Nationals finish winning road trip with 8-0 victory over Rockies

DENVER — Expectations are higher around the Nationals this year.

In any season post-2019, going .500 on a road trip would be cause for celebration. But, given that they played two teams that are likely sellers at the trade deadline, it would’ve been a letdown.

Trade deadline discussions are inescapabale. The TV mounted in the corner of Blake Butera’s managerial office had just played a promo for MLB Network’s trade deadline special as his press conference convened.

The Nationals didn’t need to win Wednesday, but going 4-2 on this six-game road trip helps them close the gap in the wild-card race. The Nationals took care of business in their 8-0 win over the Rockies.

Butera called the series finale a “really important game for us.”

“Everyone in the clubhouse knows the standings,” Butera said. “We know the trade deadline’s around the corner. It’s on TV every day. People are talking about playoffs, trade deadline, buyers, sellers, all those different types of things.”

Washington entered Wednesday with a 4.9% chance to clinch a wild-card spot and a 5.3% chance to make the playoffs.

In an NL where every victory is critical to the wild-card race, the Nationals need to start stringing together wins to make it demonstrably clear which direction the front office should lean at the deadline. Right now, that final wild-card spot is up for grabs.

The Pirates and the Diamondbacks are tied for the spot, and the Nationals are 1.5 games back. The Padres are a half-game back of the Nationals, and the Cardinals and Marlins are ahead of them.

The club isn’t oblivious to what’s at stake over the next two weeks. The Nationals know losing means the locker room could look different after Aug. 3.

“It’s a hard part of this business that we’re a part of, but we want this group to stick together,” Cavalli said Tuesday. “We really enjoy each other. We have a great culture that’s fun to be a part of. We want to win and keep it going.”

With a six-game homestand against the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays starting Friday, the Nationals will need to capitalize on a soft part of their schedule before a four-game series in Atlanta that takes them to the deadline.

The Nationals needed a strong outing from Cavalli, who has flashed moments of brilliance this season coupled with frustrating inconsistency. He entered the season as the team’s No. 1 starter, but lefty Foster Griffin has usurped him throughout his All-Star rookie season.

Wednesday was an example of Cavalli at his best. He displayed the tantalizing talent that has the organization high on the right-hander with top-of-the-rotation stuff. He threw six shutout innings, allowing four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts.

“You want to go win every series,” Cavalli said. “We knew that. Each day is a special opportunity to go win a ballgame, and I think that it’s great treating each day like that, and that’s what we did today.”

In the fourth, Cavalli showed what makes him different from the other Nationals starters. A leadoff double and a one-out walk put runners on first and second. Cavalli struck out Willi Castro and Edouard Julien to end the inning.

When Cavalli gets into sticky situations, his high-velocity stuff allows him to record outs without the ball being put in play. Butera said Cavalli takes it to another level when he’s in a jam. But, in that fourth-inning situation, Cavalli was using his curveball to induce ground balls, not strikeouts.

“You feel it,” Cavalli said of executing in those moments. “You might step on the gas a little bit more and just keep going with your strengths.”

Cavalli’s dominance bought the offense time. The Nationals’ bats were quiet outside of James Wood’s sacrifice fly that drove in Jorbit Vivas in the fifth inning.

That changed in the seventh, when the Nationals strung together quality at-bats and benefited from poor fielding by the Rockies. With runners on first and second, second baseman Nasim Nuñez’s RBI single coupled with a Mickey Moniak fielding error allowed both baserunners to cross home plate to extend the Nationals’ lead to 3-0.

After Wood lined out, Luis García Jr. hammered a 2-1 sweeper for a two-out, two-run shot to center field. Three consecutive singles scored two more runs to complete the six-run inning.

The Nationals needed a stress-free win against an overmatched Rockies team. The trade deadline looms, even if the clubhouse says it’s not part of daily conversations.

“As a team, control what you can control,” García said through a team interpreter. “Come here every day, work hard, try to win every game, and that’s how you should manage the next weeks.”

This article has been updated.