NEW YORK – Jeimer Candelario is back in the Nationals lineup tonight, having survived Friday night’s injury scare and ready to resume playing as Tuesday’s trade deadline inches closer.

Candelario thought he hurt his left shoulder an awkward slide into second base as he tried to stretch an eighth-inning single into a double during the Nats’ 5-1 loss to the Mets. He immediately grabbed his left arm and motioned to the dugout for a trainer, then later walked off the field under his own power.

The 29-year-old didn’t return, but because he was serving as designated hitter instead of playing his usual third base position, he was never officially taken out of the game. He wound up taking swings in the cage and declared himself fine and even said he would’ve been able to bat had his spot in the lineup come up again.

“It was scary, but I’m good,” he said afterward.

Davey Martinez didn’t hesitate to put Candelario back in the lineup for tonight’s game against the Mets, penciling him back into the No. 3 spot and at third base.

PITTSBURGH – The Nationals placed Dee Strange-Gordon, who remains in the team’s downtown hotel with an illness, on the injured list today. The club did not specify which IL the utilityman was placed on, nor divulged what his ailment is, which is how they handled situations the last two seasons when a player tested positive for COVID-19.

Asked this afternoon how Strange-Gordon was doing, manager Davey Martinez said only: “I can’t really talk about much, but he’s doing better.”

Martinez added that no other players were unable to report to the clubhouse. Three players were seen this afternoon wearing masks while indoors, a protocol this season for vaccinated team members who have been deemed close contacts to someone who tests positive. Any unvaccinated players who are determined to be close contacts would have to quarantine for five days.

Strange-Gordon initially was announced as part of the Nationals lineup for Thursday’s series opener against the Pirates, though he never did appear at the ballpark. About 30 minutes before first pitch, the club announced he had been scratched for unspecified reasons.

Players on the COVID-19 IL are removed from the 40-man roster, and the Nats moved quickly today to acquire someone else to take Strange-Gordon’s spot, claiming outfielder Joshua Palacios off waivers from the Blue Jays.

PITTSBURGH - Manager Davey Martinez could also use a more consistent performance from his lineup, which on Thursday busted out for three quick runs in the top of the first against Pirates starter J.T. Brubaker and then went mostly silent the rest of the way.

As expected, the Nationals have made a roster move today. Dee Strange-Gordon has been placed on the injured list with an unspecified ailment. As Martinez said Thursday night, he’s back at the hotel with an illness. He has come off the 40-man roster, which is what happens when someone is placed on the COVID-19 IL. (The Nats immediately filled that 40-man roster spot by claiming outfielder Joshua Palacios from the Blue Jays an optioning him to Triple-A Rochester.)

Taking Strange-Gordon’s spot on the big league roster is outfielder Donovan Casey, one of the four prospects acquired from the Dodgers last summer for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner. Casey had played in six games for Rochester so far, hitting .250 with two doubles, two triples, a homer and six RBIs.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: PNC Park
Gametime: 6:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 66 degrees, wind 13 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
RF Juan Soto
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Josh Bell
C Keibert Ruiz
LF Yadiel Hernandez
3B Maikel Franco
CF Lane Thomas
SS Alcides Escobar
RHP Erick Fedde

PITTSBURGH – Victor Robles is the Nationals’ starting center fielder. And he’ll continue to be their starting center fielder. As long the matchups on a particular day work in his favor.

For the third time in eight games to begin the season, the matchup isn’t in Robles’ favor. Pirates starter J.T. Brubaker has a particularly tough slider, so Davey Martinez decided to leave Robles on the bench tonight and instead play Dee Strange-Gordon in center field.

“We look at all his data, and we know Victor struggles against guys with good sliders,” Martinez said. “So tonight I felt like we’re just going to continue to work with him on his swing, get him some extra swings, and then get him back in there tomorrow. We’re looking at all this stuff.”

Robles, who has started five games so far, remains hitless in 15 at-bats. His only two productive plate appearances resulted in a sacrifice bunt and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch that resulted in his lone RBI of the season.

Hitting coach Darnell Coles has been working with Robles on mechanical changes to his swing since late in spring training. Coles wants him starting his hands in a better position to allow for quicker movement to the ball. It remains a work in progress, as the results to date show.

PITTSBURGH – It is an absolutely beautiful afternoon here along the banks of the Allegheny River. Could get a little chilly tonight, but the skies are clear and the vista of downtown and the Clemente Bridge beyond PNC Park is as good as it gets.

The Nationals open a four-game weekend series against the Pirates, hoping to keep the positive momentum they generated in Atlanta going. After seven straight with the Mets and Braves to begin the season, they now get eight straight against the Pirates and Diamondbacks. Perhaps an opportunity to make some headway against lesser competition.

Joan Adon makes his second start of the season, his third as a big leaguer. The kid carried a shutout into the fifth inning against New York before fading. We’ll see if his stamina is built up a bit more now and he can complete that second trip through the lineup.

The lineup that will face Pittsburgh right-hander J.T. Brubaker includes Yadiel Hernandez in left field and Dee Strange-Gordon in center. So that means both Lane Thomas and Victor Robles are sitting. Everything else looks normal, including Nelson Cruz back in the lineup for the second straight day, so his groin must be feeling fine.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: PNC Park
Gametime: 6:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 60 degrees, wind 12 mph out to left field

Ask any knowledgeable baseball fan of a certain age about the significance of Aug. 12, 1994, and you'll get a shudder and a scowl out of them. That's the day Major League Baseball players went on strike, a decision that ultimately led to the cancellation of the World Series and a delayed start to the following season.

For the second time in three years, the Major League Baseball season will not start on time. And for the first time in 27 years, it's because of a labor dispute.

Unable to come to terms with the MLB Players Association on a new collective bargaining agreement before the league's self-imposed, once-postponed 5 p.m. deadline today, commissioner Rob Manfred officially announced opening day will not take place as scheduled March 31, then added he has canceled the first week of the regular season.

For much of Monday, the prospect of the first postponed opening day due to a labor fight looked inevitable. As representatives of Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association gathered yet again at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., for yet another day of negotiations, even the most optimistic observers were left believing a deal couldn't be reached in time to satisfy the league's Feb. 28 deadline to ensure an on-time start to the season.