly as he and the Nationals probably would like, but it’s been a small sample.

Crews figuring things out at the plate would be a boon for the Nationals’ rebuilding efforts. The actualized version of him is a slugger who can play a reliable center field and contribute plus defense in the corners.

“I’m a very process-oriented guy. So just stick to the process as much as I can,” Crews said. “If you’re putting up good exit velos, especially balls in the air, that means the work that you’re doing is good for you.”

This article has been updated.