Angels Fall to Nationals Despite Late Rally

Late Pressure Decides the Outcome

The Los Angeles Angels fell to the Washington Nationals 6-5 on Saturday, September 12, 2026, at Nationals Park in Washington, District of Columbia. The home side managed to outscore the visitors in the final two innings to claim the win. Attendance at the venue was recorded at 25,713 fans. The result improved the Nationals' record to 69-81, while the Angels dropped to 56-92. The game featured a single home run, hit by Washington's Grissom in the eighth inning.

Scoring Sequence and Key Plays

The Nationals took an early lead in the first inning when Abrams doubled to center, allowing Ortiz to score. In the second inning, Young singled to left, bringing in Ruiz to make it 0-2. Shortly after, Ortiz singled to right, scoring Young and Wood to extend the lead to 0-4. The Angels began their pushback in the eighth inning. Meckler doubled to right, driving in Trout to cut the deficit to 1-4. Grissom then homered to left, a 360-foot shot, scoring Meckler to make it 3-4. In the ninth, Guzman doubled to left, allowing Peraza to score and narrow the gap to 4-4. Ballesteros hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Guzman to give the Angels a 5-4 lead. Chaparro singled to center, bringing in Tena to tie the game at 5-5.

Pitching Performance

Andrew Alvarez of the Nationals pitched seven innings, allowing one hit and no earned runs while walking four batters and striking out eight. The Angels' Walbert Urena started the game, throwing six innings with nine hits, four earned runs, two walks, and seven strikeouts. Blake Weiman pitched two innings, allowing one hit and no earned runs with one strikeout. Ben Joyce pitched one inning, allowing one hit, one earned run, one walk, and one strikeout. Jose Fermin pitched one-third of an inning, allowing one walk and no hits. Brad Lord of the Nationals pitched one inning, allowing two hits and three earned runs while walking one and striking out one. Will Dion pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing one hit, two earned runs, one walk, and no strikeouts. Jack Sinclair pitched one-and-a-third innings, allowing one walk and no hits while striking out one. The final score was Washington 6, Los Angeles 5.

Sources

ESPN