Washington Nationals at Cleveland Guardians: Final Score & Recap
Line Score
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSH | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| CLE | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
The Story
The Washington Nationals handed the Cleveland Guardians a 5-2 defeat at Progressive Field on June 2, 2024, overcoming a DiamondIQ model pre-game home win probability of 72% to leave Cleveland with the win. The Nationals did the bulk of their damage in the second inning, plating four runs to seize control early against Carlos Carrasco, and added a fifth run in the fourth to build a cushion that Cleveland never seriously threatened.
The second inning was the decisive turn in the game. A groundout by Luis García Jr. off Carrasco carried a win-probability swing of plus 13.0% for Washington, reflecting how the Nationals were threading through the Cleveland defense in a productive frame. García Jr. finished as the game's top offensive performer by WPA at plus 11.7%, and Ildemaro Vargas contributed a plus 7.6% WPA showing with a plus 1.0 RE24, making him the most efficient run-context producer among position players. Cleveland briefly answered in the bottom of the second when Daniel Schneemann doubled off Jake Irvin for a plus 8.7% swing from Cleveland's perspective, but Brayan Rocchio's strikeout in the same inning represented a minus 11.4% swing against the Guardians, effectively neutralizing the threat. A Tyler Freeman groundout into a double play in the fifth, worth minus 7.4%, further extinguished Cleveland's chances, and José Ramírez was held in check with a first-inning flyout that cost the Guardians 5.8% in win probability.
Jake Irvin was the story of the game on the mound, posting a remarkable plus 30.9% WPA that stood well above any other performer in the contest. The DiamondIQ model's estimate for a Cleveland win fell from 72% before first pitch to zero percent by the final out, a collapse driven almost entirely by Irvin's dominance. Robert Garcia and Sam Hentges supplemented him out of the bullpen with plus 6.3% and plus 5.6% WPA contributions respectively, as Washington's pitching staff combined to allow just six hits and zero errors while preserving the three-run victory.