Cavalli was brilliant at Dodger Stadium. His bullpen wasn't, and the Nationals went home empty again.
Cade Cavalli threw six strong innings and struck out eight at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, but a late bullpen collapse cost Washington a 6-5 loss - and a day later, the Nats dropped the series finale 7-5, falling to 67-77 with 19 games left.
In brief
Cavalli was brilliant at Dodger Stadium. His bullpen wasn't, and the Nationals went home empty again.
Saturday night in Los Angeles, Cade Cavalli did almost everything right. He pitched six innings. He struck out eight. He kept Tyler Glasnow's return-from-injury homecoming from mattering very much. And he left a defending-champion ballpark with a 4-2 lead and nobody warming up for the Nationals that should have given Washington fans any reason to look away.
Sunday was worse. The Dodgers beat Washington 7-5 in a game that produced 12 total runs. CJ Abrams reached 30 home runs for the first time in his career - a genuine individual milestone in what has otherwise been a brutal road trip. The loss Saturday dropped Washington to 67-77, and Sunday's result pushed the Nats to four straight losses with 19 games left on the schedule.
What Cavalli actually did
Before any of that bullpen damage, though, there was Cavalli - and what he's been doing all year deserves attention on its own terms.
Cavalli allowed two runs on four hits and a hit batsman while striking out eight and walking none over six innings in a no-decision versus the Dodgers on Saturday. The start came six days after a comebacker struck his right leg and cut his previous outing against Miami short after just four scoreless frames. He showed no lingering effects at Dodger Stadium and logged six strong innings with eight strikeouts in the Nationals' 6-5 loss.
The first inning was genuinely ugly, through no real fault of his own. Los Angeles jumped ahead after a defensive miscommunication extended the frame - Freddie Freeman was hit by a pitch and Mookie Betts singled before Kyle Tucker hit a potential inning-ending double-play ball, but Cavalli and first baseman Abimelec Ortiz crossed paths covering first, allowing the inning to continue. That led to two Dodgers runs on back-to-back RBI singles from Teoscar Hernandez and Hunter Feduccia. Then Cavalli closed the door and didn't open it again for five more innings.
The performance kept Cavalli atop the National League leaderboard in second-half strikeouts with 75. He has now logged quality starts in 10 of his last 11 outings, and carries a 3.12 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and a 185:46 K:BB ratio through 158.2 innings over 30 starts on the season.
Those numbers are not a mirage. With two earned runs allowed Saturday, Cavalli has now given up three or fewer earned runs in 28 of his 30 starts this season, ranking second in franchise history in that category - tied with John Lannan. His 185 strikeouts rank seventh in all of baseball, one ahead of Atlanta's Chris Sale.
Earlier in August, Cavalli entered the Nationals' record books with a dominant outing against Texas - 11 strikeouts over six scoreless innings - making him just the third pitcher in franchise history to record at least three starts in a season of six-plus innings, no earned runs, and double-digit strikeouts, joining Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.
The bigger story Saturday - and really all season - is what happens once Cavalli hands the ball over. The Washington Nationals continue to have bullpen issues, and they are now one step away from making some brutal MLB history. The seventh-inning meltdown at Dodger Stadium was not an aberration. It was a recurring plot.
Washington finished with 10 hits compared with seven for the Dodgers and received another impressive performance from Cade Cavalli - but one difficult inning from the bullpen proved decisive. That sentence could have been written on a dozen different nights this year.
Sunday didn't improve the picture. In his second inning of work, Nationals left-hander Will Dion gave up Mookie Betts' home run after Alex Call singled and Tommy Edman walked, both with two outs. The margin was two runs or fewer entering at least one inning from the seventh on, so late bullpen execution materially shaped the result - again.
Since the World Series season of 2019, the Nationals have not won more than 71 games in a season. To surpass that mark in 2026, Washington needs five more wins. To avoid a 90-loss season, they need six wins. There are 19 games remaining.
One more piece of good news, even on a losing trip
Amid all of it, the Nationals held a pregame ceremony Monday to honor five prospects as the organization's 2026 Minor League Award winners. Among the honorees was outfielder Daylen Lile, who also received National League Player of the Week recognition Monday - his third or fourth such honor of the season, another signal that Washington's pipeline is producing faster than the big-league roster can absorb it.
The Nationals head home now to face the Los Angeles Angels. Cavalli is scheduled to keep rolling at home in his next start. His record on the mound this year has been exceptional. The record in the standings - 67-77 - tells the rest of the story. Washington out-hit the Dodgers Saturday, 10 hits to seven, and still lost by a run.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
