LOS ANGELES — It was a sight as familiar as it was historic: The stadium lights flashing, a man in the opposing uniform pounding on his chest, and another, this one in a Washington Nationals jersey, with his hands on his knees and his eyes glued to the ground.The Nationals blew their 37th save on Sunday night, tying the blown saves record set by the 2024 Chicago White Sox, when Mookie Betts sent Will Dion’s 1-0 fastball deep into the left-field seats at Dodger Stadium.
Mookie Betts for 3 ‼️@Dodgers lead! pic.twitter.com/qxZCmFgwkl
— MLB (@MLB) September 7, 2026“You can’t be a good baseball team if you blow that many saves,” manager Blake Butera said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to take a deep look at what we’re doing and who we have and what makes the most sense moving forward. But it’s something that obviously has been frustrating and a huge weight on all of our shoulders.”That White Sox team went 41-121. These Nationals, who are 67-78 after the 7-5 loss to the Dodgers, are better than that. They have scored the second-most runs in baseball and have a positive run differential. But Butera’s words were damning, if only because the record itself is too.They have 17 games left to avoid breaking the record, and are also on the cusp of tying the record for the most pitchers to record a blown save in a season — Dion was the 16th National to suffer one this season. Only the 2023 Oakland Athletics (17) had more.
