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Cade Cavalli just did something only Max Scherzer and Tanner Roark have done as a National

The 27-year-old righty struck out 11 Rangers in six scoreless innings Wednesday night - his second straight double-digit strikeout game - to push his scoreless innings streak to 17 and cement himself as the best story in D.C. sports right now.

Cade Cavalli just did something only Max Scherzer and Tanner Roark have done as a National

Globe Life Field in Arlington was 97 degrees at first pitch Wednesday night. Cade Cavalli treated it like a warm-up session. The 27-year-old right-hander from Tulsa struck out 11 Texas Rangers over six scoreless innings, walked one, allowed three singles, and threw 58 of his 84 pitches for strikes as Washington beat Texas 6-0. The Nationals' four-game losing streak is over. And Cavalli is doing something this franchise hasn't seen in a very long time.

His first seven outs Wednesday all came via strikeout. He had eight Ks by the end of the third inning and 10 by the end of the fourth - putting him among only eight MLB pitchers this season to reach 10 strikeouts through four innings.

Since the club moved to Washington in 2005, only two other Nationals pitchers had struck out 10 or more in four innings or fewer. Max Scherzer did it three times. Tanner Roark did it once. Now Cavalli.

Six days after his most dominant performance of the season, the Nationals' ace picked up where he left off, striking out 11 in six scoreless innings as the Nats cruised past the Rangers 6-0 at Globe Life Field on Wednesday. The right-hander pushed his scoreless-innings streak to 17.

This wasn't a solo act. José Tena put the Nationals ahead to stay with a solo homer in the third, and Andrés Chaparro's third hit of the game was a towering 415-foot drive for a three-run homer in the seventh that made it 6-0. Will Dion, Max Kranick and Jake Bird each pitched an inning to wrap up Washington's fifth shutout victory.

Back-to-back masterclasses

The game that preceded this one was somehow even more ridiculous. Six days earlier, Cavalli had held the Cubs to one hit and no runs in eight innings, producing the first eight-plus-inning, one-hit-or-fewer, double-digit strikeout game against Chicago since Cole Hamels' no-hitter in 2015.

That outing placed him alongside Max Scherzer as one of only two pitchers in Nationals history - since 2005 - to record two or more games in a single season with 10 or more strikeouts and one hit or less allowed across at least seven innings.

Consistency has been the word. Cavalli notched his eighth consecutive quality start Wednesday. He is 7-1 in his last 10 starts. Over that 10-start stretch, he is 6-1 with a 2.43 ERA and 69 strikeouts, putting him among the most electric arms in the National League.

Manager Blake Butera didn't hide his disbelief in Arlington. "It was unbelievable the way he started that game," Butera said. Cavalli's explanation was more measured. "It's just staying locked in, just keep attacking, trusting the defense to go make plays, and just keep attacking in the zone," he said.

What it took to get here

The full arc of Cavalli's story makes all of this harder to believe. A 2020 first-round pick out of Oklahoma, he missed the entire 2023 and 2024 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery and didn't return to a big-league mound until August 2025. Less than a year later, he opened 2026 as the Nationals' Opening Day starter and has blossomed into a legitimate workhorse.

The record now reads 11-5 after Wednesday night. He limited the Rangers to three singles and a walk, throwing 58 of 84 pitches for strikes. He has shown the strikeout stuff that made him a top prospect before the injury, a deep pitch mix that keeps hitters off balance, and now the innings totals that suggest the team no longer needs to handle him with kid gloves.

The team around him, to be clear, is still a work in progress. Washington sits at 60-67, fourth in the NL East. The Nationals had lost four in a row and six of seven entering Wednesday, and in that stretch, the only other win was Cavalli's gem against the Cubs last Thursday. He is, at the moment, the only thing functioning the way the front office drew it up.

The Rangers needed the win more

It wasn't just a Nats win. It stung Texas. With the loss, the Rangers dropped out of the American League's third wild card spot. The first eight outs for Texas came on strikeouts before Brandon Nimmo's groundout ended the third. Cavalli got his 10th K in the fourth. Starter Kumar Rocker allowed two runs and six hits over five innings, falling to 4-10.

Washington has 16 games in 16 days before its next off day on September 3, part of a brutal 39-games-in-41-days stretch that started July 24. Cavalli's rotation slot lines him up once more before the end of August. Given what he's done the last two turns, Rangers fans and wild-card rivals alike are already watching the calendar.

Sources