WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – All of the decisions, for the most part, have already been made. There’s not much-left anyone can do to make or break his chances of making the Opening Day roster.

So consider tonight’s penultimate Grapefruit League game – a 6-1 loss to the Astros – a true exhibition, one in which the only real goal was to play nine innings, get any necessary work in and avoid injury.

The Nationals accomplished all of that, so who cares about the end result? (Though it does leave them with a tenuous 12-11-2 record heading into Sunday’s finale, needing a win over the Marlins to finish the spring over .500.)

Patrick Corbin, whose next start in five days will kick off the regular season, did what he needed to do in his final tune-up. The left-hander, who had already been stretched out to six innings in his previous outing, was held to four innings and 60 pitches. He allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits, making a couple of mistakes but also victimized by some shaky defense behind him.

“I felt command was pretty good,” he said. “Maybe a couple pitches were up, but I got some swings-and-misses on changeups and sliders. Overall, I felt pretty good. I’ve just got to throw another bullpen coming up and then get ready for the first game.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – We are down to the final 48 hours of spring training. And we are now five days away from the season opener. Which means tonight’s exhibition lineup against the Astros has a distinct Opening Day feel to it.

All of the regulars are in and will play most of the game. The only tweak is that Joey Meneses is again playing left field (so he can continue to get reps after not playing the outfield while in the World Baseball Classic), with Corey Dickerson serving as designated hitter.

Patrick Corbin, meanwhile, is making his final start of the spring. He’ll hope to continue what he did five days ago against the Mets and put himself in a good frame of mind heading into his Opening Day start five days from now against the Braves.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MLB.tv (Astros broadcast)
Radio: MLB.com (Astros broadcast)
Weather: Chance of rain late, 82 degrees, wind 14 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
1B Dominic Smith
LF Joey Meneses
3B Jeimer Candelario
DH Corey Dickerson
2B Luis García
C Keibert Ruiz
SS CJ Abrams
CF Víctor Robles

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Trevor Williams didn’t get the opportunity to face a lineup three times in one night very often last season. That was partly due to his role as the Mets’ swingman, in which he bounced between the rotation and bullpen based on need. But it was also a reflection of manager Buck Showalter’s reluctance to let him go too deep into a start and risk damage.

In only three of his nine starts did Williams face a hitter three times, for a grand total of nine plate appearances. (He did have success, allowing only two of them to reach base.)

So the opportunity tonight to face five Astros hitters three times, albeit in an exhibition game that ended in a 5-4 loss, was a big deal for the right-hander, who knows he’s going to be a full-time starter with the Nationals.

“I think no matter who it is, facing the same guy two or three times is going to be important once the season starts,” he said. “Today we went through a normal pregame routine with pitchers meetings and catchers meetings. It was good to get that under our belt.”

As it turned out, Williams had far more success the first two times he went through the Houston order than the third. He cruised through five innings, allowing one hit and one walk on 73 pitches. Then came in the sixth, in which he allowed a solo homer to Jeremy Pena, plus singles to Alex Bregman and Jose Abreu, all of them stepping to the plate for the third time.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – We’ve got a “Nexus of the Universe” moment coming up tonight when the Nationals and Astros take the field at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. On the mound for Houston will be Luis Garcia. At the plate for the Nats will be Luis García. Prepare for your minds to be blown.

It is kind of interesting that García leading off. We’ll hear from Davey Martinez if that’s actually something he wants to get a look at, or if it’s just happening tonight for whatever reason. You’ll notice a flip-flop of yesterday’s 2-3 hitters, with Joey Meneses batting second and Dominic Smith batting third. And a flip-flop of yesterday’s 4-5 hitters, with Jeimer Candelario now batting cleanup and Corey Dickerson batting fifth.

On the mound is Trevor Williams for his second-to-last tune-up. Williams should be aiming for close to 100 pitches tonight, and he’ll still get a chance to pitch in Tuesday’s exhibition finale at Nationals Park against the Yankees, along with MacKenzie Gore.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MLB.tv (Astros broadcast)
Radio: MLB.com (Astros broadcast)
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 12 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
2B Luis García
LF Joey Meneses
1B Dominic Smith
3B Jeimer Candelario
DH Corey Dickerson
RF Alex Call
SS CJ Abrams
C Riley Adams
CF Víctor Robles

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – This wasn’t the first time Darren Baker suited up for a major league spring training game, nor was it the first time he did so for a Nationals game against an Astros club managed by his father. It wasn’t even the first time he helped lead the Nats to an exhibition victory over his dad, because his eighth-inning sacrifice fly one year ago accounted for the winning run.

But none of that could compare to what transpired in the top of the ninth today at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, when Darren Baker hit a game-tying grand slam to spark the Nationals to an eight-run rally and an 11-7 victory that brought out all the emotions from everyone who was participating and watching on both sides of the equation.

“It was like an out-of-body experience,” Darren said.

“I love my son,” Dusty said, “but I hate to lose.”

This was the third time this spring the Nationals called Darren Baker up from minor league camp as an extra player for a Grapefruit League game, but the first time for a game against the Astros. When it happened last year, Davey Martinez had the young second baseman take the lineup card out to home plate to exchange it with his unsuspecting father, leading to an emotional embrace between the two.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – CJ Abrams is out of the Nationals lineup for the third straight day, the product of a seemingly minor back issue that has plagued him since Tuesday’s game against the Mets.

“My back’s a little tight, but it’s getting better every day,” the 22-year-old shortstop said. “I don’t even think it was a play or anything that happened. Just something over time.”

Neither Abrams nor manager Davey Martinez indicated the issue is anything serious. Abrams said he’s still been able to field, throw and swing: “I can do anything. Just no need to play, I guess.”

Martinez said Abrams could be back in the lineup as soon as Saturday and admitted there wouldn’t be any real concern if this was happening during the regular season: “He could play, probably.”

This brief break comes after Abrams got considerable playing time through the first month of the spring. He’s taken 28 official plate appearances so far, going 7-for-26 with a double, two RBIs and four stolen bases.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – As we inch closer to Opening Day, teams start having more regulars in the lineup. And that’s going to be even more the case as various World Baseball Classic teams get eliminated.

For the Nationals, the elimination of the powerhouse Dominican Republic team means the return of Jeimer Candelario, who is right back in there and starting at third base today against the Astros. We should also see Erasmo Ramirez (who pitched for Nicaragua) pitching in a game soon.

The Astros also have a decent number of regulars in their lineup today, including Jeremy Peña, Jose Abreu and Alex Bregman. So this should be a good test for MacKenzie Gore, who makes his fifth start of the spring.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: nationals.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 79 degrees, wind 15 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
CF Alex Call
2B Luis García
C Keibert Ruiz
LF Corey Dickerson
3B Jeimer Candelario
1B Matt Adams
RF Stone Garrett
DH Victor Robles
SS Leonel Valera

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – At an earlier point in his career, Trevor Williams might have viewed the top of the third this afternoon at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in a much different light. The Astros had just scored three runs off him, one via homer but the rest via groundball singles in which Nationals infielders were unable to make the plays necessary to record three outs.

That left Williams with the kind of unsightly final line – three earned runs, seven hits in 4 2/3 innings – that would’ve bothered him in the past. At this stage of his career, with a two-year contract and a secured spot in the Nats’ Opening Day rotation, he understood the process of that inning (a bunch of ground balls) mattered more than the results.

“One hundred percent,” he said. “I executed the pitches I wanted to execute. … Results are results. Thankfully, I have a spot on the team, so I don’t have to necessarily read too much into results. It’s more making sure I’m ready to go once the season starts.”

Williams believes he took an important step toward that ultimate goal this afternoon when he became the first member of the Nationals rotation this spring to reach the fifth inning. He did so despite an elevated pitch count that stood at 60 after the third, retiring the last five Astros batters he faced on a mere 14 pitches.

It was a strong finish to what briefly looked like a rough outing, even if it wasn’t all Williams’ fault. He did serve up a leadoff homer to Houston minor leaguer Grae Kessinger to open the third, but then induced six consecutive ground balls, the first four of which did not result in any outs, the fifth of which resulted in only one out, the last of which finally resulted in an inning-ending double play.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s been a beautiful spring here from a weather standpoint, warm with abundant sunshine every day for the last month. That may finally change today, with a line of storms supposed to sweep through the state of Florida later this afternoon. We’ll see if it impacts the Nationals’ game against the Astros. Might be a good day to really take advantage of that pitch clock.

Trevor Williams gets the ball for his third start of the spring. The right-hander has yet to allow a run in three innings to date; he also has yet to issue a walk. We’ll see how he handles an Astros lineup that doesn’t exactly have the big names in there today.

Houston does have a big-name pitcher on the mound in Framber Valdez, so this will be a nice challenge for a Nats lineup that has an unfamiliar face in the No. 1 spot: Keibert Ruiz. Don’t worry, Davey Martinez isn’t suddenly thinking about making his $50 million catcher a leadoff man. It’s just a way to get him an extra at-bat without having to catch too many innings on a hot, muggy afternoon.

James Wood gets another chance to start a big league game, batting ninth and playing center field. Fellow prospect Elijah Green is slated to replace him later on.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: MLB.com (Astros broadcast)
Weather: Chance of storms late, 87 degrees, wind 17 mph out to center field

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If Davey Martinez and Jim Hickey had only one message for pitchers entering spring training, it was as simple a message as they get: Throw strikes.

The Nationals issued 558 walks last season, fifth-most in the majors. They simply can’t afford to keep issuing free passes at that rate.

Three games into Grapefruit League play this spring, the trend has been reversed in dramatic fashion. Yes, it’s only three games, two of them played today alone. But the Nats have walked a total of only five batters in 26 innings, and none of them came during this afternoon’s 3-2 victory over the Astros at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

“These guys are coming in with 9-, 10-, 13-pitch innings,” Martinez said. “We’re pounding the strike zone. That’s something we want to instill in their heads. We told our catchers we’ve got to get strikes. They’ve been good. They’re throwing the ball well.”

Nine different pitchers took the mound here today, and all nine retreated to the dugout having forced Houston’s hitters to earn their way on base. The trendsetter was Trevor Williams, who tossed a scoreless first, escaping a jam thanks to a 6-4-3 double play but allowing just two singles (one of them a little dribbler between the mound and third base).

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s day two of Grapefruit League play, and already the Nationals are pulling double duty. Yes, it’s the one and only split-squad day of the spring for the boys, with half the team staying here in West Palm Beach to face the Astros while the other half heads to Port St. Lucie to face Max Scherzer and the Mets.

Davey Martinez decided to keep most of his veterans here, but there are still a good number of big leaguers playing in the road game. And there are actually three members of the projected Opening Day rotation pitching today between the two sites.

Trevor Williams gets the start here against the Astros, scheduled for one inning. He’ll actually be followed by Cade Cavalli, who was on schedule to pitch either today or tomorrow. Since the team is off tomorrow, Cavalli gets to piggyback Williams today. (He’ll start his next turn through the rotation.) Josiah Gray, meanwhile, starts the road game against the Mets, also slated for one inning.

The lineups are pretty much split up, as well. Lane Thomas, Corey Dickerson, Jeimer Candelario, Dominic Smith, Keibert Ruiz and Victor Robles are starting against the Astros. CJ Abrams, Luis García and Joey Meneses will bat 1-2-3 on the road for the second straight day. Also of note: 2021 first-round pick Brady House is on the travel roster for the game in Port St. Lucie and could come off the bench late in the game.

You can watch both games with an MLB.tv subscription, and you can listen to the home game online at nationals.com, with Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler behind the mic.

As they watched the final inning of the World Series late Saturday night, Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez and anyone else with a connection to the Nationals surely were focused on Dusty Baker, thrilled to see their friend and former colleague finally win a championship as a manager, some 41 years after he won his lone title as a player.

Like so many others across the baseball world, they were rooting for Baker to get over the final hump that should lock up his permanent residence in Cooperstown. And like so many others across the baseball world, they probably weren’t excited to watch the Astros win their second World Series title, five years after their first one became tainted by a sign-stealing scandal that made them into the sport’s biggest villains.

But once the emotions of Saturday’s events in Houston wore off, it would have been appropriate for Rizzo, Martinez and everyone else who cares about the Nats to have another thought: How have the Astros been able to sustain their success and win a second championship while our own local franchise now finds itself a 107-loss disaster only three years after hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy on that very same field?

The easy answer is to lament the Nationals’ inability to retain the core of star players that led them to that glorious moment in October 2019. Juan Soto, Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner and Ryan Zimmerman are all gone now, the first four not because they retired like Zimmerman but because they either were traded away or departed as free agents.

If only they had been willing to spend what it took to keep some of those cornerstones – not to mention Bryce Harper, who was two wins away from winning his first World Series ring with the Phillies – the Nats wouldn’t be in this awful predicament right now.

Saturday was a special day for Orioles catcher Robinson Chirinos. He reached 10 years of Major League service time, something that fewer than 10 percent of all MLB players have ever achieved.

He's a player that's worked hard for everything he's ever gotten. He played 10 seasons in the minors before his first call to the big leagues. Once he got there for the first time in 2011, he stuck around for a while and is still going at it.

He admitted yesterday there is a chance this will be his final season, but that decision has not been made yet. For now, he said he is enjoying baseball as much as ever. He’s loved being an Oriole, and manager Brandon Hyde said Saturday his impact on this team this year has been vast.

“That is an awesome, awesome accomplishment for a major league player," he said before the game. "Congratulations to Robbie. That is a huge deal to players to get that milestone. We’re going to celebrate that with him today.

“I had talked to people about what kind of teammate and person he was. But he has exceeded those lofty expectations in how much he has impacted our team, our clubhouse, our dugout. He makes players around him better. He’s made our whole clubhouse better. He’s helped change the culture of our team. And I can’t thank him enough for that,” said Hyde. 

It had all the trimmings of a classic pitchers’ duel, Justin Verlander and Patrick Corbin matching zeros in the run column while Verlander maintained a zero in the hits column as well.

For Verlander, though, this was par for the course. He just carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning in his previous start.

For Corbin, this was uncharted territory for 2022. And 2020 and 2021, for that matter. The pressure rested squarely upon the left-hander’s shoulder to keep up with his more accomplished counterpart. And though he did best Verlander in the length of his start, Corbin came nowhere close to beating him in the only department that actually counts.

Three late homers by the Astros spoiled Corbin’s afternoon. And with the Nationals unable to push a run across in five innings against Verlander or the next four innings against Houston relievers, the end result was an 8-0 loss that didn’t really convey the type of ballgame this actually was.

"Look who we faced today," manager Davey Martinez said. "We've been swinging the bat well. Regardless of whether or not we score runs, we've been getting five, six, seven, eight hits a game. Today, that guy was good."

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 were held to one run during Friday night’s loss to the Astros. They exploded for 13 runs during Saturday night’s win over the Astros. So what should we expect from them during today’s series finale against the Astros?

As much as you’d love to see another offensive explosion, you’ve got to think the odds are stacked against them, with Justin Verlander taking the mound for Houston. The 39-year-old right-hander has been phenomenal so far this season, with a 4-1 record and league-leading 1.55 ERA and 0.639 WHIP. And he’s doing this in his return from Tommy John surgery. Like his former rotation mate in Detroit, Max Scherzer, Verlander is a freak of nature.

There are several Nationals with considerable experience against Verlander. Nelson Cruz is 15-for-57 with four doubles, three homers and 11 RBIs. Alcides Escobar is 18-for-88 with four doubles and four RBIs. And, of course, Juan Soto is 2-for-6 with a double and a titanic home run off Verlander during the 2019 World Series.

Runs are probably going to be at a premium today, though, so the pressure’s on Patrick Corbin to deliver another quality start. The left-hander seems to have turned his entire season around over his last three starts, producing a 2.37 ERA and 1.158 WHIP. The challenge today against the Astros lineup will be tougher, but success in this one might be the most legitimate evidence to date that Corbin actually has turned a corner.

HOUSTON ASTROS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain late, 79 degrees, wind 5 mph out to left field

No major league club has played better, or particularly pitched better, this month than the Astros. The Houston staff that walked into Nationals Park tonight had surrendered a grand total of 12 runs over the last 11 games. Not surprisingly, all 11 resulted in victory for Dusty Baker’s squad.

So consider what the Nationals just did on this Saturday evening, and try to explain it. Scoring a run in the first and then multiple runs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings, they torched the Astros’ previously ironclad pitching staff during a 13-6 win that kind of defied logic.

The same Nats lineup that has struggled so mightily to produce extra-base hits got five of them in this game, including Yadiel Hernandez’s three-run homer, Nelson Cruz’s three-run double and Maikel Franco’s two-run homer.

All told, the Nationals crossed the plate more times tonight than they did their previous four games combined, putting an end the Astros’ winning streak with emphasis and giving a crowd of 22,949 plenty of reason to cheer, something that has been in woefully short supply this season.

"Just good at-bats," Cruz said. "We were patient. We hit strikes. We were facing pretty good pitchers, from their starters to their relievers. To be able to score that many runs, it shows how good of a lineup we have."

Stephen Strasburg and Joe Ross are ready to shift into a regular, five-day pitching routine that could prepare them to join the Nationals’ rotation sometime next month after completing their latest simulated games with no issues.

Strasburg, who is recovering from last summer’s thoracic outlet surgery, and Ross, who is recovering from March’s surgery to remove a bone spur in his elbow, each tossed two innings during a simulated game Friday in West Palm Beach, Fla. Strasburg threw 27 pitches, reaching 92 mph with his fastball, according to manager Davey Martinez. Ross threw 33 pitches, topping out at 95 mph.

“They’re feeling really good,” Martinez said. “We hope that continues.”

This session came four days after both right-handers pitched their first simulated games at the club’s spring training complex. They’ll now shift to a standard, five-game schedule between outings, further evidence they are transitioning from rehab mode to preparation mode.

Both Strasburg and Ross still need time to build their arms back up. They’re essentially now treating this final stage of rehab as if they were in spring training, with no significant restrictions due to their prior injuries.

Very little went right for the Nationals on Friday night. They trailed 5-0 in the top of the first, and though Josiah Gray did right the ship after that, the lineup did nothing of consequence to try to mount a comeback. They’ll hope for a much better outcome tonight against the Astros, really hoping they can start stringing together some hits. (Or, even better, some extra-base hits.)

The challenge standing in their way: A Houston pitching staff that has allowed a grand total of 12 runs during the current 11-game winning streak. That’s almost impossible to believe, but it’s true. Cristian Javier, tonight’s starter, has been part of this run himself, and will take the mound with a 2-0 record and 0.83 ERA, though four of his six appearances to date have come out of the bullpen and he’s yet to top 87 pitches in either of his starts.

Davey Martinez has two changes from Friday night’s lineup. Yadiel Hernandez, who sat against Astros left-hander Framber Valdez, is back in there batting fifth and playing left field. And Dee Strange-Gordon gets the start at shortstop instead of Alcides Escobar, who actually had a strong night in the field but had another 0-fer at the plate.

Erick Fedde gets the ball for the Nationals. He managed to shut out the Angels’ potent lineup for five innings in his last start, but he found himself having to pitch out of trouble that entire outing. He’ll need to be more efficient tonight if he wants to go deeper in the game and take some load off the bullpen’s shoulders.

HOUSTON ASTROS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Rain ending, 70 degrees, wind 4 mph right field to left field

There are any number of ways to articulate how well Josh Bell has hit for the Nationals so far this season. The .342 batting average is an obvious one, as is the .434 on-base percentage. Each ranks third among all qualifying National League hitters.

There’s another, less obvious way to underscore Bell’s success to date: His lack of strikeouts.

Consider that the 29-year-old first baseman has struck out only 15 times in 138 plate appearances so far this season. Only four qualifying NL hitters have struck out fewer times, and they’re all contact-happy middle infielders: Jose Iglesias, Miguel Rojas, Nico Hoerner and Jeff McNeil.

Bell? He’s one of the most intimidating physical presences in the batter’s box in the majors, a 261-pound slugger who seems to want to hit the ball as hard as he can every time he swings.

Looks, however, can be deceiving.