PHILADELPHIA – Josiah Gray came into his 20th start of the season tonight looking to rebound from a tough July and continue his success against the Phillies.

The right-hander posted a 6.75 ERA over five starts in July, capped off by allowing four runs in five innings Sunday against the Cardinals. He posted a 1.13 ERA in four June starts.

He also handled this Phillies lineup well the first two times facing it this season with ​​six shutout innings on June 18 and an 11-strikeout performance on July 6. 

Neither the rebound nor the Philly success presented itself tonight, as Gray was rocked by the Phillies en route to a 7-2 loss at Citizens Bank Park.

It started right from the get-go as Gray gave up three home runs in a single inning for the first time in his career. Rhys Hoskins, just as he did in his fist at-bat last night against Paolo Espino, hit the second offering from Gray (a 93 mph fastball up in the zone) for a solo home run to left field.

The big news of the day, of course, is Juan Soto and Josh Bell being dealt to the Padres in exchange for six players, including five top prospects. But the Nationals had to make other roster moves to both make room for incoming players and fill an active 26-man roster for tonight’s game against the Mets.

The flurry of moves: 

* Selected the contract of first baseman Joey Meneses from Triple-A Rochester
* Recalled outfielder Josh Palacios from Rochester
* Transferred left-hander Evan Lee to the 60-day injured list
* Designated left-hander Josh Rogers for assignment
* Optioned shortstop C.J. Abrams to Triple-A Rochester

Abrams, one of the top prospects coming to the Nationals organization in today’s trade, was the both the Padres’ No. 1 prospect and the No. 9 prospect in all of baseball entering this season, according to both Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com.

He made San Diego’s opening day roster and his major league debut this season, starting the second game of the season at shortstop. He hit .232 with five doubles, two home runs, 11 RBIs, four walks, one stolen base and 16 runs scored in 45 games across two major league stints with the Padres.

PHOENIX – As he made his way back from a left shoulder impingement, Josh Rogers probably figured he’d be back on the Nationals roster as soon as he was deemed healthy, whether in their rotation or their bullpen.

Instead, a healthy Rogers now finds himself in the rotation at Triple-A Rochester. Though they formally activated him off the 15-day injured list Friday, the Nats also optioned Rogers to the minors, deciding not to put him in the big leagues for now.

That decision, manager Davey Martinez said, was made because the club both wants Rogers to work on some specific things but also wants to make sure he gets regular work as a starter in case a need does arise at the major league level.

“I know he wanted to develop a changeup. He’s working on a different breaking ball,” Martinez said. “But more so than anything, it’s to keep him stretched out. I think we’ve got to keep him stretched out. The more starters we can have in the minor leagues, the better we’re going to be here in the long run. We’ve got to keep an eye on innings with some of our guys. You just don’t know what’s going to happen down the road. So we want to keep him stretched out.”

The Nationals rotation, at the moment, consists of veterans Patrick Corbin, Aníbal Sánchez and Paolo Espino, plus Erick Fedde and Josiah Gray. In Gray’s case, there is the possibility the organization shuts him down at some point out of concern for his workload in his first full big league season. That could open the door for Rogers to return.

Cade Cavalli’s removal from Tuesday night’s start for Triple-A Rochester was for precautionary reasons, and the Nationals’ top pitching prospect appears to have avoided serious injury.

Cavalli came out of Rochester’s game against Omaha in the fourth inning after throwing a pitch and immediately motioning to the dugout. Red Wings manager Matthew LeCroy told Rochester-based reporter Dan Glickman the issue was with a finger on Cavalli’s throwing hand.

“He had a little thing on his finger,” LeCroy told Glickman. “It wasn’t really a blister, it was a little small piece of skin that got pulled off his finger. He wanted to keep going, but we thought it would be best not to. I think we got it at the right time, so I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.”

Cavalli had been dominating for a second straight start, allowing one unearned run while striking out six through 3 2/3 innings. This after he carried a perfect game into the sixth inning of his previous start. Over his last seven starts, the 2020 first round pick sports a 2.15 ERA, 0.850 WHIP and 43 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings.

Cavalli, along with Single-A Wilmington infielder Darren Baker, was selected to represent the Nationals in Saturday’s All-Star Futures Game at Dodger Stadium. His status for that exhibition is unclear at this point.

PHILADELPHIA – Though he was able to pinch-hit late in Monday’s loss to the Marlins and bring the Nationals Park crowd to its feet just by drawing a four-pitch walk, Juan Soto is not ready to return to the lineup quite yet.

Soto, who has been dealing with a tight left calf muscle since Sunday, still hasn’t been cleared to run. So he’s sitting out tonight’s series opener against the Phillies, with the possibility again he’ll come off the bench at some point if the situation calls for it.

“After talking to him last night, he felt better but it’s still sore,” manager Davey Martinez said. “So I didn’t want to chance it. We’ll let him try to get better. We’ll see where he’s at. I know he’s going to take some swings later on, and we’ll see what’s going on. But I just wanted to give him another day, and hopefully tomorrow he can get back. We’ll do some running drills with him and see how he feels.”

Despite some initial fear the injury was serious, Soto was relieved to learn Sunday night an MRI showed no strain of the muscle. He figured it would be a day-to-day process to return to play, but after taking swings in the cage during Monday’s game he confirmed he felt well enough to pinch-hit.

The crowd roared with anticipation as Soto emerged from the dugout to pinch-hit for Victor Robles with two on and one out in the eighth inning of a 1-1 game. He then drew a four-pitch walk off Zach Pop, shuffling after a couple pitches and staring down the Marlins reliever following ball four.

The Nationals pitching staff has stabilized somewhat over the last two weeks, thanks to mostly quality performances from starters and thus fewer innings asked of the bullpen. But if and when more reinforcements are needed, several pitchers are inching closer to return from injury.

Aníbal Sánchez is scheduled to make his second rehab start for Triple-A Rochester tonight in the Red Wings’ series finale against Worcester. The 38-year-old right-hander last pitched Tuesday, lasting only 2 2/3 innings while throwing 61 pitches (only 34 strikes).

The Nationals, obviously, want to see more efficiency from Sánchez, who has been out since opening day with a cervical nerve impingement in his neck, allowing him to go deeper in the game. They’re targeting four innings for him.

“He says he’s going to go more,” manager Davey Martinez said with a look of skepticism in his eye. “We’ll see.”

As with Sánchez, the Nats want to see better results from Josh Rogers when he makes his second rehab start for Rochester later this week on the road at Lehigh Valley. The lefty, out since June 3 with an impingement in his shoulder, was roughed up for seven runs in 3 2/3 innings Thursday, serving up three homers.

Davey Martinez knew Luis García wasn’t going to play every day. Though the Nationals manager made it clear the 22-year-old would be his starting shortstop upon his promotion from Triple-A Rochester at the beginning of the month, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t get a day off at some point.

And that day is today, with García on the bench for the second game of this series against the Pirates, with Alcides Escobar getting the nod at shortstop for the first time in four weeks.

García had started all 25 of the Nationals’ games since his June 1 promotion, and he’s performed quite well at the plate, batting .337 with eight doubles, a triple, two homers, 11 RBIs and an .847 OPS across 101 plate appearances.

On the heels of a 3-for-4, two-double showing Monday night, it might sound illogical for García to get tonight’s game off. But Martinez had this planned for a while, a product of the Nats’ schedule, which includes Wednesday’s 1:05 p.m. series finale before the team’s off-day Thursday.

“So it gives him a few days (of rest), even though he’s available today if we need him,” the manager said. “He’s been playing well. He’s been playing a lot. And we’ve got to remember, he played every day at Triple-A as well before he got here. So I thought today would be a good day, and get Escobar some at-bats.”

The Nationals returned from a five-game road trip and made a quick roster move before beginning a seven-game homestand tonight against the Pirates.

They recalled left-hander Sam Clay from Triple-A Rochester and optioned fellow southpaw Francisco Perez to Rochester, bringing in a fresh lefty arm for the bullpen. Perez’s demotion comes after he allowed three runs without recording an out in the ninth inning of yesterday’s finale against the Rangers, forcing manager Davey Martinez to call upon Tanner Rainey to close out the 6-4 win.

“Look, this game, as you know, we have to make tough decisions,” Martinez said of the move during his pregame session with the media. “But (Perez) had an outing yesterday, faced a couple of batters and got hit hard. So we just want him to go down and continue to get some work in. We brought Sam up, give him an opportunity. As you know, we're short on lefties in the bullpen. And we're always searching, we're always looking. So Sam has been pitching well down there. So we're gonna give him an opportunity to pitch up here. But that's not to say that we won't see Francisco again. He's gonna go down there and just continue to work.”

Clay went 1-2 with a 3.10 ERA, 20 strikeouts and seven walks in 21 relief appearances for Rochester. He tossed scoreless outings of relief in 17 of the 21 appearances with the Red Wings. The 29-year-old has given up five runs in four innings over five appearances with the Nats this season.

Perez, 24, posted a 7.27 ERA across 10 relief appearances for the Nats.

BALTIMORE – Though none of them are ready to return yet, several rehabbing Nationals pitchers are moving closer to rejoining the active roster, a potential boon for an overworked staff this summer.

Mason Thompson began a rehab assignment for Triple-A Rochester today and tossed a scoreless inning, with a strikeout during the frame. The right-hander, out since mid-April with a biceps strain, is scheduled to make several more minor league appearances to build his arm up but could be added to the bullpen as soon as he reaches that point.

Sean Doolittle, meanwhile, has been throwing from 120 feet, a significant progression as he attempts to return from an elbow sprain suffered in late April after making only five appearances. The veteran lefty seems to be benefitting from the effects of a platelet-rich plasma injection he received last month, though he still needs to throw off a mound before knowing he’s on the full road to recovery.

“He says he feels really good,” manager Davey Martinez said today, “which is great.”

Aníbal Sánchez and Josh Rogers are now in West Palm Beach, Fla., throwing to live hitters. Sánchez, out since opening day with a nerve impingement in his neck, pitched two innings for the organization’s Rookie-level club and could head out to join one of the higher-level minor league affiliates soon to build up his pitch count before potentially coming off the 60-day injured list.

As soon as it was placed on the schedule, this was always a possibility. You just have to hope that everything goes well leading up to it.

Once Major League Baseball released the updated 2022 schedule after the first week of the regular season was canceled due to the lockout, the Nationals must have circled this weekend on their calendar.

One of the two games against the Phillies that was originally scheduled for early April was rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader on Friday, the back end of an 11-game homestand over 10 days. Not to mention it’s Ryan Zimmerman Weekend at Nationals Park.

So yeah, a long weekend.

On the field, the Nationals need help for and from their pitching staff to get through these next five games.

The Nationals have already had a rough start to the week with Stephen Strasburg’s injury news, a worn out bullpen and three straight losses at home, including the first two games of this three-game set against the Braves. The last thing they need is for their best player to miss time due to a freak injury in the dugout.

But that’s exactly what they have as Juan Soto is not in the starting lineup for the second straight game after slipping in the dugout and banging his right knee on the corner of a bench in the eighth inning of Monday night’s game.

Soto was seen in the Nationals clubhouse before batting practice walking around with a slight limp in his step. He was going to test it out in the cage before making a decision on whether or not he would play, even though he told manager Davey Martinez he’s feeling better.

“He says he feels better, but we'll see,” Martinez said during his pregame session with the media before a starting lineup was announced.

What do the Nationals want to see Soto do before putting him back in the field?

CINCINNATI – There was a good amount of pregame news ahead of the Nationals’ second game against the Reds at Great American Ball Park. Some were baseball related. Some were more important than baseball.

Starting on the diamond, the Nationals made a handful of roster moves before today’s game. They recalled right-hander Andres Machado from Triple-A Rochester and placed left-hander Josh Rogers on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement, leaving no lefties in the bullpen for tonight.

Machado rejoins the Nats for his third stint this season, in which he has a 5.40 ERA with 10 strikeouts and seven walks in 12 appearances. Rogers has a 5.13 ERA in 16 games (three starts) with the Nats and was charged with two runs after serving up a three-run home run to Kyle Farmer while only recording two outs last night.

“He went on the IL with a little bit of impingement in his left shoulder. So we'll see,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame media session. “He's gonna get an MRI tomorrow and we'll see how he's doing tomorrow. But we brought in Machado to fill that void as well.”

Martinez mentioned yesterday that lefty Evan Lee could be used out of the ‘pen on his bullpen day, but that isn’t until tomorrow. So how will the skipper use his relievers without a southpaw?

CINCINNATI – Surely the Nationals offense will break out of its funk and score some runs tonight, right?

Since their 6-5 win over the Rockies on Sunday – their fourth victory of their previous five games – the Nats have been outscored 36-6 in four straight losses this week.

They’ll get their shot at 10-year veteran Mike Minor on Friday at Great American Ball Park. The 34-year-old is making his Reds debut after being acquired from the Royals for Amir Garrett in March. Minor is 3-3 with a 4.47 ERA in 11 career starts against the Nationals, all of which came between 2010 and 2014, when he was with the Braves.

The Nats have been kept quiet by right-handed starting pitchers this week, so maybe facing a lefty will bring different results. They do have a slightly better average against southpaws this year, hitting .253 to rank fifth in the National League.

Josiah Gray will get to face the team that selected him in the second round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft for the first time. The young right-hander didn’t fare so well when he faced his other former team, the Dodgers, for the first time last week, giving up seven runs in just three innings of work. After the game, Gray said he let his emotions get the best of him, but was looking forward to facing the Reds for the first time. We’ll see if he can keep his emotions in check tonight.

Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer (not in tonight’s lineup after going 2-for-4 with a three-run home run last night) arrived in Cincinnati in the trade that sent Gray to Los Angeles in December 2018. They are the only two major league players currently active from that six-player deal.

The Nationals have recalled Andres Machado from Triple-A Rochester and placed Josh Rogers on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement. So manager Davey Martinez has no left-handers in his bullpen tonight, with Evan Lee’s bullpen day not until tomorrow.

Congratulations to Dee Strange-Gordon and his wife, Jojo, who welcomed the couple’s second child this morning. They named their son Dash, a fitting name for the son of a speedy utility player. Former Nationals speedster Trea Turner also used “Dash” as a nickname for his firstborn son, Beckham.

The Nationals will place Strange-Gordon on the paternity list and will make another roster move this afternoon.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CINCINNATI REDS
Where: Great American Ball Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 79 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left-center field

NATIONALS
2B Cesár Hernández
LF Lane Thomas
RF Juan Soto
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Josh Bell
3B Maikel Franco
C Riley Adams
SS Luis García
CF Victor Robles

RHP Josiah Gray

REDS
CF Nick Senzel
3B Brandon Drury
LF Tommy Pham
1B Joey Votto
C Tyler Stephenson
DH Mike Moustakas
RF Albert Almora Jr.
2B Alejo Lopez
SS Matt Reynolds

LHP Mike Minor

NEW YORK – The Nationals sent Erick Fedde to the mound at Citi Field tonight, first and foremost, in an attempt to win their series opener against the Mets. They also sent Fedde out there, second and furthermore, in an attempt to get enough innings from their starter to help set the stage for the rest of the series, knowing they need somebody to make a spot start Wednesday afternoon.

If Fedde – and Patrick Corbin on Tuesday – could provide enough depth to keep the bullpen from being overworked, manager Davey Martinez could then use long men Paolo Espino and Josh Rogers in tandem on Wednesday, negating the need to summon an inexperienced minor league starter for one game.

It took less than two innings tonight for that hopeful plan to go up in flames.

Fedde was rocked by the Mets for six runs and eight hits in only 1 1/3 innings, setting the Nationals on a runaway path toward a lopsided 13-5 loss and leaving the organization in an unenviable position as it now tries to figure out who’s going to pitch the next several days.

"It's brutal," the right-hander said. "It lets the whole team down. If anything, if you're able to at least go six (innings) and give up a bunch of runs, you put the team in a better position going forward. But today was just really unacceptable in a sense. I feel bad for the guys in the bullpen. I put them behind the 8-ball probably for the next week or so."

The late postponement of the game made for an annoying Friday night for everyone who had already gathered at Nationals Park and had to turn around and head home. It also created a new annoyance for the Nats, who must figure out how to fill out their rotation over the next week to account for today’s doubleheader.

Teams have the ability to promote a 27th player from the minors for doubleheader games and often elect to call up a spot starter for one of the two games. In this case, the Nationals elected to promote reliever Andres Machado and have him available for both games.

Machado opened the season in the Nationals bullpen and posted a 2.45 ERA in 10 appearances, but was optioned to Triple-A Rochester once rosters had to be reduced from 28 to 26 at the end of April. He had less success with the Red Wings, allowing five runs and nine hits in seven innings since the demotion, but his experience and ability to provide more than one inning if needed made him the choice for today’s promotion.

“He’s been throwing the ball well,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Based on what we think (the Rockies’) lineup will be, and the righties they have, if we needed someone, we wanted to get a right-handed pitcher up here that can give us multiple innings.”

Aaron Sanchez, who had begun to warm up before Friday night’s game was postponed, said he was good to start today’s first game. Joan Adon will pitch tonight as originally planned. And Josiah Gray will remain on a normal schedule and start Sunday’s series finale.

DENVER – Josh Rogers is the only left-hander in the Nationals bullpen right now, a product of Sean Doolittle’s elbow injury and the inconsistent performances of Sam Clay and Francisco Pérez, which resulted in the recent demotion of both relievers to Triple-A Rochester.

Rogers is pitching out of the bullpen for the first time in his career, having been moved out of the rotation because of his struggles there. So all this is new for the 27-year-old.

If there’s one thing the Nats want from Rogers in this role, though, it’s for him to consistently get left-handed batters out. And in that regard, he’s been excellent. Lefties are a measly 1-for-21 against him this season, equating to a miniscule .048 batting average.

Rogers is not, however, the old-fashioned left-handed relief specialist from days of yore. With all relievers now required to face three batters (or finish an inning), he has no choice but to square off with some right-handed batters as well. And the results have not been pretty: Righties are batting a robust .327 (16-for-49) off him.

Three of those 16 hits have been home runs, including the killer, three-run shot Brendan Rodgers produced at a critical moment during Thursday’s 9-7 loss to the Rockies.

DENVER – For 48 hours, the Nationals experienced Coors Field like they’d never experienced it before. Quality pitching. Quick games. No late-inning drama. Nothing about the first two games of their series against the Rockies felt typical for this unique baseball setting.

Ah, but you can’t leave the Mile High City without experiencing the true Coors Field at least once. And sure enough, today’s sun-splashed series finale provided a far more typical affair.

It took 3 hours, 25 minutes to play 8 1/2 innings. It featured five combined homers. And it ended in a 9-7 loss to the Rockies that was defined both by the Nationals’ inability to keep the ball in the yard and their inability to do the little things right.

"Two costly mistakes," manager Davey Martinez lamented.

Those two mistakes each resulted in a three-run homer, with Garrett Hampson taking starter Aaron Sanchez deep to left in the second and Brendan Rodgers taking reliever Josh Rogers deep to center in the fifth.

SAN FRANCISCO – The Nationals are off today, with an opportunity to relax in Denver and contemplate all the positive developments that occurred during their weekend series triumph over the Giants before they open a three-game series Tuesday with the Rockies.

Let’s take a moment to contemplate some things as well, with a particular emphasis on the bullpen …

* Following Sunday’s 11-5 victory, the Nationals optioned relievers Sam Clay and Francisco Pérez to Triple-A Rochester. All major league clubs were required to reduce their active rosters from 28 to 26 by the end of the day, and the Nats chose to drop two left-handers in the process.

The moves weren’t necessarily surprising. Neither Clay nor Pérez made the opening day roster. Both were summoned more recently when other relievers went down. And neither did a whole lot to distinguish himself and force his way onto the roster for a longer stint.

Clay allowed five runs in four innings, giving up a homer, walking two and even hitting three batters along the way. Pérez was charged with only one run allowed over 4 1/3 innings, but he walked a whopping six of the 22 total batters he faced across five appearances.

After the Nationals wrap up a 10-game homestand with today’s afternoon finale against the Marlins, they will board a plane to embark on a nine-game road trip out west.

First stop: San Francisco, to face a familiar foe in the Giants.

The Giants just swept a three-game series in D.C. last weekend, so the Nats will look to start their three-city road trip with some revenge by the Bay.

Manager Davey Martinez announced this morning he will be sticking with his regular rotation from the past week to lead his club on the mound this weekend, with Aaron Sanchez, Joan Adon and Josiah Gray scheduled to start the three games against the Giants.

As Martinez mentioned last week, Sanchez will get another chance to start after making his Nationals debut Saturday, also against the Giants, in which he gave up four runs and six hits over 4 1/3 innings. While that line doesn’t jump off the page, Sanchez did retire nine straight between the second and fourth innings. 

It’s been noted more than once over the last week that only two members of the Nationals lineup have consistently been producing: Juan Soto and Josh Bell. It’s probably time to add a third name to that list: Yadiel Hernandez.

Hernandez hasn’t played as much as the other regular members of the lineup, but the 34-year-old outfielder is earning more playing time because of his bat. After homering, singling and driving in all three of the Nats runs during Sunday’s loss to the Giants, he now sports a .333 batting average, .a 485 slugging percentage and an .846 OPS that actually outpaces Soto’s .841 mark at the moment.

“He can hit,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I’ve always said that. He’s got a good swing.”

Hernandez’s two-run homer was an opposite-field blast that landed in the visitors’ bullpen at Nationals Park, the kind of swing that has always intrigued club officials about him since they signed him in 2016 after he fled Cuba.

He hasn’t shown that power stroke a ton, but he has totaled 11 homers in 353 major league plate appearances since debuting late in the 2020 season.