ATLANTA – When it rains, it pours. An ironic use of that phrase on a beautiful day just outside downtown Atlanta.

But it’s true for the Nationals, who dropped their fourth straight game and were swept by the Braves with today’s 4-3 loss in 12 innings in front of 32,053 at Truist Park.

Jordan Weems, who pitched two impressive scoreless innings Friday night, was charged with the bottom of the 12th. The Nats intentionally walked Matt Olson to put two runners on for the right-hander. Austin Riley, who hit the tying home run in the eighth inning, stepped up to the plate and delivered the game-winning RBI single.

Tanner Rainey put up two zeros in the 10th and 11th innings, not without some tense moments, though.

Going back to the seventh, Davey Martinez brought in Kyle Finnegan to face the top of the Braves order and protect a 3-2 lead. Finnegan struck out the side easily, and since he last pitched Wednesday, he was plenty rested to go back out for a second inning.

ATLANTA – Hunter Harvey was seen in the Nationals clubhouse this morning before the series finale against the Braves at Truist Park. His hair is hard to miss.

That meant a roster move was coming. When it became official about 30 minutes later, the Nats had reinstated Harvey, optioned Joan Adon to Triple-A Rochester and transferred Jackson Tetreault to the 60-day injured list.

“I've been feeling a lot better since the last time, so that's always a plus,” Harvey said at his locker of his recovery from a right pronator strain. 

The Nationals placed him on the injured list on April 21 after he pitched only 2 ⅔ scoreless innings over four appearances. Now after missing 71 games, he’s finally back.

“It took a little bit longer than we wanted to,” Harvey said of his rehab. “I had a couple of setbacks, but we took a little bit extra time and made sure everything was OK, and now I feel a lot better than I did before.”

ATLANTA – There was reason for optimism heading into this Patrick Corbin start.

His overall numbers still weren’t great in the form of a 4-10 record and 5.68 ERA over his first 17 outings. But he had been really effective over his last two starts with a 1.20 ERA, 16 strikeouts and three walks over a combined 15 innings. He pitched eight innings of one-run ball and recorded a season-high 12 strikeouts on June 28 against the Pirates and then pitched another seven innings of one-run ball on Monday against the Marlins.

But the third time was not the charm for Corbin this afternoon at Truist Park, as he was charged with four runs over six innings in a 4-3 loss to the Braves before a crowd of 40,632 fans.

Like a lot of his outings, Corbin had his ups and downs throughout this start. He faced the minimum in four of his six innings, with 1-2-3 innings in the third and sixth, and double-play balls in the second and fifth. It was the first and fourth innings where he struggled.

In the bottom of the first, ​​Corbin almost worked around a Ronald Acuña Jr. leadoff single as he retired the next two batters. But Austin Riley hit a slider over the plate into the left-field seats for a two-run homer and an early 2-0 Braves lead.

It was a glorious day to celebrate Ryan Zimmerman on South Capitol Street. It was unseasonably warm for mid-June at 76 degrees with low humidity, albeit 17 mph winds moving from left field to right.

Not a cloud in the sky as 42,730 fans packed Nationals Park to watch Zimmerman’s No. 11 become the first number ever retired by the club. But after all of the celebrations, tribute videos, speeches and the actual ceremony to honor the franchise’s past, the current Nationals team took the field in an attempt to give Zimmerman a victory on his special day.

“Today was good. The ceremony was unbelievable," said Davey Martinez, who was involved during the pregame ceremony himself. "I mean, it's amazing."

Unfortunately, the 2022 Nationals look more like the teams from Zimmerman’s early years, not like the winning teams he led for most of the past decade. This team was also trying to snap multiple losing streaks: They have lost seven straight games since Sunday. They have lost 12 straight to National League East rivals. And they have lost 11 in a row to these Phillies.

All of those streaks continued with today’s 2-1 extra-inning loss on Ryan Zimmerman Day in front of a sellout crowd, the largest attendance of the season. The deciding run came on Rhys Hoskins’ pinch-hit RBI single to score the automatic runner in the 10th off Reed Garrett.

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.

CINCINNATI – The Nationals were very clear about their plans for infield prospect Luis García: He is to play every day at shortstop. And he wasn’t going to come back up to the majors until the organization felt he was ready to do so at the big league level on a consistent basis.

That might have caused some frustration and confusion among fans, who watched 35-year-old Alcides Escobar, 34-year-old Dee Strange-Gordon and offseason waiver claim Lucius Fox share the reps at shortstop through the first two months of the season while García stayed at Triple-A Rochester.

In a rebuilding year, why not play one of your top prospects whose major league-ready bat can help your struggling offense?

Well, García finally got the call back to the majors ahead of Wednesday’s finale in New York when Escobar landed on the 10-day injured list ​​with a right hamstring strain and everyday reps at shortstop became available.

But it’s still a developing period for the 22-year-old, and the Nats are keeping a close watch on one of their key pieces of their future.

CINCINNATI – The Nationals have had their fair share of issues to begin this 10-game road trip. That’s the easy way to put it.

What are those issues? Much of the same. Poor pitching, lack of hitting and sloppy defense.

You’ve seen this story before. Now for the fourth time this week, actually.

Entering this four-game series against the Reds, the Nats had been shut out in back-to-back games and were riding a 21-inning scoreless streak. That streak extended to 27 ⅓ innings before they finally scored a run. But it was just one run, and that wasn’t nearly enough in this 8-1 loss in front of 12,799 at Great American Ball Park.

The Nationals were averaging 3.0 runs per game over their last 14 road games before tonight. That number is going to shrink after scoring just the one on Josh Bell’s seventh-inning home run to left field, his fifth of the season.

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

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

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

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

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

Quick quiz: Who leads the Nationals in RBIs? It’s Josh Bell, right?

Yes, but it’s not only Bell. Also checking in with 21 RBIs through the season’s first 36 games is an unexpected contributor: Maikel Franco.

While Bell’s offensive exploits have been front and center since opening day, Franco’s contributions have been delivered in a bit more quiet fashion. But sure enough, the veteran third baseman’s two-run homer during Saturday night’s blowout win over the Astros brought him up to Bell’s RBI total and the team lead.

Some of this is a reflection of Juan Soto’s struggles to drive in runs – he has only 11, despite eight homers and an .890 OPS – but it’s also a credit to Franco, who surprisingly finds himself on pace for 95 RBIs at the moment, a total that would shatter his previous career-high of 88.

 “He’s been great,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He’s worked really hard. He and (assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler) have built a really good relationship. They work hard in the batting cages. He’s got a really good routine going on right now.”

Home field advantage is sometimes an overused cliché in sports. How much a home crowd affects the actual outcome of a game is hard to quantify.

But baseball can be separated from other major sports in that all ballparks have different dimensions. And with 81 games over the course of a regular season, major league ballplayers can get used to the way their home field plays.

The way the outfield fence curves. The way the foul line walls angle. The way the wind blows in and the sun shines.

Even though it’s not always the case, you would figure most teams would have more success at home than on the road.

Not these 2022 Nationals, now a little over a month into their season.

Thursday’s afternoon series finale against the Mets gave the Nationals a chance to win their first home series of the 2022 season. Coming into the game, they were 0-3-1 in series taking place at Nationals Park.

Although this game started much like Wednesday’s affair, with the Mets jumping out to an early lead in the first inning, this time the Nats could not pull off a comeback.

The inability to get deep into the game by the starting pitcher and horrendous baserunning by the offense resulted in a 4-1 loss to the Mets in front of 21,213 fans still waiting to witness a series win.

This game was won and lost, first and foremost, on the mound. Nationals starter Joan Adon did not throw strikes. Mets starter Taijuan Walker did.

“​​I felt a little weird," Adon said after the game, via team interpreter Octavio Martinez. "But I mean, that's part of how things go sometimes.”

Patrick Corbin was “pissed” after his last start. He said so after completing only 1 2/3 innings against the Giants on Friday while his ERA inflated to 11.20 and his WHIP went up to 2.561 on the season.

So after an extra day of rest and an intense bullpen session Tuesday with pitching coach Jim Hickey that manager Davey Martinez called “crisp,” Corbin was looking for his best outing of the season. And the Nationals needed it to avoid a second straight sweep and an eight-game losing streak at home.

Corbin did his part, becoming just the second Nationals starter to complete six innings this season while only giving up two earned runs. He struck out a season-high eight batters over his six-plus innings.

But even Corbin’s best wasn’t enough to break the losing streak as the Nats fell to the Marlins 3-2 in front of 12,454 fans taking in Thursday’s matinee.

“Felt really good," Corbin said after the game. "I've been working on a lot of stuff, so it's good to see some results out there. But yeah, I felt pretty good. Just try to continue off this. It's been a tough week or so for us here. It stinks we didn't get the win, but guys are out there fighting and they'll come.”

On a night in which Josiah Gray matched his career high with 10 strikeouts and pumped strikes like a man on a mission, the Nationals faced the unenviable task of scoring enough runs off Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara to somehow emerge victorious.

It was a task that required precise execution, the seizing of what few scoring opportunities became available. The kind of challenge you can’t afford to botch by getting a runner thrown out at the plate. Certainly not twice in the span of 60 seconds.

Alas, this is how the Nats opted to squander their one real shot at taking down Alcantara tonight during a 5-2 loss to Miami. They sent six batters to the plate in the bottom of the fourth. Five of them successfully reached base. Only one of them scored. Because two of them were thrown out at the plate, each in cringe-worthy fashion.

There were other reasons the Nationals lost their sixth straight game to fall to 6-13. Gray, for all the positives on this night, also suffered a brief but crushing meltdown in the top of the fourth. Alcides Escobar failed to make another makeable play in the field, leading to another run.

But the bang-your-head-against-the-desk baserunning sequence the Nats put together in the bottom of the fourth represented the defining moment of this ballgame on a rainy Tuesday night in front of an announced crowd of 12,613. It was as ragged a back-to-back series of events as this team has displayed to date in 2022.

Twelve days after first getting ill and being forced to isolate in his Pittsburgh hotel, Nationals utilityman Dee Strange-Gordon will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester.

Strange-Gordon is leading off and playing shortstop for the Red Wings, his first competitive game since he served as a last-ditch relief pitcher during an April 12 loss in Atlanta. Two days later, he was supposed to be in the Nats lineup for their series opener against the Pirates, but was sent back to the team hotel with an illness that has never been officially disclosed by the club.

The Nationals placed Strange-Gordon on an unspecified injured list the following day, one that removed him from the organization’s 40-man roster, which has been the fate for other players who tested positive for COVID-19 over the last two seasons. He was allowed to drive himself home to D.C. a couple of days later, but remained in quarantine until recently.

Because of that time off with no ability to work out, Strange-Gordon is going to need some time to get himself back into playing shape again. He was at Nationals Park on Monday for a workout, and manager Davey Martinez said “he got tired pretty quickly.”

“He didn’t do much (while quarantined),” Martinez said. “With him, he’s built for speed and putting the ball in play, stuff like that. We’re going to get him to play some outfield, some middle infield while he’s down there. I’ll stay in touch with (Rochester manager Matt LeCroy) and see how he’s doing every day. I talked to Dee and I told him: ‘When you feel like you’re ready, just let us know and we’ll keep eyes on you.’ ”

It’s a tough ask for any pitcher to come up to the big leagues and make a spot start. You’re usually facing an unfamiliar lineup and have done little preparation.

But Aaron Sanchez has been around the block a few times over his seven-year major league career. He had pitched in 159 games while making 103 starts with the Blue Jays, Astros and Giants before making his Nationals debut this afternoon.

And he’s familiar with his opponent, the Giants, who he pitched for last season, while also being on one extra day of rest from his last start with Triple-A Rochester on Sunday. So Nationals manager Davey Martinez liked the matchup for Sanchez to make a spot start.

Sanchez pitched admirably in this opportunity, but was done in by the bookends of his outing that only lasted 4 ⅓ innings en route to a 5-2 loss in front of 27,799 fans on a beautiful 73 degree day in the District.

"I thought I threw the ball well," Sanchez said in front of his new locker at Nationals Park after the game. "Early, they got a couple of hits that found holes. Mostly throughout most of the game, I felt like they found holes. Maybe two to three hard hit balls. But that's baseball. I felt like maybe in the fifth pitch selection could have been a little different now going back and looking at it. But I thought, for the most part, I threw the ball well."

PITTSBURGH – The Nationals’ formula for success this season, tried and true through the first 10 games, went awry this afternoon at PNC Park. They got the five-inning start that to date has guaranteed victory, only to watch Patrick Corbin fade in the sixth and one of their most-trusted relievers, Steve Cishek, give up the lead in the seventh.

Throw in their worst defensive showing of the year, and what was shaping up to be a simple win over the Pirates in their series finale instead morphed into a 5-3 loss that devolved rather abruptly on this 42-degree Easter Sunday.

“Those little things, we got to clean up,” said manager Davey Martinez in one of several rare displays of public criticism of his team over the last few days. “We can’t give teams extra outs. We’re not going to win games like that.”

Corbin’s sixth-inning woes turned a three-run lead into a one-run lead. Cishek then gave up three runs himself in the bottom of the seventh, the first time the Nationals’ so-called “A” bullpen has blown a late lead.

There were other mistakes along the way. Third baseman Maikel Franco was charged with three errors, two of them on one play. The lineup failed to take advantage of late scoring opportunities after plating three early runs. And Josh Bell was narrowly thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on Franco’s seventh-inning double to left, aggressively waved around by third base coach Gary DiSarcina.