Voting for the annual Baseball Writers' Association of America awards is hardly easy. There is a lot of pressure when filling out your ballot because of the pedigree and history that are attached to the awards.

If there was an “easy” one of the four, it would probably be Manager of the Year.

When it comes down to Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player, there are so many statistics that can be used to compare and contrast the candidates. It sometimes comes down to which ones the voters value more, and that often changes (i.e. the emergence of sabermetric numbers over the last decade).

But for Manager of the Year, there is really only one stat that matters: Record. Then that is often balanced against a team’s expectations coming into the season and any hardships they had to endure (roster changes, injuries, prolonged slumps, etc.).

Voters also take a team’s talent level into consideration. Dave Roberts may never win another Manager of the Year award because the Dodgers are always loaded with MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year candidates with World Series-or-bust aspirations.

After never happening in the team’s 18-year existence since relocating to Washington, D.C., in 2005, the Nationals have now been no-hit twice in less than a calendar year.

Two weeks from the one-year anniversary of Michael Lorenzen’s no-hitter against the Nats at Citizens Bank Park, Dylan Cease repeated the feat for the Padres in a 3-0 win in front of 20,755 fans, who saw history while sticking out a 1-hour, 16-minute rain delay at Nationals Park.

After being outscored 16-3 through the first two games this week, the Nats had the challenge of facing Cease for the second time this season. He held the Nats scoreless over seven innings of one-run, one-walk ball while striking out 10 on June 26

Entering today riding a 13-inning scoreless streak, the right-hander extended it to 22 frames by no-hitting the Nationals. It was the first no-hitter of his career and second in Padres franchise history after Joe Musgrove's no-hit the Rangers on April 9, 2021.

Cease kept the Nats off-balance with a great mix of his slider and triple-digit fastball. He got a total of 18 swings and misses with 11 coming against the slider, which he threw 53 percent of the time. And because of the Nats’ aggressive approach, his pitch count remained relatively low throughout the start for his second dominant outing against Washington in a month.

The good news about today’s early start is that the Nationals can quickly put last night’s 12-3 loss behind them. The bad news is they still have to play the Padres, who they are 0-5 against this season and need to beat this afternoon to avoid a season sweep.

Patrick Corbin will take the mound for this matinee finale. The veteran left-hander was great in his first start of the second half, holding the Reds to one run on three hits and no walks with six strikeouts in six innings on Friday. He also tossed one of his five quality starts this season thus far against the Padres a month ago, holding them to three runs over seven innings with five strikeouts.

That was the only time Corbin has completed seven innings this season, so the Nats are hoping for a repeat today, especially with a depleted bullpen. Corbin is only 2-9 on the season, but a win today would be the 100th of the southpaw’s 12-year career.

Dylan Cease makes his 22nd start of the season for San Diego. The right-hander is 9-8 with a 3.76 ERA, 1.033 WHIP and 11.7 strikeouts-per-nine-innings in his first season as a Padre. He held the Nats scoreless over seven innings of one-run, one-walk ball while striking out 10 in June.

The Nats offense will definitely look for better results against Cease, who is riding a 13-inning scoreless streak entering today’s start.

As much as young starting pitching carried the Nationals through the first half of the season, everyone involved has known all along there were no guarantees that group of unproven arms would continue to perform at such a high level through the second half of the season.

This is especially true for the least-experienced members of the group: Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz, neither of whom opened the year in the big leagues but quickly burst onto the scene to make names for themselves.

Upon seeing Herz begin to struggle earlier this month, the Nats decided to demote him to Triple-A and give him an extended All-Star break to rest his arm and mind. He returned Tuesday night and impressed over five innings against the Padres.

The club might be tempted to do something similar with Parker after he got ransacked tonight by San Diego during an ugly, 12-3 loss that ended with utilityman Ildemaro Vargas firing up a crowd of 23,323 with a scoreless top of the ninth featuring a plethora of eephus pitches.

The Nationals are now 0-5 against the Padres this season, 47-50 against everyone else.

The Nationals have not fared well against two teams in particular this season. They’re 2-8 against the Mets, and they’re 0-4 against the Padres. Throw out those records – which obviously you can’t do – and they’ve actually gone 45-42 against everybody else in the majors. Which is not bad at all. But one of these days, they’ve got to find a way to beat San Diego, and there are only two games left to do that.

Davey Martinez would love to get a better offensive performance tonight than he got in the opener, when the Nats were shut out for the 11th time this year. That came against unheralded right-hander Randy Vasquez and three relievers. Tonight, it’s Matt Waldron, who enters with better numbers than Vasquez and pitched well against the Nationals just last month at Petco Park, allowing two runs while striking out eight over six innings. (That’s the game that was remembered far more for what happened during a wild 10th inning than anything that happened earlier.)

Mitchell Parker did not pitch in that series, so this will be his first start against the Padres. The rookie left-hander had a breakthrough first half, until a disastrous finale in Milwaukee in which he couldn’t get out of the first inning. A fast and effective start to Parker’s evening this time around is a must.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 84 degrees, wind 7 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
DH Jesse Winker
1B Juan Yepez
LF James Wood
2B Luis García Jr.
C Riley Adams
3B Trey Lipscomb
CF Jacob Young

After a weekend sweep of the Reds that included a series of notable rallies and some long-awaited power displays from a lineup that desperately needed it, the Nationals returned tonight to face the Padres hoping for at least some carryover effect.

Instead, they got the exact opposite. During the course of a lackluster 4-0 loss, they did very little at the plate, squandering the scoring opportunities they had and rarely hitting the ball with any real authority.

Thus did the Nats lose for the first time since the All-Star break, missing a chance to sustain some positive momentum with a tepid showing at the plate against an unheralded opposing pitcher.

Randy Vasquez, a 25-year-old right-hander who has given up a bunch of hits – especially homers – this season, combined with three San Diego relievers to shut out the Nationals on only 102 pitches.

"We hit some balls hard, but we just couldn't get any good swings off," manager Davey Martinez said. "We swung the bats today, but we really didn't work good at-bats."

The Nationals couldn’t have asked for a better start to their second half, sweeping the Reds over the weekend in impressive fashion. Now they’ll have to try to keep it going against a team that recently swept them.

The Padres are in town, and it was only four weeks ago when they won three straight against the Nationals during a wild series in San Diego that ruined a lot of positive momentum they had built up earlier in June.

One of those games at Petco Park was started by DJ Herz, who makes his return to the big leagues tonight after officially getting recalled from Triple-A. (Reliever Eduardo Salazar was optioned to Rochester to clear up that roster spot.) Herz essentially got a 16-day break since he last pitched up here, making only one abbreviated start for Rochester to keep his arm fresh. It will be fascinating to see how the rookie left-hander returns, and whether he can find some level of more consistency than he showed in his first stint.

Right-hander Randy Vasquez is tonight’s opponent, and he will be a new face from the Nationals’ perspective, nobody on the current roster having faced him before. There will be a few ex-Padres in the lineup, though, with some extra motivation against the franchise that traded them. How will James Wood and CJ Abrams handle this assignment?

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain late, 88 degrees, wind 7 mph out to left field

The second half schedule afforded the Nationals the option of waiting a while before using their fifth starter. They’ve decided, though, to go ahead and use him now.

The Nats will send that yet-to-be-announced starter to the mound Tuesday against the Padres in what is actually the team’s fourth game coming out of the All-Star break. That pushes left-hander Mitchell Parker back to Wednesday’s game, with Patrick Corbin (who started Friday night’s second half opener) pitching Thursday’s series finale against San Diego.

The presence of an off-day on the schedule this week gave the Nationals some room to maneuver if they wished. They don’t actually need a fifth starter until Saturday’s game in St. Louis, the eighth game coming out of the break.

But rather than offer all of the extra rest to one pitcher, the club decided to give others (especially Parker) an extra day before taking the mound.

“Exactly, that’s what it boils down to,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We want to try to give these guys as much rest as we possibly can. Some of these guys are going to pitch a lot more than they have in the past, so we’re trying to just stretch this out a little bit.”

SAN DIEGO – This series between the Nationals and Padres didn’t need any more drama. Not after the extra-inning theatrics on Monday and the extracurriculars on Tuesday.

It felt like both teams got everything off their respective chests last night and could just play a regular ballgame Wednesday.

They were able to do so. Except the Nationals were searching for a victory to avoid getting swept out of San Diego and couldn’t overcome an early deficit in an 8-5 loss in front of an announced crowd of 37,397 at Petco Park.

DJ Herz was tasked with holding the Padres lineup in check after it scored a combined 16 runs over the first two games. But as in his previous start in Colorado, the rookie southpaw couldn’t get out of the fourth inning. Today marked the shortest outing of his five major league starts to date.

Kyle Higashioka snuck a two-run homer down the left field line to give the Padres a 2-0 lead in the second. Herz left an 81 mph changeup right down the middle of the plate for the catcher to smack.

SAN DIEGO – Let’s be very clear from the start: The Nationals did not intentionally hit Jurickson Profar during Tuesday’s game. Nor did manager Davey Martinez suggest that they did so during his postgame press conference.

Yes, Keibert Ruiz confronted Profar before his first at-bat last night, leading to both benches and bullpens clearing. Yes, MacKenzie Gore hit Profar with the first pitch. But the left-hander hit the back foot of the switcher-hitter, who was standing in on the right-handed side of the plate. A nearly impossible feat to accomplish on purpose.

And yes, Martinez said he was proud of the way his team – i.e. Ruiz – handled the situation by having a conversation, not by using physical retaliation.

As is commonplace on social media nowadays, some misinformation circulated online this morning speculating otherwise. And that’s the proper word for what happened because Martinez’s quotes were taken totally out of context.

For proper context, the portion of the manager’s postgame session that aired on MASN’s “Nats Xtra” postgame show started after the first couple of questions were already asked and didn’t include the question that Martinez was answering.

SAN DIEGO – Are there any more fireworks left in this series between the Nationals and Padres? The Nats certainly hope so as they look to avoid the three-game sweep in today’s finale.

Last night’s game was full of emotion and got pretty heated early, but it eventually settled down and became more about baseball than any off-field theatrics. Let’s see if the Nats can take the frustration of these two losses and turn it into something positive before heading to Tampa Bay.

While the Nats have been able to score runs over the first two games of this series, they haven’t been able to keep the Padres from doing so as well. They’ll turn to rookie DJ Herz to hold this lineup and give them a chance to get out of here with a win. Herz was charged with four runs (three earned) in his last start at Coors Field, so he’ll try to get back to what made him so successful when he struck out 13 Marlins over six shutout innings in his start before that.

Meanwhile, Dylan Cease hasn’t been all that impressive after coming to the Padres from the White Sox this spring in exchange for four players. The veteran right-hander is 6-6 with a 4.14 ERA and 1.106 WHIP in 16 starts.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Petco Park
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 75 degrees, wind 10 mph from left to right

SAN DIEGO – There was underlying tension ahead of this second game between the Nationals and Padres.

After Jurickson Profar took exception to two inside pitches that weren’t really close to hitting him then walked off the Nats and directed his celebration toward the visiting dugout last night, some members of the Nationals bench waited around to see if things would escalate.

They didn’t then. But it didn’t take long for it to carry over into tonight’s game.

The Nationals ended up losing 9-7 to the Padres, but not before both benches cleared in the first inning with Keibert Ruiz and Profar getting into it.

“It was nothing crazy," Ruiz said after the game. "We were just having a conversation about what he did yesterday. But it was nothing really crazy.”

SAN DIEGO – “It sucks we didn't get a win. But we just got to keep our heads up and come back tomorrow.”

That was Keibert Ruiz after last night’s brutal 7-6 loss in 10 innings to the Padres after the Nationals had a three-run lead going into the bottom of the 10th. Let’s see how the Nats respond tonight in the second game of this three-game set.

MacKenzie Gore goes to the mound to face his former team for the third time. He is 1-0 with a 3.72 ERA and 1.862 WHIP in his first two outings against the Padres, who included him and CJ Abrams in the blockbuster deal for Juan Soto. Gore is coming off one of his more bizarre outings in which he gave up a career-high 10 hits, nine of which were singles, to the Diamondbacks while striking out seven over five innings. The young lefty typically bounces back well after a rough outing, so the Nats certainly hope that’s the case tonight.

Yu Darvish was supposed to make his return from the injured list to start for the Padres, but that has been delayed due to right elbow inflammation. So it will be right-handed rookie Adam Mazur taking the hill with an 0-2 record, 7.27 ERA and 1.962 WHIP from his first four major league starts. 

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Petco Park
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 74 degrees, wind 8 mph from left to right

SAN DIEGO – The Nationals didn’t make a big deal of this three-game series against the Padres before the opener started. But if you looked at the standings, maybe they should have.

The Nats sat just a half-game behind the Padres for the last National League wild card spot entering tonight’s series opener. And although it’s still only June, the results of these three games will have an effect on those standings.

A victory would have vaulted the Nats into a playoff position with two games left to play at Petco Park. A loss would still keep them within striking distance.

After playing tight ballgames in Colorado, the Nats endured another one tonight in San Diego, this one ending in a 7-6 loss in 10 innings in front of an announced crowd of 39,164.

With two outs in the 10th inning of a 3-3 game, Keibert Ruiz pulled a second-pitch fastball from Padres reliever Enyel De Los Santos to score the automatic runner from second and give the Nats their first lead of the night.

SAN DIEGO – Harold Ramírez walked into the Nationals clubhouse at Petco Park with blue hair and a wide smile. He looked like the only kid ever to be excited on his first day at his new school. It’s because he was back in a major league clubhouse for the first time in three weeks.

The Nationals selected Ramírez’s contract from Triple-A Rochester before opening a three-game series against the Padres. The 29-year-old, who was designated for assignment by the Rays on June 7 and released on June 13, signed a minor league deal with the Nats on June 15 and needed just seven minor league games before joining a big league roster again.

“I really feel very excited to be here in the big leagues to be here with the Nationals,” he said in the visiting dugout after taking his first batting practice with his new team. “I just really want to give my 100 percent and take advantage of this opportunity.”

While not in the starting lineup tonight, he is available off the bench as a right-handed pinch-hitter for manager Davey Martinez, who says Ramírez will get opportunities against lefties.

“We picked up Harold. So he was down with us in Rochester, trying to get him going. He started swinging back really well,” Martinez said. “We needed a right-handed hitter. He's a veteran guy that hits lefties really well. So he's gonna get an opportunity to definitely play against lefties. And also if he starts swinging the bat, I can use him in our lineup. So we're gonna go over here. We wanted to bring him in today. He'll pinch-hit today for us. But get him acclimated and get him in as soon as possible.”

SAN DIEGO – Hello from beautiful, sunny Southern California! The Nationals are set to begin a three-game series here against the Padres after winning two of three in Colorado against the Rockies. And they have escaped the extreme heat of both Denver and Washington, D.C. to San Diego, where it is forecasted to be in the mid-70s all week.

Don’t look now, but this series actually has some playoff implications. Yes, it is still June, but entering today, the Nats are only a half-game behind the Padres for the final National League Wild Card spot. With a series victory, they could leave town firmly in a postseason position and at or above .500.

The Nationals are sending Patrick Corbin back to the mound for his 16th start of the year. Although he has only been charged with one run in each of his last two outings, it should be noted that Josiah Gray will be making his fourth rehab start with Triple-A Rochester in the coming days. As he gets closer to his return, the Nats get closer to having to make a decision on their veteran left-hander, who needs another solid outing to make a case for keeping his rotation spot.

Matt Waldron makes his 16th start of the year for the Padres. The right-handed rookie is 5-6 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.164 WHIP this season. He’s currently on a dominant stretch of five straight quality starts in which he’s gone 3-1 with a 1.35 ERA. Waldron hasn’t given up more than two runs in a start since May 5 against the Diamondbacks.

Harold Ramírez is reportedly meeting the Nationals here in San Diego. No roster move has been announced yet, so we’ll see if he makes it in time for today’s game. The Nats signed the veteran outfielder to a minor league contract after he was designated for assignment by the Rays and cleared waivers earlier this month.

From almost the moment he first set foot in the Nationals clubhouse in May 2018, Juan Soto was asked from time to time whether he liked playing in Washington, whether he could see himself staying in Washington for many years, whether he ever thought about playing somewhere else like … oh, New York.

And Soto’s answer was always consistent.

“For me, this is the team I’ve been with since, what, 2015?” he said one morning standing in front of his locker, referencing the year he first signed with the organization as a teenager from Santo Domingo. “I’ve been with this team, and I feel good with it. When I get to know the city more, it feels great. Why should I need to change?”

Soto provided that particular answer on July 16, 2022. Two weeks later, he was traded to the Padres.

And now, remarkably, he has been traded again, this time to the Yankees.

SAN DIEGO – Juan Soto swung the bat with every ounce of strength in his body, almost jumping out of his spikes, and let his momentum carry toward the Padres dugout before regaining his balance. Stumbling out of the box as Grayson Rodriguez’s third strikeout victim. His feet having a mind of their own.

Manny Machado followed with a towering popup and threw back his head in frustration.

Rodriguez was controlling the Padres tonight as if holding a joystick rather than a baseball.

Rodriguez lasted a career-high seven innings, Gunnar Henderson plated three runs with a bases-loaded double in the fifth and the Orioles defeated the Padres 4-1 before an announced crowd of 38,176 at Petco Park.

Ryan O’Hearn homered off Yu Darvish in the second inning, and the Orioles won their third game in a row to improve their record to 74-45 overall, 37-23 on the road and 26-13 in series openers. They also are 44-11 when scoring first, the best record in the majors.

The Orioles lost Friday night at Seattle but won back-to-back 10-inning games by 1-0 and 5-3 to take another series over the weekend and improve to 73-45. It was an outstanding start to a nine-game West Coast road trip that continues tonight at San Diego.

O’s batters scored just eight runs on 17 hits at T-Mobile Park against a Mariners club that Sunday was leading the American League in team ERA. But they still took two of three as their pitchers allowed just three runs on 10 hits the last two games.

Before the late-game heroics yesterday by Cedric Mullins and before Shintaro Fujinami got the last three outs for a save, starter Kyle Bradish delivered another quality start. He gave up two runs and five hits over six innings on 90 pitches. He lowered his ERA to 3.18. The Orioles are now 37-11 for the year when they get a quality start.

The O’s scored first on Sunday and are now 43-11 (.796) when scoring first – the best record in the majors.

The Orioles improved to 37-18 (.673) in games decided by one or two runs and to 48-25 (.659) in games decided by three or less. They lead the majors in both stats.

SAN DIEGO – Aaron Hicks is starting in left field and batting eighth tonight after his reinstatement from the injured list earlier today.

Cedric Mullins is in center field and batting sixth. Austin Hays sits against Padres right-hander Yu Darvish.

Adley Rutschman stays in the leadoff spot, followed by shortstop Gunnar Henderson.

Jordan Westburg is playing second base and batting ninth.

Ryan Mountcastle, the designated hitter tonight, is slashing .418/.488/.672 with four home runs and 13 RBIs during his 20-game on-base streak.