Monday, May 18

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals were top dogs this weekend at Nationals Park. 

The Nats debuted their new official team dog, Natty, on Friday, the same game they celebrated Hot Dog Night. 

Natty was the star of the show in the Nationals’ 3-2 win over the Orioles. Players gravitated pregame to the 8-week-old golden retriever and labrador retriever mix, who enjoyed his afternoon playing with toys and getting lots of pets during batting practice. 

Jake Irvin, Brad Lord and Mitchell Parker gathered around Natty after they finished their warmups. A few minutes later, Nasim Nuñez sat down on the ground to give belly rubs. 

“He's adorable,” said Jacob Young. “It makes you miss your dogs at home, for sure. I like the name. I'm a fan.”

The Nationals partnered with Canine Companion and Eukanuba to add Natty to their roster. He is being trained as a service dog with his puppy raisers, Jackie and Laura, over the next 18 months. 

To hone his socialization skills, Natty will spend time at Nationals Park with staff, players and fans.

“I feel like dogs are pretty innocent,” said James Wood. “[They bring] good vibes, good energy.”

Meantime, Hot Dog Night was a hot ticket. The Nationals recorded a sellout crowd of 38,912. The first 20,000 fans in attendance received a “Bad Day to be a Hot Dog” hat. 

With dogged determination, fans consumed over 28,000 franks during the game. 

The special concessions items included the Screech Dog (an all-beef frank, fried spam, chargrilled pineapple, sriracha aioli and salsa verde), the Flamin’ Korean Mozz Hot Dog (a crispy Korean-style corn dog with mozzarella, sausage and Hot Cheetos topping), hot dog fries (shoestring-cut crispy fried hot dogs with chipotle ranch dipping sauce), pigs in a blanket and corn dogs. 

Nationals Park also sold a specialty cocktail, Dragged Through the Garden. The frozen pickle margarita was garnished with a sport pepper and Vienna sausage toothpick, topped with a sprinkle of celery salt.

And like a dog with a bone, the Nationals persisted for a hard-fought one-run victory that night.

Following the Nationals’ 13-3 win over the Orioles on Saturday, manager Blake Butera delivered the following remarks:

"I want to give our fans a huge shoutout. They said it was over 38,000 here yesterday and over 40,000 here today. The number of people is awesome. Also just the energy and the excitement that they’ve brought today and yesterday, our players feel that, no doubt, and they love playing in front of it. The buzz and the energy in the crowd, and then going home after games and seeing the Navy Yard buzzing and all the Nats jerseys, it’s pretty cool. I just want our fans to know we appreciate it, we feel it. It's huge. It makes this place fun to play for us and hard to play for other people. I know it's really hard to get here for every game, but I just want to say thank you and it's awesome."

For years, Luis García Jr. was one of the youngest members of the Nationals. He celebrated his 26th birthday on Saturday, which puts into perspective just how long he’s been part of the organization. 

A 16-year-old García signed with the Nats for $1.3 million in 2016 as an international free agent. He made his Major League debut at age 20 on Aug. 14, 2020. 

García is the longest-tenured member of the Nats this season. Saturday marked his 645th career game. 

“He's such a good teammate,” Butera said. “Off the field, the person he is is just always happy. He carries himself with a smile on his face at all times, and he's just someone you enjoy being around. It’s hard to not have a good time when you're around Luis. Then seeing him with his wife and his little one, all that stuff, he’s such a good person with a good heart, and someone I'll always root for.”

When Brady House doubled and homered on Saturday, it was the sixth instance in which a Nationals player collected two or more extra-base hits off the bench. Who was the last National to do so?

Shortstop Eli Willits jumped to No. 4 when MLB Pipeline updated their top 100 prospects list this week. He began the season ranked No. 13. Willits, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 Draft, has posted a .926 OPS in 12 games in May. 

Ronny Cruz moved into the top 100 list, too (No. 91). The 19-year-old infielder has turned heads this season in a quick promotion to High-A Wilmington. 

Injured pitchers Travis Sykora (No. 40) and Jarlin Susana (No. 62) remain in the top 100.

Sunday: Kids novelty sliding mitt giveaway (ages 12 and under); Story Time at Nationals Park; Girl Scout Day*; Signature Sunday; Kids run the bases (postgame)

Monday: Branch Appreciation Day -- National Guard; pregame flyover with two F-16 Fighting Falcons

Tuesday: Jewish Community Day*; $5 Tuesdays

Wednesday: AAPI Heritage Day*; Pups in the Park*

* Special ticket required

Howie Kendrick also homered and doubled on Aug. 17, 2019, against the Brewers.

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