The Nationals chose to protect four prospects, all pitchers, from being lost in the upcoming Rule 5 draft. To do so, they cut ties with three players who ended the season on their major league roster, most notably first baseman Dominic Smith.

Smith and right-hander Cory Abbott were both designated for assignment today, with reliever Andrés Machado granted his unconditional release as well to pursue opportunities in Japan. The team then used those three open slots, plus one that already was open, to add left-handers DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker, plus right-handers Cole Henry and Zach Brzykcy, to their 40-man roster. That ensures none of those four prospects can be lost in next month’s Rule 5 draft.

The decision to drop Smith came as the biggest surprise of the day, considering the manner in which club officials spoke up the first baseman’s defensive value and clubhouse leadership this season in spite of his offensive struggles. Signed for $2 million last winter after the Mets chose not to tender him a contract, Smith hit .254/.326/.366 with 12 homers, 46 RBIs and a .692 OPS in 153 games for the Nats. Six of his 12 homers came in September alone, leaving the 28-year-old with some hope he had solved the power woes he endured for the majority of the season.

Even with those woes at the plate, Smith was lauded for his glove work at first base, where he produced five Defensive Runs Saved and was a calming influence for young infielders CJ Abrams, Luis García and Carter Kieboom.

Smith was eligible for arbitration and was projected to make roughly $4 million through that process. Now, the Nationals will be in the market for a new first baseman for the second straight offseason, likely prioritizing power from that corner position to help bolster a lineup that hit a National League-worst 151 homers this year. They could also move Joey Meneses full-time to first base and seek a new designated hitter.

Thursday night started with a lot of positive energy for the Nationals.

The team was still relishing Wednesday’s blowout win over the White Sox to clinch a series victory and put them two wins away from their first 70-win season since 2019.

It was Hispanic Heritage Night at the ballpark, so all of the Nats’ Hispanic players, coaches and staff members were recognized during a pregame ceremony.

And the Nats welcomed the Commanders for the first “Capital Crossover” night as the two organizations began to start a new relationship under the football team’s new owner, Josh Harris, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

But once the pregame pageantry was over, the daunting challenge of beating the Braves and their major league-best record became real. That task proved too difficult on this night for the Nationals as the positive vibes quickly evaporated in a 10-3 loss in front of an announced crowd of 28,100, many of whom were wearing football gear.

MILWAUKEE – The Nationals made one change to their bullpen before today’s series finale against the Brewers and appear to be contemplating a change to their rotation in the coming days.

Needing a fresh arm after Trevor Williams’ two-inning start Saturday night taxed the bullpen, the Nats recalled Cory Abbott from Triple-A and optioned Amos Willingham back to Rochester.

“We just needed somebody with length,” manager Davey Martinez said. “It’s a stinky part of the job. I really like Willingham, wanted to see him more. But our bullpen’s been beat up, so we wanted to have two guys down there who can give us length in case something happens.”

Willingham was the first reliever summoned after Williams was knocked out early and wound up throwing 43 pitches over one-plus innings. The rookie right-hander wouldn’t have been available again for several days, so the team made the move to bring up Abbott, who tossed five hitless innings for Rochester five days ago and is available for long relief today if needed.

Though there’s still a chance Willingham could return to the big leagues before season’s end, this likely ends the 24-year-old’s rookie campaign, one that saw him start the year at Double-A Harrisburg and work his way up the organizational ladder.

The Nationals’ bullpen usage was going to catch up to them eventually. After using six relievers to secure last night’s win over the Phillies, manager Davey Martinez needed either an extended outing from his starter or a big lead in the late innings.

He got one of those two in the form of Jake Irvin’s impressive six shutout innings. But with only a three-run lead going into the seventh, Martinez had to use either relievers running on fumes or arms he wouldn’t normally call upon late in close games. In this instance, it was Cory Abbott.

“We used every pitcher we had," Martinez said of the state of his bullpen after the game. "Cory was gonna pitch. It just didn't work out for him today.”

Although the day started out well for the Nats, the end result was a tough 12-3 loss in front of a sellout crowd of 38,853 who soaked in today’s beautiful weather in the District.

Handed a 3-0 lead after Irvin’s strong performance and RBIs from Joey Meneses and Riley Adams off lefty Cristopher Sánchez, the Nats bullpen faltered against this tough Phillies lineup. Jose A. Ferrer, pitching for the fourth time in five days, gave up a walk and single with one out in the seventh. After a forceout at second put runners on the corners, Andrés Machado, pitching for the third straight day, served up a three-run home run to Nick Castellanos, leaving this game suddenly tied.

Tonight was supposed to be the first turn of the Nationals’ new six-man rotation, with Joan Adon making his second start since being inserted last week.

But the thing about a six-man rotation is that they need six men to pitch in it.

Adon’s availability moving forward is now in question after he was pulled from tonight’s 8-2 win over the Athletics with cramps in his legs while warming up for the fourth inning.

“I just started on my warmups and I felt it right away in my calf and in my groin a little bit," Adon said after the game, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "One was my calf on one side and my groin on the other.”

The 26-year-old right-hander, who threw an impressive quality start Saturday in Cincinnati, threw a couple of warmup pitches to backup catcher Riley Adams in between the third and fourth innings. But before Keibert Ruiz could even get his catching gear on, manager Davey Martinez and head athletic trainer Paul Lessard were out of the dugout checking on the starting pitcher and then departed with him.

ST. LOUIS – Not that he wanted to be in this position, restarting a game in the bottom of the third that began the previous night. But if ever there was a time for the Nationals to be in this position, this was it.

Davey Martinez had an exceedingly rested bullpen coming out of the All-Star break, an extra long reliever taking the spot of Patrick Corbin while he’s on paternity leave and the ability to use anyone he wanted at any point in an attempt to win this afternoon’s completion of Friday night’s suspended game against the Cardinals.

Turns out the Nationals won this game not because of their well-rested bullpen, but because of a productive lineup that kept making up for the bullpen's mistakes.

Ultimately, it was back-to-back singles by CJ Abrams and Lane Thomas in the top of the 10th that allowed the Nats to plate a pair of runs off Cardinals closer Jordan Hicks and emerge with a hard-earned 7-5 victory to get this long day and night of baseball off to an uplifting start.

"It was a good day for our hitters," said Martinez, whose team has won three in a row sandwiched around the All-Star break and is now 22-22 on the road this season. "I wish we would've won a little bit earlier, but the bullpen came in and held it down. We played well."

ST. LOUIS – The last thing any team wants is to face a doubleheader on the second day coming out of the All-Star break. But if ever there was a time to do that, and a pitching staff unintentionally designed to handle it, this is it.

After Friday night’s second-half opener against the Cardinals was suspended with two outs in the bottom of the third, St. Louis leading 1-0, the Nationals will be forced to play 15-plus innings today at Busch Stadium. They’ll pick up Friday night’s game from the point it was suspended – runner on first, 3-2 count on Paul Goldschmidt – at 2:15 p.m. Eastern, then play the originally scheduled game at 7:15 p.m.

Trevor Williams, who recorded the first eight outs for the Nats, will have to be replaced on the mound. Davey Martinez, though, has a good number of viable options. Everybody in the bullpen is fresh coming out of the All-Star break, and that unit already has an extra pitcher on staff in Paolo Espino, who is replacing starter Patrick Corbin this weekend while the latter is on paternity leave.

Espino is one of three long relievers available to Martinez if needed, along with Cory Abbott and Joan Adon. Those three are supplemented by six other healthy, fresh relievers in Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey, Mason Thompson, Jordan Weems, Jose A. Ferrer and Amos Willingham.

Jake Irvin will start the nightcap as originally planned. Even if the rookie only goes five innings, the Nationals still should be in decent shape to cover the rest of the game.

SEATTLE – Had they played clean baseball tonight, the Nationals might still have lost to the Mariners. Their lineup might still have gone silent after scoring three early runs off Luis Castillo. Trevor Williams might still have been pulled after four labored innings. Cory Abbott might still have surrendered the go-ahead runs in relief. Jeimer Candelario might still have struck out looking – at a pitch well outside the strike zone, for what that's worth – with the bases loaded and a last-ditch chance to tie the game with one swing in the top of the ninth.

But they certainly weren’t going to win this game playing the unclean brand of baseball they put on display in the opener of a three-game series at T-Mobile Park.

There was a comical error by Dominic Smith, who flipped the ball to first base without realizing nobody was there to catch it. There was a perfect throw by Keibert Ruiz to nab Jarred Kelenic trying to steal second, if not for CJ Abrams not holding the tag long enough. There was an automatic balk called on Williams for disengaging from the pitching rubber three times during the same at-bat.

All of that, along with some ineffective pitching and a lack of offense once the third inning ended, conspired to deal the Nationals an 8-4 loss to Seattle and halt whatever positive momentum they generated during back-to-back wins in San Diego over the weekend.

"Those little things become big things, as we saw," manager Davey Martinez said. "We'll talk about these things again tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow we play a cleaner game. Because this game was close for a while there. It was a good game. The boys battled back, but I'd like to see us get through that one inning that kind of beat us."

It was something of a throwaway line from Davey Martinez during a postgame press conference that didn’t include many bright spots.

Minutes after his Nationals lost for the 14th time in 18 games overall, the sixth straight time against the Marlins, Martinez was mentioning Lane Thomas’ third-inning homer (which ultimately accounted for all of the team’s runs during the 4-2 loss) and how it was just the latest in an ongoing string of big hits by the starting right fielder.

“We talk about all these guys for the All-Star Game, right now Lane Thomas is possibly a guy that could make the All-Star team for us,” Martinez said. “He’s played that well.”

Lane Thomas, All-Star? It’s not a crazy thought.

Sunday’s performance left Thomas sporting a .287 batting average, 11 homers, 35 RBIs and an .822 OPS. That final number ranks 14th among all National League outfielders, so it’s not exactly elite. But it is solid, it’s far and away the best mark among all Nats regulars and it continues to rise.

The Nationals, for the second straight day, designated a struggling reliever for assignment, with Erasmo Ramírez suffering that fate this afternoon in the wake of a particularly ragged appearance during Tuesday’s loss to the Diamondbacks, and Cory Abbott recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take his spot.

Ramírez joined fellow right-hander Andrés Machado, who was designated for assignment Tuesday, in getting dropped from the active roster. Machado officially cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Rochester today. Because he had already been through that process over the winter, he had the option to declare himself a free agent but instead chose to remain in the organization.

Ramírez will face a similar decision in the next few days. The 33-year-old got the news after retiring only two of the six batters he faced in the top of the sixth Tuesday night, having hit the first batter he faced on the first pitch he threw, nearly hitting the next batter on his next pitch and then committing a balk when he turned to make a pickoff attempt to first base but never threw the ball because nobody was covering.

That outing left Ramírez with an unsightly 6.33 ERA and 1.556 WHIP in 23 games this season, a dramatic drop in effectiveness from the previous year. In 60 games in 2022, Ramírez produced a 2.92 ERA and 1.077 WHIP, earning the team’s Pitcher of the Year Award for his performance.

“It’s tough. Erasmo meant a lot to this team, and to me,” manager Davey Martinez said. “This guy worked really hard to get back to the big leagues and had an unbelievable year last year. This year, he just couldn’t find himself.”

The Nationals pulled out all the stops to win the opener of today’s pseudo doubleheader, using five relievers en route to a 3-2 victory over the Mets. What does that leave for the nightcap? We’ll have to wait and see.

Jake Irvin makes his third career start, hoping to pick up where he left off last week in San Francisco, when he reached the seventh inning in impressive fashion. This is a very tough Mets lineup the right-hander is facing; he’ll have to throw strikes to avoid a high pitch count and an early exit.

If Irvin has any trouble, the Nationals have some length in the bullpen in the form of Cory Abbott. Turns out the team brought both Abbott and Joan Adon here from Triple-A Rochester, waiting to decide which pitcher would make more sense to add as the 27th man for this game. They decided to go with Abbott, who has bullpen experience, over Adon, who does not.

The lineup, meanwhile, will do its best against a guy named Max Scherzer, who returns to his old stomping grounds wearing blue and orange instead of his more familiar red and white uniform. Scherzer has made only one start since his 10-game suspension for sticky hands, and this start was pushed back due to neck spasms.  

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 77 degrees, wind 77 mph in from left field

When it came time to decide who to summon from their farm system to start tonight’s game against the Cubs, the Nationals had options. They could’ve gone with someone with considerable big league experience (Wily Peralta), modest big league experience (Paolo Espino) or minimal big league experience (Cory Abbott, Joan Adon).

In the end, they went with zero big league experience.

That’s right, when they take the field this evening, the Nationals will be led by Jake Irvin, a 26-year-old right-hander making his major league debut. It’s a debut most assumed would come sometime this season but few figured would come this soon.

“His last outing, he pitched really well,” said manager Davey Martinez, referencing the two runs Irvin allowed in 5 1/3 innings for Triple-A Rochester one week ago. “He’s stretched out to about 90 pitches. So we’re going to give him an opportunity to come out here and start for us tomorrow, and see what he does and see where he goes.”

A fourth round pick in the 2018 draft out of Oklahoma – where he was rotation mates with 2020 first round pick Cade Cavalli – Irvin is the organization’s 20th ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline. He missed all of the 2021 season following Tommy John surgery and split last season between Single-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg.

The Nationals placed Chad Kuhl on the 15-day injured list with an injury to his right foot and recalled Cory Abbott from Triple-A Rochester to take his spot on the active roster and potentially his spot in the rotation.

Kuhl hurt himself during Saturday night’s game while delivering a pitch, stepping into the divot on the mound created by Pirates pitcher Vince Velásquez and causing a shooting pain in his big toe. Manager Davey Martinez and director of athletic training Paul Lessard came out from the dugout to check on him, but Kuhl threw one warm-up pitch and said he was fine to continue.

He wound up being removed in the fourth inning, having thrown 100 pitches while getting roughed up for eight runs on seven hits and four walks in what wound up a 16-1 blowout loss.

“It’s one of those things where I was like: I tore my elbow (in 2018) and finished the inning. I’m not going to let my toe derail the start and have me only go two innings,” he said. “It’s something you just try to fight through. It ended up not working out too great for me anyway, but I did my best to keep getting outs. It’s just unfortunate.”

Kuhl’s toe was still bothering him Sunday, so he was examined by doctors, who diagnosed with him with metatarsalgia (pain in the ball of the foot), leading to this IL stint.

Upon announcing the postponement of Friday night’s series opener against the Pirates, the Nationals had a decision to make about their pitching plans for Saturday’s doubleheader: Would they just have Patrick Corbin and Chad Kuhl start, or would they call up someone else from Triple-A to make a spot start and serve as their designated 27th man for the twinbill?

The club decided to stick with the two current members of the rotation, call up reliever Jordan Weems from Rochester to take that extra roster spot and wait until later in the homestand to find a spot starter.

“We thought about it,” manager Davey Martinez said when asked about the possibility of using a fill-in starter today. “But Weems is throwing the ball well. We have him for two games, which is kind of nice.”

Weems is off to a good start to his season: In his first nine appearances, he owns a 1.93 ERA and 1.071 WHIP, striking out 13 batters in 9 1/3 innings. The 30-year-old pitched in 32 big league games last season, finishing with a 5.22 ERA but strong 1.185 WHIP, hurt in large part by the seven homers he surrendered in only 39 2/3 innings.

“He’s got good stuff,” Martinez said of the right-hander. “The biggest thing with him is just throwing strike one. When he gets ahead, he’s good. He’s got a good mix of pitches. He’s just got to attack the strike zone, throw strike one.”

This season has been headed in this direction for a while. It was a matter of when, not if, the Nationals would lose their 100th game of 2022.

Well, it happened tonight in the 153rd game on the schedule via an 8-0 series-opening loss to the Braves in front of an announced crowd of 24,684 at Nationals Park. For the first time since 2009, when they went 59-103, the Nationals have lost 100 games in a single season.

Thirteen years ago, the Nationals suffered their second straight 100-loss season. But those years netted the franchise back-to-back No. 1 overall picks, used to draft Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper.

A string of success followed that was matched by only a few other teams in the major leagues. From 2012-2019, the Nats won four National League East division titles, a wild card game and the 2019 World Series. They also finished above .500 in each of those eight years.

But those days of winning are gone for now. The Nats are going to suffer their third straight sub-.500 campaign and last-place finish in the NL East. They’re now the first team to lose 100 games this year.

The last full week of the regular season is here, and with 10 games against division rivals playing for postseason positions remaining on the schedule, the Nationals can have an effect on the October playoff picture.

Tonight begins a three-game set against the Braves, who beat the Nats two out of three last week in Atlanta. The Braves have already secured their spot in the postseason but are looking to gain ground on the Mets, who have a 1 ½ game lead in the National League East and are idle today before starting a home series against the Marlins tomorrow. Having struggled against divisional foes all season long, the Nats are just 4-12 against the Braves this year and 1-6 against them at Nationals Park. 

Cory Abbott will make his eighth start of the season tonight while still searching for his first major league win. He’s 0-3 with a 4.85 ERA over his 14 appearances on the season with a 5.70 ERA as a starter. His lone outing against the Braves came in his last start a week ago, when he allowed four runs with six hits and two walks over four innings at Truist Park.

Likewise, rookie right-hander Bryce Elder will make his second consecutive start against the Nats. He held them to just one run on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts over 5 ⅔ innings on Wednesday, a game in which the Nats rallied to win. Elder is 1-3 with a 3.38 ERA over his eight appearances, seven of which were starts.

ATLANTA BRAVES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB Network (outside of D.C. and Atlanta markets only), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 70 degrees, wind 7 mph left field to right field 

ATLANTA - Alex Call raced back to the warning track, found the wall, halted, and leapt upward, kicking up dirt and reaching his glove toward the sky.

He missed.

The ball, hit at a 41-degree launch angle, floated inches above Call’s glove, and Austin Riley’s 37th home run of the season landed in the seats just beyond the left field wall.

Even the Braves’ pop-ups are home runs.

Atlanta (92-55) mashed their National League-leading 221st and 222nd homers of the season in a 5-2 win over Washington (51-96) in the series opener on Monday night. The Nationals, meanwhile, scored just two runs on nine hits, keeping their homer total at a paltry 126.

The Nationals were able to chip away at a 4-1 Cubs lead on Tuesday night. Home runs by Luke Voit and Lane Thomas in the eight inning sent the game to extras. CJ Abrams’ first hit and RBI as a National extended the game to the 11th.

Even in an eventual loss, the boys battled multiple times.

Try as they might, there was no late-inning rally Wednesday, as the Nationals dropped the series finale 3-2 to the Cubs in front of 28,302 fans on a beautiful 78-degree day in the District.

A late rally was made necessary by some back and forth between the two teams in the middle innings. With the Cubs up 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, the Nats tied the game with some small ball action.

Joey Meneses led off the frame with a double into the left-field corner, extending his hitting streak to 11 games and knocking Cubs starter Drew Smyly from the game. 

The Nationals are going for their first series win since they won two-of-three against the Dodgers in Los Angeles three weeks ago.

Cory Abbott will face his former team for the first time as he makes his fourth start for the Nats. He pitched in seven games (one start) for the Cubs last year before being designated for assignment in April. He was eventually traded to the Giants and then claimed off waivers by the Nats in May.

Drew Smyly brings a 5-6 record and 3.69 ERA to the mound for the Cubs. The veteran left-hander didn’t face the Nats last week at Wrigley Field, but he is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in seven appearances (five starts) against Washington in his career.

CHICAGO CUBS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB Network (outside of D.C. and Chicago markets only), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 80 degrees, wind 4 mph in from left-center field 

NATIONALS
CF Lane Thomas
RF Joey Meneses
1B Luke Voit
DH Nelson Cruz
C Keibert Ruiz
2B César Hernández
SS CJ Abrams
LF Alex Call
3B Ildemaro Vargas 

It’s going to be quite a scene at Nationals Park tonight, with a national audience able to tune in as well.

Juan Soto and Josh Bell make their returns to D.C., now as members of the Padres, only 10 days after they were sent to San Diego for six players (including five prospects) in an historic deal at the trade deadline. Very rarely do players dealt at the deadline return to their former home ballparks in this short amount of time. Even more rarely are players of Soto and Bell’s caliber traded and then return to face their former club. 

There will be tribute videos played on the big screen at Nats Park for both Soto and Bell. Fans will give them standing ovations in their first at-bats. There may even be a couple of boos directed at the front office and ownership for making this trade in the first place. But what’s done is done. And the game moves along.

Cory Abbott takes the mound for his third start with the Nationals. He pitched five shutout innings against the Mets last week, but then gave up seven runs in 3 ⅔ innings against the Phillies on Sunday. 

Mike Clevinger brings a 3-4 record and 3.60 ERA to the bump for the Padres in the series opener. Twelve of the right-handers’ 13 appearances this year have been starts, while he has poasted a 3.43 ERA as a starter. Clevinger gave up six runs over 5 ⅔ innings in his only career start against the Nats back in 2019.