Upon returning to the dugout following his three-run homer Wednesday night, Luis García Jr. approached his manager with a wide smile.

“Before the at-bat, he had mentioned to me to look for a ball up,” García said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “And the pitch that I hit out was actually up. So I came back and told him: ‘It was right where you said.’”

It was both the latest example of García’s breakthrough season on the field and the relationship he and Davey Martinez have developed over years, helping make this breakthrough season possible.

No player on the Nationals roster received as much criticism from Martinez this spring as García, who after a disappointing 2023 was told it was time to either step up or risk losing his job. At the time, there was reasoned speculation Trey Lipscomb might soon supplant him at second base.

Five months later, García has a stranglehold on the job and has shown no signs of letting it go. The 24-year-old enters today’s series finale against the Rockies with a .294 batting average (sixth in the National League), 22 doubles, 15 homers, 62 RBIs, 19 stolen bases and a .794 OPS that leads all eligible regulars on the Nats.

Not that the Nationals have fielded an imposing lineup often this season, but the group Davey Martinez currently has at his disposal isn’t exactly going to leave opposing pitchers quaking in their boots.

Tonight’s batting order against the Rockies included a leadoff hitter with a career .696 OPS, a 7-8-9 triumvirate with a combined four homers this year and a No. 3 hitter who has been in the majors for all of one week and wasn’t a highly rated prospect at the time of his promotion.

So, as uninspired as the Nats’ 3-1 loss this evening was, it could not have taken very many by surprise. What, exactly, was this particular lineup expected to produce beyond CJ Abrams’ solo homer in the sixth?

The Nationals didn’t produce anything else of consequence against Rockies starter Austin Gomber or the two relievers who followed. And in the process, they wasted another solid outing by DJ Herz, who overcame an unsightly top of the first to actually put together one of his best starts in a while.

"We try to get guys in a position for them to be successful, because they've done it in the minor leagues," said Martinez, who had Alex Call leading off, Andrés Chaparro batting third and a 7-8-9 of Riley Adams, José Tena and Jacob Young. "Up here, it's a little different. I think it's more or less trying to get experience on the pitcher, the guys they're facing. Perfect example today: This guy threw three breaking balls in a row. A lot of guys didn't think he would do it, when a lot of times he did do it. ...

The Nationals’ goal for the last six weeks of the season is clear: Stick with the youth movement and see what pieces they have for next season.

The young regulars, of course, will continue to get a majority of the playing time. CJ Abrams, James Wood, Keibert Ruiz, Luis García Jr. and Jacob Young are important pieces moving forward. Newcomers Juan Yepez, Andrés Chaparro and José Tena will also get reps.

So where does that leave Nasim Nuñez?

The 23-year-old infielder, who the Nationals selected with the fifth pick of last year’s Rule 5 Draft, has been with the team all season. As part of his Rule 5 status, he has to remain on the major league roster all season or else be offered back to his original club, the Marlins.

But Nuñez has only played in 31 games this season, mostly as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement. He has only made six starts and played four complete games.

PHILADELPHIA – The Nationals needed a win today. Entering this finale against the Phillies, they were losers of four straight and five of their last six. They were also in danger of suffering their eighth sweep of the season, fifth on the road.

It took a total team effort to finally get that elusive win. But they got it as the Nationals escaped Citizens Bank Park with a 6-4 victory in front of 40,677 fans, thanks to Jacob Young’s late sacrifice fly and James Wood’s first pulled home run.

“We put together some good at-bats late," said manager Davey Martinez after the win. "Jacob battling to get a sac fly. And then freakin' Wood crushing a ball. Everybody talks about, 'Pull the ball.' He pulled that one. That's what he can do. He stayed on the ball really well, got his hands through and he smoked it.”

Facing left-handed reliever Matt Strahm, the Nationals loaded the bases in the eighth with a single to left, walk and bunt single. With one out, Young stepped to the plate and surprisingly didn’t square around for the safety squeeze.

Instead, the center fielder swung away and made enough contact on a sinker high above the zone to score the go-ahead run.

PHILADELPHIA – The Nationals need to get their offense going in Sunday’s finale against the Phillies. Over the first three games of this four-game series, they’ve been outscored 21-6 and outhit 37-21.

As has been the case for most of this season, the offense goes as CJ Abrams goes. And right now, the young shortstop is struggling at the plate.

“He's been in a little bit of a funk, hitting-wise,” manager Davey Martinez said of Abrams during his pregame session with the media. “I really believe he's trying to do too much, I really do. So we gotta get him to calm down a little bit. And like I said, he's really good when he's another guy who stays left-center, right-center, and not try to do a whole lot.”

Since his participation in his first All-Star Game, Abrams is slashing .165/.234/.268 with a .502 OPS, 12 runs, four doubles, two home runs, 11 RBIs, seven stolen bases, five walks and 22 strikeouts. He entered the break with a .268 average. He enters today with a .246 average.

Abrams is also striking out 20.6 percent of the time in the second half.

PHILADELPHIA – MacKenzie Gore needed some sign of encouragement in his 25th start. If he wasn’t already, the young left-hander was nearing a point of his season spiraling out of control.

Gore was fantastic through the first two months of his second campaign with the Nationals. Through his first 11 starts, he was 4-4 with a 2.91 ERA, numbers worthy of his first All-Star selection.

But as the calendar flipped to June, his results turned south. Over his last 13 starts, Gore is 3-6 with a 6.02 ERA to raise his season ERA to 4.50 entering tonight’s outing against the Phillies.

For five innings, Gore’s results were much better. But as it has too often lately, one bad inning derailed the whole outing leading to a Nationals loss, this time by a score of 5-1 in front of 43,356 fans at Citizens Bank Park.

Whatever Gore worked on with the Nats coaching staff during Wednesday’s bullpen session, it was working through five frames. Gore relied heavily on his four-seam fastball, throwing it half of the time, and then used a steady mix of his slider, changeup and curveball to get through five innings with one run and four hits.

PHILADELPHIA – The Nationals figured they were going to need bullpen help after seven relievers combined to cover almost 10 innings over the last two games. They just didn’t figure an injury would also creep up on one of their most trusted relief pitchers.

Right-hander Derek Law landed on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with a right elbow flexor strain, while left-hander Robert Garcia was placed on the bereavement list. To fill their spots in the ‘pen, the Nats selected the contract of left-hander Joe La Sorsa and recalled right-hander Joan Adon from Triple-A Rochester.

Law’s injury comes after he pitched an important scoreless eighth inning last night on 12 pitches to give the Nats a chance to rally in the ninth. The right-hander said he was supposed to go back out for the ninth of a newly tied game, but he and the Nationals decided it wasn’t a good idea with his elbow bothering him, leading to closer Kyle Finnegan coming in and surrendering the game-winning run without recording an out.

“Well, personally, I don't think it's really an injury. I feel pretty good,” Law said by his locker in the Nats clubhouse before tonight’s game. “Like today, I feel like I could throw. It's just kind of when I get up to the max-effort level for the last two weeks, I kinda have been grinding through it.

“The elbow has just been kind of barking. I think it's the flexor area. Honestly, it kind of came up during that rain game. When I was throwing, it was just soaking wet. I kind of felt something in there and I was just battling through it for a little bit. And finally, it just caught up yesterday. I was supposed to go back out for that ninth and I came in, not that there was no way I could do it, but I just didn't think it was the right decision to go back out there and do that. So I think just a little time off. Sadly, it has to be 15 days. I think I probably only need five or six, maybe seven. But I'll take my time, get right and be back in September.”

PHILADELPHIA – When the Nationals were asked earlier this year what more did James Wood have to prove in the minor leagues to earn his first promotion to the majors, the answer was always the same: They wanted him to hit left-handed pitching better.

Well, Wood did just that in his 52 games with Triple-A Rochester. In 53 plate appearances against lefties, Wood went 15-for-46 with a double, five home runs (half his total), 12 RBIs and seven walks. That added up to a .326/.415/.674 slash line and 1.089 OPS.

He was ready for his call-up.

Then the question was whether or not he could continue that pace. Would the improvements he made translate to the big league level? Or would major league southpaws prove to still be tough for the 21-year-old top prospect?

Forty games and 169 plate appearances into his major league career, we may have our answer.

PHILADELPHIA – No matter what the Nationals did on the mound tonight, they had to get more production at the plate. Even on a good pitching night, three runs is usually not enough to beat this daunting Phillies lineup that scored 13 last night.

The Phillies entered tonight averaging 7.0 runs per game over 47 games against the Nats since the nightcap of a doubleheader on July 29, 2021. So without an absolute gem from the Nats pitching staff, the offense would need to score a lot more.

After suffering through six strong innings from Zack Wheeler last night, the Nats had the pleasure of facing Aaron Nola in the second game of this four-game set. Although they had more chances against this veteran right-hander and their own pitchers did a much better job containing the Phillies hitters, the results looked similar. That was until the ninth inning, when the Nats rallied to score two runs to tie the game.

That rally was in vain, though, because the Phillies scored the walk-off run in the bottom of the ninth to win 3-2 and send the boisterous crowd of 41,067 home happy.

Facing closer Kyle Finnegan, Brandon Marsh, who came in as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth, hit a deep single to right field. But Alex Call’s throwing error allowed him to reach second easily. Then pinch-hitter Cal Stevenson put down a perfect bunt that wasn’t fielded by Finnegan nor third baseman José Tena due to some miscommunication in a loud Citizens Bank Park.

PHILADELPHIA – With Alex Call’s resurgence at the plate since his call-up from Triple-A Rochester, Nationals manager Davey Martinez has toyed with the idea of platooning him and CJ Abrams in the leadoff spot.

The right-handed Call would lead off against left-handed starting pitchers and the lefty Abrams would lead off against righties.

But tonight, Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola provides the rare exception to that rule. Call will lead off with Abrams hitting second as Martinez tries to exploit Nola’s breaking ball: a knuckle curve he throws 31.8 percent of the time.

“Nola has been tough,” Martinez said during his pregame media session. “He's got the good breaking ball. Alex works good at-bats. See if we can get him on base for the other guys up there. But this is just one of those rarities. I do like Alex against lefties up there. But this is one guy that I really feel like the righties could have a little bit better chance just because of that big breaking ball and big changeup he has.”

Nola is 11-6 with a 3.60 ERA and 1.147 WHIP in 24 starts. But he has almost even batting average splits against righties and lefties. In fact, right-handed hitters are getting on-base at a slightly better rate (.288) than left-handers (.284).

PHILADELPHIA – The Nationals have made progress this year, no doubt.

For the most part, the young pitching staff has made strides. CJ Abrams was an All-Star. Jacob Young is the favorite to win the National League Gold Glove Award in center field. Luis García Jr. and Keibert Ruiz are having strong second halves. And a crop of newly acquired young talent is getting their shot at the major league level.

Plus, the Nats now boast a top-five farm system, per Baseball America, that has depth at the lower levels of the minor leagues and top prospects nearing their big league debuts.

But although they were on pace to eclipse their 71 wins from last year for much of this season, after last night’s brutal 13-3 loss to the Phillies they have the same record after 122 games as they had in 2023: 55-67.

And last night’s loss underscored the next step the Nats need to take to get where they want to be.

PHILADELPHIA – Mitchell Parker has been the Nationals’ biggest surprise this season. Entering the year, he was a middle-of-the-pack prospect who was called upon to make his major league debut three weeks into the season.

And here he is in mid-August with the second-best ERA in the Nats rotation. That was, however, until tonight.

Parker entered his 22nd major league start with a 3.83 ERA after allowing just two earned runs (four total) in 17 ⅓ innings over his last three starts. But he had yet to face the dangerous bats in the Phillies lineup during his rookie campaign.

The results in the first matchup weren’t pretty as the young left-hander was knocked around over three-plus innings and the Nats defense played sloppy in an eventual 13-3 rout at the hands of a division rival.

"As we talked about earlier today," manager Davey Martinez said after the loss, "two things that can't happen: We can't give away outs and we can't make pitching mistakes. Today, we did both.”

PHILADELPHIA – José Tena has returned to the Nationals lineup for tonight’s series opener against the Phillies after missing the two-game set against the Orioles with a thumb injury.

The 23-year-old infielder, who the Nats acquired from the Guardians in the Lane Thomas trade, couldn’t handle a sharp grounder hit right at him in the fourth inning of Sunday’s loss to the Angels. He was struck while trying to turn a double play and had to depart the game with a towel wrapped around his bleeding right thumb.

X-rays were negative, with no broken bones, but the cut on Tena’s thumb was significant enough to keep the young third baseman out of the lineup for the two games in Baltimore.

But now Tena, who became the first player in franchise history with a walk-off hit in his team debut on Saturday, returns to the field at third base while batting eighth at Citizens Bank Park.

“He's good. He's gonna play today,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame meeting with the media. “He felt better yesterday, so he's in the lineup today. We'll see how he does.”

BALTIMORE – The Nationals have not yet closed the gap with the Orioles that has existed for multiple seasons now. One of these teams is headed for its second straight October appearance. The other is spending the next seven weeks identifying which players will be part of a team attempting to win in 2025 and which players will not.

But the gap is shrinking, and the four head-to-head matchups between the two interleague rivals this year underscored that. After getting swept by Baltimore last season and scoring a grand total of one run in the process, the Nats split the Battle of the Beltways this season and actually outscored their opponents by five runs along the way.

Tonight’s finale was right there for the taking, as well, and could’ve given the Nationals their first series victory over the Orioles since 2018. But a lack of offense doomed them on a night when DJ Herz pitched well but took a hard-luck, 4-1 loss at Camden Yards.

Herz allowed just two runs over six strong innings, both runs scoring on one swing in the bottom of the first. His teammates couldn’t match those numbers, though, one night after busting out for nine runs on 15 hits during a lopsided victory.

Tuesday’s big win, coupled with a 3-0 victory back in May in D.C., allowed the Nationals to go 2-2 against Baltimore for the season. And the two losses were highly competitive: a 7-6, 12-inning loss in May, then tonight’s tightly contested affair.

BALTIMORE – Davey Martinez gathered his entire coaching staff together on the Nationals’ off-day and told the group he had an announcement to make: Every one of them was being invited back for the 2025 season.

Prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Orioles, all of them – pitching coach Jim Hickey, hitting coach Darnell Coles, bench coach Miguel Cairo, first base coach Gerardo Parra, third base coach Ricky Gutierrez, catching and strategy coach Henry Blanco, bullpen coach Ricky Bones, pitching strategist Sean Doolittle and assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson – signed their new contracts. And this afternoon, Martinez made it public, ensuring his full staff not only will return for another season but was made aware long before the current season ends.

“I really wanted to get it done now,” Martinez said. “This way, there’s a little bit of unity, and all the guys know they’ll be back, instead of doing it at the end of the year. I really feel like this is a good corps, and we work really good together. And they’re doing a great job with the kids. For me, it was important to get it done as soon as possible.”

This was a significant departure from the 2023 season, when Martinez (who signed his contract extension in late-August) didn’t make decisions on his coaches until October, making several changes to what had been a tight-knit staff.

With all of the current coaches on one-year deals, speculation had been growing there could be more changes coming this fall, most notably at the hitting coach position. Ultimately, Martinez – with the blessing of general manager Mike Rizzo and Nationals ownership – gave a vote of confidence to everyone, and didn’t make anyone – including the players – have to sweat out the season’s final seven weeks before learning who would be back in 2025.

BALTIMORE – Like most Maryland kids, James Wood grew up going to Orioles games at Camden Yards. And like most Maryland kids, he also grew up picking steamed blue crabs.

On Tuesday night, the Olney, Md., native got to relive both childhood memories in the Nationals’ 9-3 rout of the Orioles in Baltimore.

“It was definitely cool coming to Baltimore because, a lot of times, this is where I would watch games growing up,” Wood said after last night’s game. ”It was just a lot of fun out there. I was just enjoying it.”

What was not to enjoy? Wood finished his first game at Camden Yards 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored. His four hits had exit velocities of 99.5, 102.7, 105.8 and 105.9 mph to keep him in the 95th percentile in the major leagues.

After Wood started his night 4-for-4 – already his second four-hit performance in his first 37 big league games – his mom, Paula, tweeted a picture of a young James and his grandfather watching a game at Camden Yards.

BALTIMORE – In their season-long search for more offensive punch, the Nationals tonight found plenty of it from one key piece of their long-term plan and one unexpected new piece of the puzzle who might just play his way into the long-term plan if he keeps this up.

Behind the second four-hit night of James Wood’s young career and a record-setting three-double night from Andrés Chaparro in his major league debut, the Nats busted out at the plate during a 9-3 victory over the Orioles.

Facing a Baltimore pitching staff that held them to a grand total of 15 runs in their last nine head-to-head matchups, the Nationals put forth one of their best offensive showings in a while, their highest scoring output against the Orioles since May 22, 2021, when their lineup included Trea Turner, Juan Soto and Ryan Zimmerman.

The names involved tonight can’t come close to comparing to that trio, but given how inexperienced they are, who can say with any certainty what they will become when it’s all said and done?

Wood, the top-rated prospect in baseball not long ago, continued to hit the ball extremely hard with three singles and a double that all boasted an exit velocity of at least 99.5 mph. Chaparro, a power-hitting corner infielder stuck at Triple-A the last two seasons but acquired two weeks ago from the Diamondbacks for reliever Dylan Floro, put on the kind of power display the Nats have dreamed of getting all year from their first basemen.

BALTIMORE – As this season transitions from one of early dreams of a surprise run to one that’s still primarily focused on the future, the Nationals decided to make a pair of transactions today that will give them a chance to look at two more young players at the expense of veterans.

The Nats promoted first baseman Andrés Chaparro and reliever Orlando Ribalta from Triple-A Rochester prior to this evening’s series opener against the Orioles and cleared space for both by designating designated hitter Harold Ramírez and reliever Jordan Weems for assignment.

“We want to take a look at some of these young kids,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Both have done really well at Triple-A.”

Indeed, Chaparro and Ribalta have been knocking on the door, performing at a level worthy of consideration. Now each will get an opportunity to make his major league debut.

Acquired just two weeks ago at the trade deadline in a last-minute deal with the Diamondbacks for Dylan Floro, Chaparro went on a tear at the plate in 10 games with Rochester. The 200-pound corner infielder hit four homers with 10 RBIs, a .419 on-base percentage and 1.076 OPS, picking up right where he left off with Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno, where he batted .332 with 19 homers and 75 RBIs in 95 games.

He entered the season as the Nationals’ most promising, highest ceiling, young starter. And two months in, MacKenzie Gore was building himself a case for an All-Star selection and the designation of staff ace.

Two-plus months later, the Nats are left wondering what in the world happened to make Gore’s season devolve this much. And what they’re supposed to do about it now.

With another laborious, abbreviated start featuring a lack of command, an inability to put away hitters and one back-breaking hit, Gore was roughed up yet again and left the Nationals in a hole they tried to climb out of but ultimately could not in a 6-4 loss to the Angels.

The left-hander lasted only four innings, giving up five runs (albeit five unearned runs) while letting 11 batters reach base, six via walk. His bullpen only poured more fuel on the fire, the team ultimately issuing 13 total walks during the affair, establishing a club record for a game of any length.

"If one guy walks, or you get a guy in scoring position, you're trying not to give up that hit or that run. You put a lot of pressure on yourself," manager Davey Martinez said. "That's the only thing I can think of. You're forcing yourself to get the ball over the plate. And that's when all the balls start happening. We've got to focus on just getting to the next pitch, and focus on that one batter, not try to get ahead of ourselves." 

The Nationals have played their fair share of back-and-forth games this week. They saw six lead changes over their last four games, some of which included late-inning dramatics and extra frames.

And so here they were again having to battle through another one in their second matchup against the Angels. But although they saw an early lead change swing in their favor, they couldn’t keep the score of this one from flip-flopping. In the end, the Nats were able to come back for a 5-4 walk-off win in 10 innings in front of 22,183 fans at Nationals Park thanks to a new face.

After Derek Law kept it a 4-4 game with a scoreless top of the ninth while closer Kyle Finnegan was unavailable due to an increased workload over the past two games, the heart of the Nats order couldn’t provide a walk-off hit just yet.

So to extras we went yet again, the Nats’ third straight extra-inning game. Law returned to the mound and pitched a perfect 10th, stranding the automatic runner at third.

Because CJ Abrams was out of the starting lineup with a stiff upper back, he was available to pinch-run for Keibert Ruiz as the automatic runner. José Tena, an infield prospect from the Lane Thomas trade with the Guardians who was recalled from Triple-A Rochester before the game, stepped up as the first batter in the bottom of the 10th.