Giants can't finish off sweep vs. Nationals, shut out to finish road trip

Justice delos Santos, The Mercury News on Apr 19, 2026

Published in Baseball

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The San Francisco Giants (9-13) couldn’t finish off a sweep of the Washington Nationals Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park, ending their three-city, nine-game road trip with a 3-0 shutout loss.

After totaling 17 runs in the first two games of the series, San Francisco went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position despite totaling eight hits, one more than the Nationals.

Robbie Ray (2-3) recorded his second quality start of the season, allowing three runs over six innings with seven strikeouts, but he took his third loss of the season after receiving no run support.

The Giants put runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the first, prompting rookie manager Blake Butera to pull the opener PJ Poulin and bring in bulk reliever Miles Mikolas. It was a bit of a surprising move since bulk relievers typically start with clean innings, but the move worked in Butera’s favor as Mikolas retired Casey Schmitt to end the inning.

The Nationals scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an ugly defensive sequence by San Francisco.

With no outs and Nasim Nuñez on second base, Keibert Ruiz hit a line drive to left-center field that left fielder Heliot Ramos couldn’t corral. The ball hung in the air long enough for Ramos to make the play, but Ramos took an inefficient route and allowed the ball to fall despite making a diving effort.

Ramos, from his backside, heaved a throw to shortstop Willy Adames. With Nuñez trying to score, Adames fired a one-hop strike to catcher Patrick Bailey. Adames’ throw arrived in time and Nuñez didn’t even slide, but Bailey couldn’t cleanly receive the ball and Nuñez scored, giving the Nationals a 1-0 lead.

The mistakes by Ramos and Bailey compounded when the Nationals’ Curtis Mead hit a two-run homer two batters later, expanding Washington’s lead to 3-0. Ray was charged for three earned runs, but his defense didn’t do him any favors in that frame.

The Giants had an opportunity to get on the scoreboard in the top of the eighth when Matt Chapman reached on an error and Rafael Devers followed with a single, but squandered the opportunity. Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play, and Jerar Encarnacion (pinch-hitting for Jung Hoo Lee) struck out swinging.

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