Washington
Washington Nationals need to stop the bleeding

The Washington Nationals have not played great baseball this home stand. That came to a head last night when former Nat Erick Fedde threw a complete game shutout in his return to DC. Last night might have been the worst the Nationals have played this season, and they have to bounce back today.
From the first pitch, which was a fastball Mitchell Parker spiked into the dirt, the Cardinals were in complete control. Parker’s struggles continued last night. In his last three starts, Parker has allowed 15 runs in 13 innings. After throwing nine of his first 10 pitches for balls, Parker locked in with his command, not walking another batter. However, he was not fooling many Cardinal hitters.
The Red Birds were playing much more fundamentally sound baseball as well. It seemed like they were constantly moving guys over and driving guys in. They were hitting sac flies with less than two outs, something the Nats could not do in the first inning, their only real opportunity to score.
Other than CJ Abrams, the offense completely no-showed. Without Alex Call in the lineup, it seemed like there was a drop off in the quality of at bats. The bullpen also did its thing, give up runs.
It was a stinker last night, but the Nats need to turn the page. If they can win the next two games, nobody will remember this disastrous effort. It is a big game for Trevor Williams, who the Nats really need to have a good start. With an ERA of 5.86, but a FIP of 4.18 and an xERA of 3.70, Williams has gotten unlucky this season. Maybe this is the start where the veteran could turn it around.
It would be very nice to see because the Nats have lost three in a row and want to avoid a big time losing streak. After a solid road trip and a fun win in game one of the double header against Cleveland, the vibes were high, but the Nats have really come back down to earth these last couple days.
So far in May, the pitching staff has been a major issue, allowing 51 runs in 8 games. That is about 6.3 runs per game, which is simply not good enough. While the bullpen has certainly been a big part of the issue, the rotation has not been as good as they were in April.
They are still 4-4 on the month, but if they keep bleeding runs like this, that will not last. It has been an ugly last three games where all of the Nats flaws have been on display. However, if they come out with a strong performance today and tomorrow, a lot of these sins will be forgiven.

Washington
2 killed by falling trees in Northern Virginia

Two deaths from trees falling on cars were reported in Northern Virginia Friday evening as severe thunderstorms quickly passed through the D.C. area.
A woman was killed when a tree fell on her car in the area of Mount Vernon and Woodlawn.
Another person died after a tree fell on a car in the area of GW Parkway and Morningside Lane.
Fast-moving severe thunderstorms whipped the DMV with lightning, hail and strong winds Friday evening.
Some storms were designated “destructive” with winds of 80 mph capable of toppling trees and downing power lines.
Several severe thunderstorm warnings were issued in for D.C. and surrounding counties in Maryland and Virginia.
A severe thunderstorm watch for D.C. and counties including Arlington, Fairfax, Montgomery and Prince George’s was canceled by about 6:30 p.m. after the storms cleared the DMV.
Another round of potentially severe storms is expected between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. but won’t be as strong as the evening storms.
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Washington
DC Council chairman optimistic about stadium deal — but hurdles remain

The chairman of the D.C. Council said he believes the Council will approve the deal to bring the Washington Commanders back to D.C. — but it’s going to take longer than the team and the mayor have agreed to.
After months of delays, Mayor Muriel Bowser sent her 2026 budget to the Council. It includes funding for the stadium development and her 2025 supplemental budget, which includes $400 million in cuts imposed by Congress.
Since the announcement that Bowser and Commanders owner Josh Harris reached a deal to bring the team back to D.C., the big question has been: Will the D.C. Council approve the deal to spend more than $1 billion of D.C. taxpayer money?
On Thursday, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson — who has opposed public funding for the stadium — said a stadium deal will likely be approved.
“Let me be clear. I think that we, I think that ultimately, the Council will agree with the stadium. But I think that we can make the deal better,” he said. “It’s what the Council has done with every stadium proposal in the past. But this all takes time. We don’t even have the documents concerning the stadium.”
Mendelson warned there are still some obstacles, with the first being timing: The deal signed by the mayor and the team calls for Council approval by July 15 or the Commanders can pull out.
Mendelson said he doesn’t see a way the Council can approve the Commanders deal — and the budgets — until late July or early August.
“I think the July 15 deadline, which was negotiated without any collaboration or discussion with the Council, is going to be very difficult,” he said. “The members met yesterday to discuss what the budget schedule would look like, and that’s going to be difficult.”
Mendelson also expressed concerns about the financial impact of the deal for taxpayers, but he is optimistic those can be worked out.
“I have found the Commanders to be very cooperative, and they want to get this deal done, and we want to get this deal done,” Mendelson said.
The Commanders deal is far from the biggest issue facing D.C. residents in the budgets just submitted by the mayor. Both budgets will include hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts, including about $400 million in cuts imposed by Congress that have to be made before October.
Mendelson has a sober warning to D.C. residents about what those cuts will mean: “I think they should be bracing for bad news, but I don’t know exactly what that looks like. And when I say bad news, that there will be service reductions. There’ll be contracts frozen and probably some furloughs.”
The Council plans to hold public hearings on both the stadium deal and the budget cuts in coming weeks.
If the District misses that July 15 deadline to get the Commanders deal approved, the team and the District could agree to extend that deadline, or the team could opt to restart negotiations with Maryland or Virginia.
Washington
Washington Mystics kick off their season against Atlanta Dream

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Washington Mystics will be kicking off their season with a home opener against the Atlanta Dream on Friday night.
The team recently shared news that guard Georgia Amoore suffered a right ACL injury back in April during practice. According to the team, “Amoore and the team will examine treatment and rehabilitation options.” There has not been an update on her injury since the team originally shared the news.
MORE RELATED NEWS: Washington Mystics guard Georgia Amoore suffers ACL injury
The game will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C.
Tickets are still available and start as low as $27, according to TicketMaster.
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