Amid an Eighth Straight Loss, Nationals Park Falls Silent

by Kobey Ronk, September 01, 2025

The National’s bats could not make up for Brad Lord’s poor performance on Sunday against the Rays. The Rays beat the Nationals as they are swept in back to back series and lose their 8th straight. 5 hits with 7 earned runs and only 3 strikeouts is not the Sunday outing you want to see. The bats were fun to watch in the 3rd and 4th, but fell flat after that. Brandon Lowe’s grand slam in the 2nd inning was met with silence, even though there weren’t many people there to make a pop if they wanted to.

It was a beautiful day in Washington D.C. today. The sun was out, the weather stayed in the 70’s, a perfect day to watch some Sunday baseball at Nationals Park. I attended the game, and I was not surprised by the attendance as usual. The entire year attendance has been lackluster for the Nationals. They currently sit at 22 out of 30 and average 24,967 according to ESPN. I’d understand a Monday or Tuesday night, but Sunday on a nice day weather wise you want to see the ballpark filled. The only time I have ever seen Nationals Park remotely close to sold out is when a big team like the Yankees or Phillies are in town, and over half the stadium is fans of the opposite team. It’s disheartening because I don’t know where Nationals Fans are, or if they are even out there. I understand the Orioles were here first and the team isn’t the greatest, but the support is still needed. This is a young team with a lot of potential. Young players like James Wood and Dylan Crews have a high ceiling, and having fans there to back them is important. I understand gripes with the ownership, especially when it comes to payroll.

The Lerner’s never seem to jump onto the scene when free agency hits. Nats fans have seen big hitters leave while watching the team rebuild since the start of the decade. Nats fans don’t feel like the Lerner’s have the buy-in they once had. This has led to poor performances since winning the 2019 World Series and a drop in attendance. I understand the Nats fans and their pain with this team. If my team was losing like this and I still had to pay $14 for a beer I too would be discouraged from attending a game. If these young players are the future of the franchise however, they’ll need as much support as they can get. Attendance and fan support help drive a team’s success and willingness to play hard. Players seeing they have a fanbase behind their back only encourages them to fight hard and win as many games as they can. Plenty of players today looked like they were swinging because they had too, not because they wanted to.I’d have similar motivation if I was sitting at 30 below .500 and a half empty stadium. If the ownership isn’t going to jump on when free agency hits every year, this is the team Nationals Fans should get used to. That is until the Lerner’s see value in one of the young players and trades them. The ownership backed down from sale talks a year ago, so this is a pain Nats fans will have to deal with for the foreseeable future.