WASHINGTON (Interstat) — Cade Cavalli pitched five solid innings and CJ Abrams had three hits to lead the Washington Nationals to an 8-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday afternoon at Nationals Park. Cavalli (4-4) allowed four hits and three earned runs with five strikeouts in five innings to earn the win. Luis Castillo (2-6) took the loss, giving up seven hits and two earned runs over 5.2 innings while striking out four. Washington scored three runs in the first inning on an RBI single by Abrams, a triple from Daylen Lile and a single by Dylan Crews. Seattle answered with three in the fifth on Mitch Garver’s RBI single and a two-run homer by Colt Emerson, his sixth. The Nationals regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth on Luis Garcia Jr.’s two-run homer, his ninth. Washington added three more in the seventh on RBI singles by Abrams and Jose Tena. Brad Lord pitched two scoreless innings in relief for Washington. Seattle managed eight hits to Washington’s 10. Attendance was 30,004. The game lasted 2 hours, 55 minutes. Seattle fell to 37-35, while Washington improved to 36-35.

WASHINGTON (Interstat) – The Washington Nationals used a pair of multi-run innings to defeat the Seattle Mariners 8-3 on Saturday evening at Nationals Park, splitting the first two games of the series in front of 30,004 fans in a game that lasted 2 hours, 55 minutes. Seattle, which fell to 37-35, had won the series opener 10-2 on Friday. Washington improved to 36-35 with the victory. The Mariners took the game’s first lead with a three-run fifth inning. After a scoreless first four frames, Seattle loaded the bases with one out when Miles Mastrobuoni reached on a force out and advanced on a throwing error by second baseman Nasim Nunez. Mitch Garver singled to center to drive in Mastrobuoni, and Colt Emerson followed with a two-run home run to right field, his sixth of the season, putting Seattle ahead 3-0. Washington answered immediately in the bottom of the fifth. James Wood singled, and Luis Garcia Jr. launched a two-run homer to right-center field, his ninth, tying the game at 3-3. The Nationals tacked on one more in the inning on a CJ Abrams single, but Daylen Lile grounded out to end the frame with Washington leading 5-3. The Nationals broke the game open in the seventh. Andres Chaparro, pinch-hitting and later moving to first base, led off with a double. Curtis Mead walked, and Abrams singled to left to score Chaparro and push the lead to 6-3. After a groundout advanced the runners, Dylan Crews reached on a fielder’s choice that cut down Mead at the plate on a successful challenge. Jose Tena then singled to center, scoring Crews and sending the margin to 8-3. Washington starter Cade Cavalli earned the win, improving to 4-4. He pitched five innings, allowing four hits and three earned runs while striking out five. Seattle starter Luis Castillo took the loss, falling to 2-6. Castillo allowed five runs, four earned, on six hits and two walks over five innings with three strikeouts. Key performances for Washington included Chaparro, who went 1-for-2 with a double and a run scored. Crews finished 1-for-4 with an RBI. Cavalli’s outing was backed by a bullpen that combined for four scoreless innings. Richard Lovelady worked two-thirds of an inning, allowing three hits but no earned runs. PJ Poulin threw two-thirds of a scoreless inning with one strikeout. Brad Lord contributed two hitless innings with two strikeouts. Orlando Ribalta tossed two-thirds of an inning, allowing one hit. Curtis Mead went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run. Nasim Nunez went 0-for-3 with a walk. Drew Millas went 0-for-3 with a strikeout, reaching once on catcher’s interference. For Seattle, Emerson finished 1-for-4 with the home run and two RBIs. Garver went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Cole Young had two hits in four at-bats. The Mariners collected eight hits to Washington’s 10. The most important part of the game came in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Washington erased Seattle’s three-run lead with a two-run homer by Garcia Jr. and a subsequent single by Abrams. That sequence not only tied the game but also shifted momentum firmly in the Nationals’ favor, as they never trailed again. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Seattle 5, Washington 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Seattle a 57.30 percent probability of winning, and the Mariners were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of 11 runs went under the over-under line of 8.5.

PREVIEW: Mariners at Nationals WASHINGTON (Interstat) — The Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals, two teams separated by a single game in the standings, open a two-game series Saturday evening at Nationals Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EDT, with a forecast of 87 degrees and rain. Seattle (36-34) enters with a 5-4 loss at Baltimore on Thursday. Right-hander Luis Castillo (2-5, 4.20 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Mariners. Castillo has struggled this season, but Seattle has won three of its last four games overall. Washington (35-34) dropped a 11-10 slugfest at San Francisco on Wednesday. Right-hander Cade Cavalli (3-4, 3.80 ERA) gets the ball for the Nationals. Cavalli has been sharp recently, allowing one earned run over 11 innings in his last two starts. Players to Watch Mariners reliever Nick Davila has been effective in limited duty. Over his last four appearances, the right-hander has tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out four while allowing just one hit. He worked 1 1/3 hitless innings Thursday at Baltimore. Nationals left-hander Foster Griffin has been Washington’s most consistent starter. Over his last five outings, Griffin is 4-1 with a 2.67 ERA, striking out 25 in 27 innings. He took a no-decision Wednesday despite allowing one run over six innings against the Giants. Series History Friday’s series opener between the clubs was postponed due to rain. The teams have not played since 2024. By the Numbers Seattle is 1.5 games behind Washington in the wild-card race. The Mariners are 17-18 on the road; the Nationals are 19-16 at home. Seattle has won four of its last six, while Washington has dropped two of three. Betting Line The Interstat game simulator projects a 5-4 Seattle victory. The Mariners are -1.5 favorites, with the over/under set at 8.5 runs. Upcoming Seattle concludes the series Sunday afternoon before returning home to face Baltimore on Tuesday. Washington hosts Kansas City for a three-game set starting Monday.