The Washington Nationals are now set to close out spring training on Monday afternoon in game two of the unofficial start to the 2026 ‘Beltway Series’.

The Nationals are coming off an 8-1 loss to the Orioles on Sunday afternoon after leaving nine players on base and eight in scoring position.

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Mitchell Parker made the start where he accounted for half of the team’s 16 strikeouts along with two earned runs and five hits allowed in four innings. Jack Sinclair also struck out all three batters faced in his lone inning while Erik Tolman tossed four strikeouts in 1.2 innings.

But the Orioles didn’t waste much time getting on board after giving up a two out solo home run in the bottom of the second. The Nationals left runners on second base to end both the second and third innings before Gunnar Henderson belted a 404 foot home run in the bottom of the third to extend the Orioles’ early lead to 2-0. The Nationals threatened again in the fourth after Brady House and CJ Abrams posted consecutive singles, but Jose Tena grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning. Again in the fifth inning, James Wood would be left on third base after Daylen Lile flied out to center.

Baltimore answered back with a three-run sixth inning to push the game out of reach before Daylen Lile provided Washington’s lone highlight of the day with a 380 foot home run to right center field in the top of the eighth. The Orioles answered right back with a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning for the game’s final run before consecutive strikeouts from Nasim Nunez and Christian Franklin ended the game.

The Nationals announced that PJ Poulin is set to take the mound in the finale for his eighth appearance this spring. Poulin has yet to allow an earned run across 6.2 innings and seven games played this spring with four of those appearances coming against both the New York Yankees and Mets. He has also tossed at least one strikeout in all but one of his seven appearances, including a spring training-best three strikeouts against the New York Mets on Sunday.

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Jorbit Vivas, who was acquired on Sunday in a trade with the New York Yankees, is also set to make his debut with the Nationals and will line up at third base.