Washington Nationals at Detroit Tigers: Final Score & Recap

The Washington Nationals handed the Detroit Tigers a 4-2 defeat at Comerica Park on September 23, 2026, erasing a game that had been scoreless through five innings and flipping the DiamondIQ model's estimate from a 53 percent pre-game home win probability all the way to zero. The decisive sequence came in the top of the sixth, when CJ Abrams singled off Framber Valdez to set the table, a play worth 7.6 percent in win probability, and Yohandy Morales followed by depositing a Tyler Kinley offering over the fence for a home run that swung win probability by 21.4 percent, the single largest play of the game. Washington added another run in the top of the seventh, with James Wood grounding out in a manner that contributed 8.1 percent to the Nationals' win probability, extending the lead to 4-1 and all but sealing the outcome. Detroit's Ben Malgeri connected for a home run off Will Dion in the bottom of the sixth, an 11.2 percent swing that briefly kept the Tigers within reach, and Riley Greene's flyout to end the ninth, though it moved Detroit's win probability 14.4 percent in the home team's favor, ultimately amounted to nothing more than a footnote in a losing effort.

Brad Lord was the standout performer on the night, posting a 20.1 percent WPA contribution that led all pitchers and underscored how thoroughly the Washington staff contained Detroit's lineup. Morales finished as the top position player by DiamondIQ's win-probability metric at plus-17.2 percent with a 1.2 RE24, while Abrams added 9.1 percent WPA and 0.8 RE24 to anchor the Nationals' offensive output. Riley Greene led all Tigers batters at plus-17.6 percent WPA, largely a product of late-game leverage that never translated into a comeback, as Washington's six hits and errorless play proved to be more than enough on this evening.