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Nationals Series Recap
Series Recap (Finale): White Sox @ Nationals — Washington takes 2 of 3, Sox finish 72–90
Last series of the season, last chance to leave a stamp — and it ended up feeling like a perfect snapshot of 2025: two tight losses where one swing (or one shutdown inning) flipped the whole night… and then one loud, cathartic finish where your lineup finally kicked the door in and didn’t let Washington breathe.
Final series result: Nationals win series 2–1
Sox record after series: 72–90 (Nationals 67–95)
Game 1 (Fri, Sept 26): Nationals 5, White Sox 4
This one hurt because you did enough offensively to win on the road — Miguel Vargas went nuclear with two homers and the Sox put up 8 hits — but Washington’s big inning landed the knockout.
The swing: James Wood’s 3-run homer in the 3rd flipped a 2–0 Sox lead into a 3–2 hole, and from there the game stayed on a razor’s edge. The Sox kept answering (again: Vargas), but Washington pieced together just enough to stay in front.
The gut-punch note in the box: SP Shane Smith left injured while pitching, forcing the bullpen to cover extra outs in a game that was basically decided by one crooked frame.
Tone of the night: “We’re close… but we’re always playing from one mistake behind.”
Game 2 (Sat, Sept 27): Nationals 4, White Sox 2
If Game 1 was “one inning,” Game 2 was “one pitcher.”
Trevor Williams shoved for Washington, and your offense spent the afternoon stuck in neutral until it was almost too late. The Sox did scratch across 2 runs, highlighted by a Colson Montgomery homer (finally something to cheer) and a late push, but Washington had already banked enough damage — again powered by the middle of their order.
The difference-makers:
James Wood struck again (because of course he did), and
CJ Abrams found big moments, including extra-base thump.
On your side, Inohan Paniagua battled through traffic but the walks and key hits stacked up, and the Sox were chasing most of the day.
Tone of the night: “We’re getting looks… we’re just not cashing them.”
Game 3 (Sun, Sept 28): White Sox 7, Nationals 3
And then the finale: the Sox saved their best emotional release for the very end.
Down 3–0 early, the game flipped in the 6th inning when the Sox finally put together the kind of rally that’s been teasing all year:
Sosa, Alfonzo, Ramos all got it rolling with hits,
and then Miguel Vargas detonated a 3-run homer to cap a 4-run inning and turn the game on its head.
From there, it was clean work:
the Sox tacked on another in the 8th (aggressive baserunning paid off),
then slammed the door with two more in the 9th, including a sequence that forced Washington into a costly outfield mistake and turned it into instant insurance.
Player of the Game: Miguel Vargas (and it wasn’t close). He was the series-long problem Washington never solved.
Tone of the night: “That’s how you want to walk off a season.”
Series Themes (and what it felt like)
1) Miguel Vargas was the headline
Across the three games, it felt like every time the Sox needed oxygen, Vargas supplied it — multi-homer power in the opener, and then the go-ahead blast in Game 3 to win the finale. If you wanted one player to carry “build around this” energy into the offseason, he made a strong case.
2) Washington’s stars showed up early and often
James Wood and CJ Abrams basically haunted this series. When the Sox jumped out early, those two were the ones swinging it back.
3) The season ended the same way it lived: momentum is real, and so is the margin
Two one-run-ish games where one inning buried you… then one game where you finally won the “big inning” battle and everything looked easier.
Final Snapshot
You finish 72–90, and the last series gave you three useful takeaways:
The young core can absolutely change a game (Montgomery HR, Meidroth finding RBI contact, Teel/Quero having competitive ABs).
When the bullpen isn’t forced to cover emergency innings, you can close games like a real team.
You need more consistent on-base + situational hitting, because too many rallies died right at “one more hit wins this.”
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