Salvation for the Nationals came not from Juan Soto or Josh Bell. It came not from Josiah Gray or Keibert Ruiz or Luis García. It did not come from any member of their rotation.

No, when the Nats needed to put a stop to a pair of nine-game losing streaks – one of them overall, one of them specifically to the Braves – they turned to the bottom of their lineup and five members of their bullpen.

Yes, it’s true. The Nationals won a ballgame today, toppling the Braves 7-3 to close a wretched final stretch of a wretched first half of the season on an uplifting note at last. 

"It's been a long time," Soto said with a laugh, "but finally we did it."

The formula to produce this curly W bore no resemblance to the one they used to try to win any other game in the last week-plus.

As he warmed up in the right field bullpen, Josiah Gray’s task for the evening was clear. Give the Nationals a chance to beat the Braves tonight? Sure. But more important than that, go deep enough in the game to alleviate pressure on a pitching staff that faces a daunting task this week with eight games scheduled over the next seven days, and with a replacement starter already needed Tuesday as Stephen Strasburg heads back to the injured list.

So consider what happened right around 7 p.m. as a worst-case scenario for the Nats. With rain falling and a heavy storm cell fast approaching, the grounds crew rolled out the tarp, the start of the game ultimately was delayed 1 hour, 33 minutes and Gray (because he had already warmed up) was scratched altogether out of caution by the organization.

"He sat for a very, very long time, and I'm not going to do that to him," manager Davey Martinez said. "I mean, he was in uncharted waters right there, so I decided after an hour and a half that we weren't going to send him out, and he was good."

This game was now in the hands of an already depleted bullpen, with Erasmo Ramírez charged with the unenviable task of starting the game and going as far as he could possibly go.

The ensuing results shouldn’t have surprised anyone. Ramírez gave up six runs in three innings, and the Nationals slogged their way through a 9-5 loss that brought a fitting conclusion to a downtrodden day for the organization.

CINCINNATI – Wherever the Nationals go, the attention always focuses on their big-name players. Your Juan Sotos, Josh Bells, Nelson Cruzes, Josiah Grays, Patrick Corbins, etc.

While all of those stars contributed to the Nats’ three wins over the Reds this weekend, some unsung heroes played a significant role as well.

Not all of them got their fair share of praise over the last three days, partially my own fault for not incorporating them more. So let’s take some time to give them their time in the spotlight.

Lane Thomas is an obvious one, though he did get his fair share after hitting three home runs on Friday night. Those jump off the page, obviously, but he did a lot more this weekend.

Thomas went 7-for-14 with three home runs, a double, four RBIs, a walk and five runs scored in the three games he played in Cincinnati, once again showing his uncanny ability to produce in National League Central ballparks. All along the way, he played perfect defense in the outfield, including a nice sliding catch Saturday afternoon.

MIAMI – Nelson Cruz has been in big spots throughout his 18-year career. And he’s been in much bigger games than the Nationals’ 38th game of the season against a division opponent.

But after missing Monday’s series opener with an illness, Cruz found himself back in the lineup Tuesday night, and wouldn’t you know it, the game put him in one of the biggest spots of the night.

What happened didn’t ultimately lead to the Nationals’ 5-1 loss in front of 8,097 at loanDepot Park, which also included a close to seven-minute delay due to a false fire alarm in the fifth inning. But it certainly was their biggest opportunity to get ahead of the Marlins late and perhaps win their first game against their National League East rival.

With the Nats down 1-0 and with one out in the sixth, Victor Robles singled to center field to get a speedy runner on base. But he was promptly picked off by Marlins lefty reliever Steven Okert, this coming after Robles stole his first base in his first attempt of the season last night.

But Cesár Hernández followed with an infield single, and Juan Soto and Josh Bell reached on back-to-back walks against the erratic Okert.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – To beat the Angels tonight, the Nationals simply needed to get home runs from Josh Bell, Yadiel Hernandez and Nelson Cruz, two clutch hits from Maikel Franco, 5 1/3 solid innings from Josiah Gray and effective work from a bullpen that turned to none other than Erasmo Ramirez for the most high-leverage situation of the game.

Hey, whatever works, right?

This 7-3 victory on a lovely Saturday evening in Orange County may not have gone by the book. But at this point, the Nationals can’t afford to stick to a book that at times during the season’s first month hasn’t worked.

Contributions can come in a variety of ways, from a variety of players. On this night, that included a much-needed power display from the slumping Cruz and two big innings of relief from a guy who spent the season’s first two weeks at Triple-A Rochester and until now had only pitched with the Nats trailing, except for one appearance with them leading by eight runs.

That would be Ramirez, the 32-year-old journeyman reliever who was entrusted with the seventh and eighth innings tonight, stared down the heart of the Angels’ imposing lineup and lived to tell about it. The right-hander got into a two-out jam in the seventh when he surrendered back-to-back singles to Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, but he proceeded to get Anthony Rendon to fly out to left on the next pitch, leaving the former Nationals star third baseman 0-for-8 in the series.

The Nationals were relieved to learn Josh Bell could return to today’s lineup after departing Wednesday night’s game with tightness in his left knee. They were not so relieved to learn another member of their bullpen is out with an arm ailment.

The Nats placed Hunter Harvey on the 10-day injured list shortly before today’s series finale against the Diamondbacks with a right pronator strain, a situation that appears to have just emerged within the last 24 hours after the hard-throwing reliever tossed a scoreless inning.

Harvey, the former Orioles first-round pick whose career has been beset by a smorgasbord of injuries, made four scoreless appearances since joining the Nationals bullpen during the season’s opening weekend. The 27-year-old was starting to earn his way into manager Davey Martinez’s good graces and perhaps start getting called upon in high-leverage situations, but something apparently didn’t feel right during Wednesday night’s game.

Harvey entered that outing averaging 97 mph on his fastball in his first three appearances. That number went down to 96 mph during Wednesday’s game, bottoming out at 94.3 mph on one of the 12 pitches he threw to three Arizona batters.

The pronator is part of the flexor mass group of muscles and tendons in the forearm, near the elbow. A pronator strain would be to one of the muscles in that area, not an uncommon injury for pitchers.

The Orioles won't face Erasmo Ramírez tonight in the second game of their series against the Rays. At least, not at the start. Ramirez has been scratched due to the uncertain weather condition and replaced by right-hander Austin Pruitt. Ramírez is available to pitch in relief. The rain stopped earlier this afternoon and the game will begin on time. Pruitt, a rookie, is 2-0 with a 7.94 ERA in eight relief appearances. He's allowed 10 earned runs (12 total) and 21 hits in 11 1/3 innings,...