CINCINNATI – The Nationals’ surprise decision to demote Luis García to Triple-A following Wednesday’s game wasn’t a sign the organization has given up on the struggling second baseman, manager Davey Martinez insisted today, but rather an acknowledgment he must show improvement in several areas to earn his way back to the big leagues.

“I still strongly believe that Luis is a big part of our future, I really do,” Martinez told reporters before tonight’s series opener against the Reds. “There’s some consistency stuff that we want him to work on. We want him to do it without having to worry about putting up numbers and that nature. He does a lot of things well. We think he can get better.”

García was optioned after Wednesday’s walk-off win over the Brewers after a sustained slump over 27 games that saw him bat just .196 with a .227 on-base percentage and .499 OPS. That left his season totals at a disappointing .259 average, .293 on-base percentage and .656 OPS.

The 23-year-old, who made his major league debut almost exactly three years ago, had been a mainstay on the big league roster and in the Nats lineup since last summer. And through much of the first three months of this season, he had shown progress in his pitch selection at the plate and defensive play at second base.

But García's struggles over the last month were noticeable, and Martinez indicated there were concerns about his preparation and pregame routine. Rather than let him try to work that out at the big league level, the club felt it was better to have him figure it out at Rochester.

Inside a rollicking Nationals clubhouse Wednesday afternoon, Luis García was all smiles. He was kidding around with Victor Robles. He was intently watching Ildemaro Vargas get interviewed about his game-winning run in a walk-off, 3-2 victory over the Brewers. By all accounts, he had no idea the news he was about to receive.

García was optioned to Triple-A Rochester a few minutes later, after reporters had left the clubhouse, before the team departed for a weekend series in Cincinnati. The team’s starting second baseman since Aug. 26, 2022, was now a minor leaguer again.

The García move – as well as the requesting of unconditional release waivers on outfielder Corey Dickerson – caught people off-guard because of the timing, minutes after an inspiring, come-from-behind win over a playoff contender. Truth be told, it was probably in the works for a while, the odd timing an unfortunate byproduct.

Make no mistake, García was in a prolonged slump. Over his last 27 games, he was batting .196 with a .227 on-base percentage and .272 slugging percentage. Those are paltry numbers. His defense was fine – he was charged with only two errors over his last 31 games – but that couldn’t make up for his offensive decline.

So the Nationals made the move, perhaps hoping it would serve as something of a wake-up call to the 23-year-old, who has now played in 303 big league games and taken 1,170 plate appearances but just learned he’s not as secure as he perhaps thought.

NEW YORK – Luis García has faced 14 pitchers at least 10 times in his major league career. He’s had far more success against one of them than anyone else. And the identity of that one opponent may surprise you: Max Scherzer.

Yes, over the course of 11 head-to-head plate appearances against the three-time Cy Young Award winner and likely future Hall of Famer, García has six hits. One of those was a double. Two of them were homers.

Put that all together, and you’ve got a 1.727 OPS against one of the greatest pitchers of this generation. Even García has to smile and laugh when asked how he’s managed to do that.

“To be honest, I can’t even tell you,” he said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “I feel like maybe I go in there with greater focus, because it is Max Scherzer, and he’s a very good pitcher. I think one of his best pitches, if not his best pitch, is his fastball. And I’m a good fastball hitter, so maybe that’s it.”

García certainly handled Scherzer’s fastball well Friday night. He mashed one of them 406 feet to deep right-center, producing the Nationals’ one and only run off the 39-year-old right-hander during a 5-1 loss to the Mets.

NEW YORK – Josiah Gray managed to pull it off Thursday night, playing with fire but emerging unscathed for six scoreless innings. MacKenzie Gore tried to pull off the same feat tonight at Citi Field, until he finally got burned at a most inopportune moment.

After pitching out of jams in each of his first four innings, Gore couldn’t pitch out of his last one in the fifth. The Nationals left-hander hung a slider to Pete Alonso and watched the ball soar to left field, the decisive three-run blow in what wound up a 5-1 loss to the Mets that might've been even more damaging had Jeimer Candelario suffered a significant injury in the top of the eighth.

Candelario, fortunately, appears to be fine after getting twisted up sliding into second base while trying to stretch a single into a double and briefly feeling discomfort in his left shoulder.

On that aggressive baserunning play with his team down four runs, Candelario beat the throw to second but had to try to touch the base with his left hand after his feet got twisted up. In the process, he grabbed second base umpire Vic Carapazza, and that caused whatever pain he felt in his own arm, prompting him to motion to the dugout for assistance. 

"Everything's good, everything's good," Candelario insisted. "I just tried to come back, but the umpire was right there. It's part of the game. It was scary, but I'm good."

CHICAGO – With a chance to win another road series, with a chance to use their few remaining reliable relievers late, the Nationals yet again put themselves in position to emerge victorious.

This time, despite an inspired rally to tie the game in the eighth, they watched as one of those few trusted relievers gave up the eventual winning run minutes later. Then they watched as one of the unproven relievers turned this game into another rout in a matter of seconds.

Mason Thompson, entrusted with a tie game in the bottom of the eighth, was the pitcher of record in what finished as an 8-3 loss to the Cubs. Cory Abbott gave up the grand slam that blew things wide open after Thompson was pulled with the bases loaded later in the inning.

Through injuries, demotions, promotions and a flurry of transactions in recent weeks, the Nats bullpen has devolved into a mess in its current incarnation. There's no immediate help coming. They have no choice but to keep putting the same group on the mound and hope things will finally click.

"It's still the same game," Thompson said. "At the end of the day, we've just got to go out there and do a better job of helping the team win."

For all the trouble they had when the Reds were at bat Wednesday night, the Nationals might actually have given themselves a chance to win the game had they simply converted some golden scoring opportunities in their first two innings at the plate.

Instead, another failure to pounce on a struggling opposing starter set the tone for what became a 9-2 rout rather than a competitive ballgame.

Seven of the Nationals’ first nine batters actually reached base against Cincinnati starter Graham Ashcraft, who entered with a 6.66 ERA. Only one of those seven (Lane Thomas) would score, and he only did so via wild pitch.

Thomas opened the bottom of the first with a walk, the 30th time he has reached base in the 61 games he has led off the first inning. Luis Garcia followed with a single, but Jeimer Candelario grounded into a killer double play that moved Thomas to third but left the Nats with two outs. Even so, they still proceeded to load the bases when Joey Meneses walked and Dominic Smith was hit by a pitch.

Ashcraft’s wild pitch scored Thomas and moved everybody else up one base, but Keibert Ruiz then grounded out to end that rally with only the one run across the plate.

Coming into the season, the Nationals believed speed would be one of the strongest assets to their young lineup.

Now officially past the halfway point of the season, it hasn’t been as effective as they might have hoped.

Did you know up until last week Victor Robles was still the team’s leader in stolen bases? The speedy outfielder has only played 36 games this season, missed 34 in May and June with a back injury and is currently on his second stint on the injured list. CJ Abrams swiped one in San Diego and one in Seattle to overtake him 79 games into the season.

Entering Sunday’s finale against the Phillies, the Nationals ranked as one of the worst teams in terms of stealing bases in the major leagues. They had only stolen 43 bases in 56 attempts, which were 25th in the majors and 13th in the National League. That equated to a 76.8 percent success rate, which ranked 22nd in the majors and 12th in the National League.

They were only stealing 0.68 bags per game, 26th in the big leagues and 13th in the NL.

PHILADELPHIA – As the Nationals go for their third straight series win this afternoon, some of their young players are getting the day off.

CJ Abrams, Luis García and Keibert Ruiz are all out of the starting lineup for the rubber match against the Phillies. It’s not much of a surprise for the catcher after being behind the dish for the first two games this weekend, but having not one but both of the young middle infielders rest on the same day is a bit of a surprise.

Ildemaro Vargas, in the starting lineup for the second straight day, gets the start at shortstop while Michael Chavis is at second base. Riley Adams, of course, is catching starter Trevor Williams.

“Just to get them off their feet,” manager Davey Martinez said of his reasoning in giving Abrams and García the same day off. “Day game, get them off. We got a crazy schedule coming up with this next week. We got different times: six o'clock, 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock, so I just want to give those guys a day. Like I said, these guys, they got to get a day here and there. So today was a good day. It was scheduled coming into the series. So they'll get the day today and get some of these other guys in there.”

The Nationals have six different scheduled start times over their final seven games this week leading into the All-Star break: They’ll open their four-game series with the Reds tomorrow night at 6 p.m., then they have the traditional 11 a.m. start on the Fourth of July, a 7 p.m. start on Wednesday, a 1 p.m. start for Thursday’s getaway game for Cincinnati, another 7 p.m. game Friday for the series opener against the Rangers, a 4 p.m. start Saturday and a noon start Sunday for a nationally televised first-half finale on Peacock.

SEATTLE – Luis García’s RBI single in the top of the 11th was a key moment in the Nationals’ wild, 7-4 victory over the Mariners on Tuesday night. His play at second base throughout the game might have been just as significant, and certainly eye-opening to the team at large.

In what was arguably his best defensive game of the season, García turned two key late double plays. And he nearly turned a third one with an incredibly high degree of difficulty.

With runners on the corners and nobody out in the bottom of the seventh of what was a tie game at the time, Seattle’s Kolten Wong hit a chopper to short. Ildemaro Vargas fielded it and threw the ball to García at second base for the first half of what looked like a routine 6-4-3 double play that would concede the go-ahead run.

But instead of throwing to first, García turned against his body and fired to the plate, where Keibert Ruiz caught the throw and tagged a sliding Jarred Kelenic. Plate umpire Brennan Miller called Kelenic out, and the Nats thought they had just pulled off a rare 6-4-2 double play.

The Mariners, though, challenged the call. And upon replay review, it was determined Kelenic barely slid into the plate before Ruiz could apply the tag.

SEATTLE – The weirdest game of the Nationals’ 2023 season included four pitch clock violations, plus one that was overturned after the umpires huddled up. It included players and coaches from both benches coming onto the field to break up an argument over an accusation Jeimer Candelario was signaling pitch locations while leading off second base.

It included CJ Abrams departing with an injury after getting hit by a pitch on the right elbow. It included several jaw-dropping plays by Luis García, including one that nearly saved the day in the seventh … until umpires overturned their original call upon review and awarded the Mariners the go-ahead run.

It included Keibert Ruiz blasting a game-tying homer in the eighth, the young catcher finally rewarded for the loud contact he’s been making for several weeks. It included a no-doubles defense by the Nats that actually played a ball into a double.

And it ultimately included two desperately needed clutch hits from Lane Thomas and García to propel the Nationals to an exhausting 7-4 11-inning victory.

"They fought," manager Davey Martinez said. "This team is relentless. They don't give up. They stay focused. They stay in the game. And we come out victorious in the end, which was awesome."

Although they lost an off-day, the Nationals were hoping to use this makeup game against the Diamondbacks to create some momentum before heading out on a nine-game road trip.

Yesterday’s win over the Cardinals was only their fourth since the start of June. Putting together back-to-back wins to end this homestand would have made for a happy flight out west.

Davey Martinez applauded his team for playing clean baseball during yesterday’s rainy conditions. But the Nats got sloppy again, committing two errors and allowing four unearned runs in a 5-3 loss to the D-backs in front of 13,251 fans who withstood the misty weather.

"We can't give good teams 28-29 outs. We can't," Martinez said after their 14th loss this month. "I think we had four unearned runs today. Take those away and we're right in the ballgame. So we gotta get better at that, we really do. And if we do that, we're going to be able to compete. So we got to just come back tomorrow and play a good, clean baseball game and see where we're at.”

Weird circumstances surrounded today’s getaway game, which technically was recognized as a one-game series since it was rescheduled from June 8 due to poor air quality in the D.C. area from the Canada wildfires.

As he impressed throughout April and May with the best sustained stretch of his young career, one question loomed over Josiah Gray: Could he continue to keep the ball in the yard all summer, avoiding the back-breaking home runs that spoiled his 2022 season?

Four starts into June, the initial answer to that question is not an encouraging one. Gray is serving up homers again, and this afternoon it cost him more than in any previous outing this year.

Despite early support from his teammates to the tune of a five-run lead, Gray gave it all back and more in an 8-6 loss to the Cardinals, the critical sequence coming in the top of the fifth when he surrendered back-to-back homers to turn a game the Nationals once controlled into yet another demoralizing loss.

"The offense has been phenomenal for me out there pitching. I can't applaud those guys enough," Gray said. "I've just got to be better and not squander a five-run lead."

The Nats’ 12th loss in 14 games differed from most that preceded it, because they actually hit well in this one. They jumped all over St. Louis starter Jack Flaherty, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after two innings and putting Gray in prime position to take care of the rest.

When looking for reasons to explain the Nationals’ more competitive play early this season, it was easy to point to the club’s improved defense as a significant factor.

After rating as the majors’ worst defensive team in 2022, the Nats ended April ranked 22nd with minus-4 Defensive Runs Saved. That’s far from excellent play in the field, but it did represent real improvement from the previous year.

When they take the field this afternoon, though, the Nationals find themselves back at the bottom of the list. They entered the day with minus-29 DRS, tied with the Athletics for worst in the sport.

Defensive metrics, of course, remain far from a perfect measurement of actual defensive play. But the eye test also seems to suggest the team’s performance has regressed in this area over the last month or so.

“I still feel like we’re playing pretty good defense,” manager Davey Martinez insisted today. “Look, you’ve got to remember we’ve got two guys that are really young in the middle of the field, and it’s going to be part of the process. But I think overall they’re doing well.”

HOUSTON – Upon learning the Nationals were skipping his turn in the rotation so he could take a physical and mental break, Jake Irvin almost didn’t know what to do with himself. The rookie right-hander had grown so accustomed to the regimented, five-day schedule for starters since arriving in the big leagues last month, the idea of a layoff for non-injury reasons was quite foreign to him.

Now that he’s had more than a week of rest, though, Irvin has come to understand how valuable it was in the wake of everything that came before.

“Making your debut and going through the whirlwind of the first month in the big leagues is something you can’t really explain,” he said. “It’s something you go through once and hopefully get your feet wet. I’ve taken this time to kind of reflect on what’s happened so far, and how you can move forward as best as possible. Not only does it give the body a chance to reset, but it really gives your mind a chance to reset and move forward and grow.”

The Nationals took advantage of Monday’s scheduled off-day to skip over Irvin’s spot in the rotation. Patrick Corbin went ahead and started Tuesday’s series opener against the Astros on normal rest, and Josiah Gray and MacKenzie Gore will follow to round out this series.

Irvin, who last pitched June 6 against the Diamondbacks, is likely to return to the mound either Friday or Saturday against the Marlins. Manager Davey Martinez said he planned to meet with pitching coach Jim Hickey today to settle on a plan.

HOUSTON – Josiah Gray enters tonight’s start with a 3.00 ERA, which is quite good. Good enough to rank sixth in the National League, in fact. His 1.403 WHIP, however, is worse than it was in either of the last two seasons. So, how do we reconcile those two facts?

Gray’s peripheral numbers aren’t great because he’s walking a lot of batters (4.6 per nine innings). But he’s not giving up runs because he’s managing to get outs when he needs to (opponents are batting and slugging .145 against him with runners in scoring position) and he’s avoided the home run (1.0 per nine innings, down from 2.3 last season). Can he keep that up? We shall see, but the test tonight against the Astros is a good one for the young right-hander.

A little run support wouldn’t hurt, either. After an uptick in production that included 5.4 runs per game from May 15-June 2, the Nationals are averaging only 3.1 over their last eight games. Is it any wonder they’ve lost seven of those games?

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: Minute Maid Park
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
3B Jeimer Candelario
DH Joey Meneses
LF Stone Garrett
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Ildemaro Vargas
1B Dominic Smith
CF Alex Call
SS CJ Abrams

LOS ANGELES – The Nationals won Wednesday’s series finale at Dodger Stadium thanks to far and away their biggest power display of the season. They blasted five home runs, including two from Keibert Ruiz, to emerge with a 10-6 victory and avoid a series sweep.

They headed home having finished 3-3 on a very eventful road trip through Kansas City and Los Angeles, one that started with a bang and ended with a bang, with some frustrating moments in between.

“We came in here, we had some young mistakes, but to come out of here after a long road trip and win the last game to go back home now, it feels pretty good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We finished .500 on the road. To come out to the West Coast is never easy. So, I’m proud of the guys, after getting beat the first two games, to come back the way they did today and pull this one out.”

Wednesday’s game was a wild affair itself, the Nats digging themselves into a 3-0 hole in the first, clawing back to take a 5-4 lead in the fifth, giving it back in the seventh, then taking the lead for good in the eighth. Those five homers were the headline of the game, but there were several other developments that deserve further exploration on this day off …

* Luis Garcia bookends a strange trip in style
Garcia’s week got off to an historic start: He went 6-for-6 on Friday night against the Royals, joining Anthony Rendon as the only players in club history to pull off that feat. But then Garcia followed that up with a slump. He went 0 for his next 16 before finally delivering an RBI single in the seventh inning Tuesday night, but then went hitless in his next four at-bats as well, leaving him in a 1-for-21 funk.

LOS ANGELES – Luis García skipped out of the batter’s box, looked toward the Nationals dugout and yelled with delight. One inning later, Keibert Ruiz took his time leaving the box, making sure the ball really was going to leave the park, before turning toward his teammates, pounding his chest and letting out a primal scream of his own.

At the end of a long road trip that saw way more well-struck balls die at the warning track than clear the fence, two months into a season that has seen far too few blasts from one of the majors’ least-home-run-hitting lineups, the Nats finally won a game not on the strength of their pitching, their defense or their ability to string together a bunch of singles.

No, this 10-6 victory over the Dodgers was characterized above all else by power. Lots of it.

The Nationals launched five homers on a gray, 65-degree L.A. afternoon. Two of them were produced by Ruiz, who had already homered during Tuesday night’s loss against his former organization. The biggest, though, came off the bat of García, whose three-run shot down the right field line in the top of the eighth gave his team the lead for good and served as the emotional high point of a game that featured all manner of wild, back-and-forth moments.

"We came with a good atmosphere today," said third baseman Jeimer Candelario, who homered himself and reached base four times. "The guys wanted to have a happy fight. We're going to D.C. It's a long flight. You don't want to lose that game and then (take) that long flight."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Luis García stepped to plate to begin the top of the sixth tonight at Kauffman Stadium, hoping to jumpstart a Nationals lineup that to that point had been shut down by, statistically, the worst pitcher in the major leagues. He promptly doubled to deep left.

Some 19 minutes later, García was back at the plate, batting for the second time in an inning that had now turned into one of the Nats’ best sustained rallies of the season. He promptly doubled down the left field line again, this time driving in two runs.

In becoming the first player in club history to record two doubles in the same inning, then later becoming only the second player in club history to record six hits in a game, García became the focal point of an eight-run rally that propelled the Nationals to what should’ve been an easy victory against a Royals team that owns the second-worst record in the majors.

Instead, the Nats needed every one of the eight runs they scored in the sixth – not to mention the three they added in the eighth – to escape with a wild, 12-10 victory that got way too close for comfort when Erasmo Ramirez imploded in the bottom of the seventh, spoiling what would’ve been a quality start by Patrick Corbin.

"It feels great, especially when my teammates are battling every at-bat," García said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "We never got down at all, stayed focused and battled every at-bat. It's a great feeling."

The Nationals have had a rough go to the start of the season in terms of opposing starting pitchers. They’re facing left-handed starters at a higher rate than usual, which early on led to some inconsistencies in their lineup constructions.

When the Nats face the Padres’ Blake Snell in this afternoon’s series finale, it will be their 19th time in their first 50 games facing an opposing lefty starter. That’s almost a 40 percent rate, unusually high over the first two months of the season, with possibly more on the way.

“Yes,” manager Davey Martinez answered during his pregame media session when asked if this amount of opposing left-handed starters is unusual. “We've seen a lot of lefties. I think we'll get another one too in Kansas City. So yeah, we have seen quite a bit of lefties. But the thing about it is our left-handed hitters are not doing bad against them, it's kind of nice.”

It’s almost ironic that the Nationals have faced this many southpaws to start the year. Over the offseason, the focus was on acquiring a left-handed-hitting corner outfielder and possibly a backup lefty first baseman to fill out the roster. They were able to get both and then some.

Corey Dickerson was the left corner outfielder and Dominic Smith was the starting left-handed first baseman, allowing Joey Meneses to shift to designated hitter full time. Add switch-hitter Jeimer Candelario and the Nats could actually have more lefty bats than righty in their lineup on a given night.

Tuesday night’s series opener had some extra emotions attached to it, what with Juan Soto returning to D.C. and MacKenzie Gore facing the Padres for the first time. Tonight’s game shouldn’t carry quite the same vibes, even though Soto obviously will still be playing in D.C. And he’ll be facing a guy who hasn’t pitched for the Padres before but is from San Diego.

Yes, Trevor Williams grew up there, so it’s always a bit of a big deal for the right-hander to face the Padres. More than anything, Williams wants to give the Nationals some length tonight and take some pressure off the bullpen, which wasn’t great in the wake of Gore’s 4 2/3-inning start Tuesday night.

The Nats will look to get something going offensively against Ryan Weathers, yet another left-hander. They’re currently in a stretch of facing nine opposing lefties in 15 games. The good news: They’ve hit much better against lefties, to the tune of a .299/.359/.441 slash line (it’s only .247/.307/.358 against righties).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly clear, 79 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
2B Luis García
DH Joey Meneses
3B Jeimer Candelario
LF Stone Garrett
1B Dominic Smith
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Alex Call
SS CJ Abrams