PHILADELPHIA – Whatever happened in the final innings of tonight’s game at Citizens Bank Park, whether the Nationals hung on to beat the Phillies or suffered yet another loss in soul-crushing fashion, they knew they could walk off the field having seen two of their most important young building blocks thrive on a big stage.

What Josiah Gray did on the mound over six dominant innings and Luis García did at the plate in the top of the seventh mattered more in the big picture to this franchise than the outcome of the 84th game of this miserable season.

That the Nationals did proceed to hang on for a 3-2 win behind a strong bullpen performance only sweetened the deal.

In this season of development, Gray’s career-high 11 strikeouts over six innings of two-run ball were reason to celebrate. As was García’s clutch, two-run double to center off Aaron Nola in the top of the seventh, which turned a one-run deficit into a one-run lead and represented one of the most significant hits of the 22-year-old’s brief career.

"For us in the clubhouse, specifically, it's a lot of fun to see the younger guys contribute like that," Gray said. "It lets you know that brighter days are obviously ahead. And from the fan perspective, I'm sure they can bank on that was a really fun night of baseball for the young guys to contribute. ... For all of D.C. and Nats fan, I think it was a fun night of baseball."

The Nationals just completed a seven-game homestand, one that featured all sorts of twists and turns. It began with two straight wins over the Pirates, giving them six wins over an eight-game stretch and giving everyone reason to feel optimistic for the first time in a while. Then it concluded with five straight losses, the last four to the Marlins, who came to town and ransacked the home club over the holiday weekend.

As they now prepare for what looks like a difficult, six-game road trip to Philadelphia and Atlanta, let’s look back at the homestand, breaking it down between the good, the bad and the ugly …

GOOD: JOSH BELL
It doesn’t matter how poorly the team is playing, Josh Bell continues to shine on an individual level. The big first baseman went 11-for-26 on the homestand. Include the big weekend he had just prior to that in Texas, and he’s 18 for his last 38 (a .474 average) with nine extra-base hits, four walks, a .535 on-base percentage and .789 slugging percentage. For the season, Bell is now batting .318 with a .399 on-base percentage (both second best in the National League behind Paul Goldschmidt) and a .913 OPS that ranks fourth (behind Goldschmidt, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado). All-Star rosters are going to be announced at the end of the week. It’s hard to see how Bell doesn’t get his first career selection at this point.

BAD: THE REST OF THE LINEUP
The Nationals as a whole had a dismal weekend at the plate. In getting swept by the Marlins, they hit a measly .194 with a brutal .295 slugging percentage. The lack of power outside of Bell is killing them. The lack of clutch hitting from just about everyone is causing just as much damage. They were no-hit for six innings Sunday by Pablo López. Then they were shut out for seven innings Monday by Braxton Garrett. The worst realization of all: The Nats just lost four straight to Miami, with a feeble offensive performance, and they never even had to go up against ace and early Cy Young Award favorite Sandy Alcantara.

UGLY: ROTATION DEPTH
Just when it looked like they had settled on five quality starters, the Nationals saw Jackson Tetreault succumb to a stress fracture in his right scapula, an injury that figures to sideline the rookie for some time. Which means they need a replacement starter Thursday in Philadelphia. Except the options aren’t all that appealing. Aníbal Sánchez and Josh Rogers likely aren’t ready to be activated off the injured list, needing more time to build their arms up in rehab starts. Cade Cavalli seems to still need to prove he can have consistent success at Triple-A before the organization calls him up, hopefully for good. Joan Adon may be the only remaining choice at this point.

There was a no-hit bid by Pablo López, who still had zeros on the board entering the seventh. There was a quality start by Erick Fedde, who limited the damage and gave his team a chance. There was the sight of Juan Soto departing the game after four innings with a left calf injury. There was an inspiring rally in the bottom of the seventh to end López’s no-hit bid and tie the game, then a go-ahead homer by Josh Bell in the bottom of the eighth to put the Nationals on the precipice of a long-awaited victory over the Marlins.

Then there was the top of the ninth, with Tanner Rainey one strike away from closing it out but surrendering a two-run homer to Jesús Sánchez to blow the save and put Miami on the precipice of victory.

But then there was the bottom of the ninth, with Victor Robles delivering the unlikely two-out RBI single to left that tied the game and forced extra innings of a ballgame that left anyone watching in person or from afar physically and emotionally exhausted.

All of which made the Marlins' three-run rally in the top of the 10th en route to a 7-4 win as big a letdown as the Nationals have experienced throughout this frustrating season. They could've lost for the 11th time in 12 games against Miami, the 52nd time in 81 games overall, in uninspired fashion. Instead, they sucked everyone in and made them believe, only to pull the rug out and leave a crowd of 25,385 stunned and downtrodden.

"I think I wear it a lot more sometimes than they do, because I want these guys all to succeed," manager Davey Martinez said. "And it's tough when I see them not. But I've got to make sure that tomorrow I pat them on the back and say: 'That's one game. We've got so many more left. Keep doing what you've been doing.' "

In the big picture, the results have been there for Tanner Rainey this season. The Nationals closer owns a 2.88 ERA and 11 saves, including four straight conversions. He’s been unscored upon in 20 of his 25 appearances.

So why does it feel like more of a roller coaster than that when Rainey enters for the ninth inning? Because he’s putting guys on base, especially via walk, and often forcing himself to have to pitch out of jams.

Rainey hasn’t enjoyed a 1-2-3 inning of relief since May 26, a span of 11 outings. He had six of them in his first 14 appearances this season.

Walks are frequently the issue, especially when the Nationals lead by more than one run. He’s issued five of them over his last 7 1/3 innings.

“Understand the score of the game. Understand what we’re trying to do,” manager Davey Martinez said. “There’s times and situations where he feels like a walk won’t hurt him, because he knows the next guy he can get out. I tell him: ‘When you get out there, it’s three quick outs. Don’t worry about (anything else).’ He’s got to understand, we’re up two. He’s just got to attack hitters, try to keep them off base. But he’s learning. Closing’s not easy, as we all know.”

Through it all, through the awful starts, the mediocre starts and the hard-luck starts, Davey Martinez has stuck with Patrick Corbin. The Nationals manager has maintained throughout this three-year slump the one-time stalwart of a World Series pitching staff still had it in him, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.

Whether tonight represented a dramatic turning point or a mere blip on the radar against a weak opponent, we won’t know for a while. But for one late-June evening under an unseasonably mild D.C. summer sky, the lefty did still have it in him.

With a season-high 113 pitches and a career-high-matching 12 strikeouts, Corbin tossed eight innings of one-run ball, giving the Nats a chance to beat the Pirates. Now he just needed somebody with a bat in his hand to make it all worth it.

Enter Yadiel Hernandez. Summoned off the bench to pinch-hit for Alcides Escobar with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth, Hernandez drilled a two-run double to right to propel the Nationals to a 3-1 victory and extend this team’s sudden hot streak.

"Everyone tonight did a good job," Corbin said. "Defense behind me. (Tanner) Rainey came in and shut the door. And then we get a couple big runs there by Yadi late. It was huge."

BALTIMORE – Four days ago, the Nationals pitching staff – specifically the rotation – was a mess. A series of unfortunate events left Davey Martinez scrambling to find somebody to start each night, then a bunch of guys to come out of the bullpen after said starter failed to complete even four innings. It was, to put it mildly, an unsustainable situation.

And then Josiah Gray tossed six scoreless innings Saturday against the Phillies, and Jackson Tetreault tossed seven innings without allowing an earned run Sunday against the Phillies and now here was Erick Fedde walking off the mound at the end of the sixth tonight at Camden Yards with nothing but zeroes on the board.

Just like that, the worst rotation in the majors had authored not only three straight quality starts, but three straight starts without allowing an earned run. And that allowed the back end of Martinez’s bullpen to come into this game fresh and finish off what Fedde started, completing a 3-0 victory over the Orioles to open this two-game portion of the Battle of the Beltways.

"That's pretty impressive," Martinez said. "After everything we've been through, we come out today and the pitchers throw a shutout."

Some opportunistic early offense staked the Nats to a two-run lead, and though they certainly would’ve liked to take advantage of more scoring opportunities to add to that lead, they ultimately didn’t need it. (Though they happily accepted Lane Thomas’ tack-on homer in the top of the ninth.)

This weekend is about Ryan Zimmerman, no doubt. As the Nationals get ready to retire his No. 11 tomorrow, all eyes are on Mr. National, the first player in the team's history to be so honored.

Former teammates Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche, Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa lined the top of the visitor’s dugout for a pregame Q&A session hosted by MASN’s own Bob Carpenter in front of a gathering of season ticket holders before Zimmerman himself showed up for the later portion.

The real celebration is tomorrow, but it was a nice way to kick off the special weekend.

Then there was a baseball game to be played, with the Nationals looking to avoid the doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Phillies and snap a six-game losing streak in the process. They weren’t able to do so, losing 8-7 in 10 innings in front of 24,785 people in attendance for an unbelievably whacky nightcap.

Let’s fast-forward to the extra frame. Kyle Schwarber was the automatic runner at second base for the Phillies. Steve Cishek walked Rhys Hoskins to put a second runner on base. A 3-1 groundout by Nick Castellanos moved the runners into scoring position for J.T. Realmuto.

No team in the National League has hit fewer home runs than the Nationals, who entered today’s series finale with only 30 of them through the season’s first 48 games and lengthy individual power droughts by some of their biggest power hitters.

Through it all, manager Davey Martinez has been positive the homers will come, as hitters get their timing down, elevate the ball and take advantage of warmer summer weather.

And then on this warm, 80-degree Memorial Day Sunday afternoon on South Capitol Street, Martinez and the Nats began to see signs of it finally happening, most importantly from their most important hitter.

Juan Soto’s first homer since May 12, a span of 16 games, put the Nationals up early. And then Lane Thomas’ homer in the sixth provided some insurance they wound up needing to secure a 6-5 victory over the Rockies and a rare series win.

It got a bit hairy late, with Andres Machado allowing two runs in the seventh and Kyle Finnegan allowing two runs in the eighth before Tanner Rainey locked things down. But at the end of the day, the Nats took three of four from Colorado and four of five overall to end this homestand with their first series victory since late April in San Francisco, their first home series victory of the year.

The Nationals lineup did its part, jumping out to an early lead with a first-inning barrage of hits. Patrick Corbin did his part, producing a rare quality start and departing in the seventh inning with his team ahead.

All that stood between Corbin and his long-anticipated first win of the season was a Nats bullpen that needed some reconfiguring on this night.

With Kyle Finnegan presumably unavailable after pitching back-to-back days, manager Davey Martinez made the aggressive move to put closer Tanner Rainey on the mound to face the heart of the Rockies’ lineup in the eighth inning. And after Rainey retired the side, it was veteran Steve Cishek entrusted with the ninth, his team’s lead having just been padded to four runs.

There was no save in the end, but Cishek did finish off a satisfying 7-3 victory for the Nationals that finally got Corbin in the win column for the first time in 10 tries this year.

"It was going to come," Martinez said. "And I told him: 'Don't fight it. Don't worry about the wins and losses. It's going to come. Just keep pitching, keep doing what you're doing.' And tonight was a perfect example. He went out there and pitched well, kept us in the game. We scored some runs, and he got his first one out of the way."

The story of Wednesday’s 1-0 victory surely was the performance of the Nationals pitching staff, which became the first to shut out the Dodgers lineup in nine months. And specifically the Nats bullpen, which tossed three scoreless innings with zero margin for error and wound up stranding runners on base in each of those frames, including in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth.

It served as a reminder what this bullpen is capable of doing, when given the opportunity to be used as intended all along.

“I’ve said it before: We get some starting pitching, we get deep – deep to me is somewhere in that sixth inning or so – and we got the lead, our bullpen can hold us down,” manager Davey Martinez said afterward. “Today was an example of that with a really good team and a really good lineup.”

Erick Fedde’s six strong innings allowed everything else to fall into place, with Carl Edwards Jr. taking over for the seventh, Kyle Finnegan for the eighth and Tanner Rainey for the ninth.

Truth be told, though, the bullpen’s performance didn’t come out of nowhere. This unit has been performing well all season, with a couple of notable exceptions.

Meaningful late-inning opportunities for Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey have been so sparse this season that Davey Martinez has regularly been compelled to use his best relievers in blowouts just to make sure they don’t get rusty.

The Nationals have had a save opportunity in only two games this month (each of them blown saves by Rainey, for what it’s worth). So when the situation finally presented itself again early this evening on South Capitol Street, it was more than appropriate to feel some pangs of anxiety for the home ballclub.

Turns out there was nothing to be worried about, because Finnegan and Rainey delivered in the eighth and ninth innings to close out a tense, much-needed, 1-0 victory over the Dodgers to avoid a series sweep.

"Those are the moments you want to be pitching in, and those are the moments you're hoping for," Finnegan said. "To get one of those tonight and do our job at the back end of the bullpen and come away with the win, it was awesome."

A matinee finale that saw Erick Fedde toss six scoreless innings and the Nationals push across one run in the bottom of the sixth, ultimately came down to the two relievers Martinez has ready to pitch the final two innings every night but hardly ever had been able to use as desired through the season’s first 45 games.

MILWAUKEE – Some more thoughts, observations and reactions following Sunday’s 8-2 victory over the Brewers, which allowed the Nationals to avoid a weekend sweep at American Family Field …

* As much attention as was given to Juan Soto, Keibert Ruiz, Nelson Cruz and Josh Bell, the member of the Nats lineup who might have had the most significant weekend actually was Lane Thomas.

The 26-year-old outfielder started all three games and went 5-for-12 with two doubles, a triple and a homer. Along the way, he raised his batting average from .202 to .228, his on-base percentage from .255 to .273 and his slugging percentage from .270 to .356.

“Man, I feel like I just see the ball well here,” he said. “And I figured out some timing stuff and just getting back in my legs and seeing the ball a little deeper, so hopefully that stays on track, too. But it just felt good to see the ball well and take some good swings.”

It’s been a rough season to date for Thomas, who after an eye-opening, 45-game audition last August and September hasn’t been able to recapture the magic and has lost considerable playing time in the process.

There’s always the next game in baseball. After a rough start to this series with two losses by a combined score of 13-3, the Nationals were finally able to solve the Marlins riddle and earn their first victory against their division rival.

It was a frustrating first two games. It almost became a third. But the Nats settled in, played a (mostly) clean game and won 5-4 in 10 innings in front of 7,566 at loanDepot Park to avoid the second straight sweep at the hands of the Marlins.

And they did it in an unconventional way: The Nationals broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning to take a one-run lead, lost it in the ninth and regained it in the 10th.

With Dee Strange-Gordon pinch-running for Nelson Cruz as the automatic runner on second base in the top of the 10th, Victor Robles bunted him over to third and Keibert Ruiz drove in the go-ahead run with a double down the left field line.

“I cannot say enough about Keibert," manager Davey Martinez said after the game. "What a tremendous game he had. Honestly, behind the plate, hitting, everything. Good all-around player and he's getting better. Like I said, every time he's out there, he's getting better. He definitely, for us, was the star of the game.”

Tanner Rainey is the Nationals’ best reliever. Or, at least, they’re handling him like he’s their best reliever, using him as their closer when the opportunity presents itself.

Trouble is, there just haven’t been many of those opportunities to date.

The Nats have held a lead of three or fewer runs in the ninth inning only four times through the season’s first 35 games. And it’s happened, remarkably, only once in their last 22 games. (The team’s last six wins all have come by at least four runs, often many more.)

Which has left Rainey frequently doing nothing but watching games from the bullpen without ever taking the mound himself. He has appeared only 10 times overall this season, only four times so far this month.

So when the latter innings of Saturday night’s 13-6 rout of the Astros came around, manager Davey Martinez felt he had no choice but to go ahead and pitch Rainey, no matter the score. It was the 29-year-old’s first outing since his lone blown save Sunday in Anaheim, the third time already this season he was pitching on five days’ rest.

The Nationals’ just-completed West Coast trip simultaneously featured some of their best performances of the season and some of their worst.

There were back-to-back deep starts in Colorado by Erick Fedde and Patrick Corbin, the latter authoring the team’s first complete game of the year. There were offensive explosions in San Francisco, Colorado and Anaheim, with the team scoring seven or more runs in five of the nine games played. And there was at times dominant relief work from several members of a suddenly thinner bullpen.

On the flip side, there was a continued lack of power from a lineup that has totaled only 20 homers in 30 games this season. There were periods of atrocious defense. And, of course, there was Tanner Rainey’s blown save in the bottom of the ninth Sunday in Anaheim.

The end result of all that: a 4-5 trip that represented clear progress from where this team resided just before it, yet still felt short of what truly was possible.

“It would be a great road trip,” Davey Martinez said prior to Sunday’s finale against the Angels. “We’re playing a lot better than we have in the beginning. And we have an opportunity to win another series today.”

ANAHEIM, Calif. – On paper, the heart of the Angels batting order looks as intimidating as any in baseball. Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon are as accomplished a 2-3-4 trio as you’ll find in the sport, and even if they haven't been collectively performing up to their usual standards this season, there’s no denying the presence each has when he steps into the box.

For 26 innings this weekend, the Nationals pitching staff did just about everything it could to hold that fearsome trio in check.

They just couldn't do it in the 27th inning.

Needing one more out to complete a Sunday afternoon win and a series victory, Tanner Rainey gave up a game-tying double to Ohtani, then the game-winning single to Rendon that handed the Nats a gut-wrenching, 5-4 loss.

"I thought we did well pitching to those guys all series," manager Davey Martinez said inside a quiet visitors' clubhouse. "You’re playing with fire when those guys come up in the middle of that order, and you saw what they can do really quick.”

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.

For the most part, the Nationals bullpen has been a bright spot early this season. Not to take anything away from their accomplishments, but this group of relievers quite frankly had nowhere to go but up.

Washington’s bullpen posted a 5.10 ERA last year, worst in the National League and second-worst in the majors.

So far this year, the Nats ‘pen has a 3.61 ERA that was eighth in the NL and 17th in the majors at the conclusion of Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Marlins. A big improvement.

At the forefront, or should I say the back end, of this bullpen are Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey, two relievers the Nationals really need to have bounceback seasons in 2022.

With a banged-up bullpen that has Sean Doolittle (elbow sprain), Hunter Harvey (pronator strain), Mason Thompson (biceps tendinitis) and Will Harris (pectoral surgery) on the injured list, manager Davey Martinez has relied on Finnegan and Rainey to get important outs this season.

The Nationals got what they needed in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Diamondbacks. Josiah Gray pitched 5 ⅓ innings of one-run ball and four relievers combined to cover the remaining outs in a 6-1 win.

Would it be too much to ask for the same in the nightcap?

Joan Adon was hoping to get deep into the game to help out his taxed teammates in the bullpen and perhaps turn around his start to the season. The relievers who weren’t used in this afternoon’s game were hoping to post more zeros. And the Nationals offense was hoping to manufacture runs just like they had done earlier.

Adon did his part, becoming the first Nationals starting pitcher to complete six innings in 2022 as he helped his club complete the doubleheader sweep with a 1-0 win in front of an announced crowd of 11,720.

The 23-year-old rookie starter held the D-backs scoreless over 6 ⅓ innings with five strikeouts on 88 pitches, 57 for strikes, to earn his first major league win. A big turnaround from his previous two starts.