Nats Chat · Mark Zuckerman & Al Galdi, Blue Wire

Bullpen Coughs Up Late 3-Run Lead

April 8, 2026·34 min·2 clips

All five of the first Nationals pitchers in Tuesday's game issued a leadoff walk — and the sixth pitcher, Cole Henry, gave up the game-winning RBI double instead.

The Nationals' 7-6, 10-inning loss to the Cardinals gives the episode its frame. Nathan Church's home run ties it at 5-5, and St. Louis takes it back in the 10th. Washington falls to 4-7. The show stays close to the score and what it means. Mark Zuckerman and Al Galdi use the game to look at the team's pitching issues. Cavalli is not treated like someone who got blasted. He comes off more as inefficient and annoyed with himself. A C.J. Abrams double-play chance in the first inning is flagged as a possible escape route. If that play is turned, the inning may end without damage. The discussion then settles on Cavalli's command. Too many pitches missed glove side. For a right-hander, that means the misses ran down and in to lefties and down and away to righties. A lot of those misses came on breaking balls, especially the sweeper and the curveball. Those pitches were starting too close to the plate and then breaking too far off it. That leads to the adjustment Cavalli says he needs to make. He may have to aim farther across the plate so the break finishes where he wants it. The show treats that as a real mechanical issue, not just a confidence problem. The issue is execution, not pitch mix. From there, the episode widens. The bullpen cannot really be separated from the starters, because the starters are not giving enough innings. Cavalli is described as the only starter to reach the sixth inning, and that happened just once. A lot of the rotation is being pulled after five or before the fifth is complete. That leaves too much leverage work for the relievers. The hosts connect that to pitch counts that keep climbing. They note that it is still early in the season, and the arms are still building up. Even with that caveat, the pattern is hard to ignore. The staff needs more outs from the starters. The Cardinals' late surge sharpens the point. J.J. Weatherholt's double in the 10th brings in an insurance run. The episode treats that as the kind of moment that happens when a game has already been stretched thin. The Nats had enough offense to tie it, but not enough pitching margin to survive the finish. The recap stays blunt without getting dramatic. The show also keeps the usual postgame rhythm. It moves from Church's homer to the frustration of the loss, then to the patterns underneath both. That gives it a steady, beat-writer feel. It sounds like two people trying to pin down what actually happened before the next game starts. The tone stays dry and analytical rather than ranting. The sponsor and radio framing are part of the familiar Nats Chat package, but the center of the episode is the game itself. There is a clear preference for details that can be checked against the box score. That keeps the conversation grounded. It also makes the frustration easier to trust. By the end, the message is simple. The Nationals are not getting enough length from their starters. The bullpen is paying for it. And a game that could have been a clean rebound instead becomes another example of how narrow the margin already is.

As heard by us

A focused postgame breakdown of a winnable loss that unraveled in extras.

Nats Chat looks at a 7-6, 10-inning loss and keeps its focus on how the game slipped away late. Mark Zuckerman and Al Galdi frame the result around pitching depth and execution, with Nathan Church's tying homer and the Cardinals' reply in extras giving the conversation its…

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You want to know how a tied game became another late Nationals loss.

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