Move over, Ohtani. Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas helps win game with his bat

PHILADELPHIA — Hey, Miles Mikolas bunted!

(And we called it)

In the 11th inning of the Washington Nationals 10-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, the 37-year-old right-hander became the 20th pitcher (non-Shohei Ohtani division) to have a plate appearance since the universal DH was instituted in 2022.

And because the bunt bumped Washington’s win probability from 90 to 93 percent, his tap down the first-base line contributed more to a win than any other plate appearance by a pitcher (again, non-Ohtani division) since 2022.

“Felt like a kid again, playing baseball, watching somebody — it’s like when you bring the 20th man off the bench, getting his at-bat on like a senior night type thing,” teammate Jake Irvin said. “He’s got — it’s his 10 years in the bigs (Thursday). So like, I mean, the day before that, screw it, man, just pack it up, go home. I’m joking. I’m joking. No, that was so cool.”

Of the 20 pitchers not named Ohtani to make a plate appearance since the advent of the universal DH, only Mikolas and Ryne Nelson had an RBI and scored a run.

Nostradamus pic.twitter.com/mUKdH4GZxS

— Spencer Nusbaum (@spencernusbaum_) August 6, 2026

Nationals manager Blake Butera decided to lose the DH in the 10th so he could pinch-run for Abimelec Ortiz, one of the slower players on the roster. He told Mikolas to start getting ready in case the order came back around. Then, after the teams each traded a run in the 10th, he discovered he was due up third in the 11th. After CJ Abrams’ RBI triple, he was in there to bunt.

Oh, it helped the Nationals snap a seven-game losing streak, and it was the first plate appearance taken by a Washington player over age 30 all season.

“I think that’s just the beauty of baseball in general,” Irvin said. “Like, we’ve got a young locker room. But having the 30-whatever-year-old come off the bench and just being all smiles … it’s cool, I think, that we all got to experience something like that with him. That’s what it’s all about.”