SAN FRANCISCO – Victor Robles officially went on the 10-day injured list with back spasms today, leaving the Nationals without their starting center fielder and leaving the club with only three true outfielders for now.

Robles hurt himself sliding into second base on a stolen base attempt Saturday night in Arizona. He sat out Sunday’s game, and because it didn’t appear he’d be ready to return in short order the club decided to place him on the IL and bring in another healthy position player.

“He came in today, got treatment, still feeling the same,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I’m sure it’s going to take him a few days before he really feels better, and then we’ll go from there.”

The healthy player added is Jake Alu, the 26-year-old utility man who was promoted from Triple-A Rochester and will be making his major league debut once he steps on the field. Alu, who was batting .247 with four doubles, two homers and 10 RBIs in 21 games for Rochester, is a natural infielder who has been seeing some action in the outfield as he tries to prep himself for a potential career as a versatile bench player in the big leagues.

With only three true outfielders – Stone Garrett, Alex Call, Lane Thomas – on the active roster now, Martinez will have to get creative. Martinez said Call will be the starting center fielder in Robles’ absence, with Thomas remaining in right field. Garrett is starting in left field tonight, but Joey Meneses, Ildemaro Vargas and Alu all could see time there as well until the rest of the roster gets healthy.

PHOENIX – The Nationals don’t have either Victor Robles or Jeimer Candelario in their lineup for today’s series finale against the Diamondbacks, the former dealing with a stiff back that knocked him out of Saturday night’s game, the latter still recovering from the bout of dehydration that landed him in the hospital Friday night.

Robles hurt himself sliding into second base on a stolen base attempt in the third inning Saturday, though he remained in the game until the following inning when Alex Call stepped in to pinch-hit for him.

Manager Davey Martinez didn’t want to take a chance putting Robles right back in the lineup today, not wanting to let a back issue get any worse for a player who runs as much as the speedy center fielder does.

“It’s definitely going to be a little bit of a concern, because of the way he plays the game,” Martinez said. “He came in here, he got treatment, he’s going to get some more treatment. We’ll keep an eye on him, and hopefully it gets better. And if it doesn’t, we’ll have to think about something else, maybe another day. I’ll talk to the trainers throughout the day and see how he’s doing.”

Candelario began to feel poor late during Friday’s game, then felt “weird” while he was showering after the game. He was treated by paramedics and was taken to a local hospital for overnight evaluation, but doctors ruled anything more serious than dehydration.

PHOENIX – A lot happened during Saturday night’s game, a wild 8-7 loss to the Diamondbacks. The Nationals got nine strikeouts from MacKenzie Gore in six innings. They pulled off a five-run rally in the top of the ninth, four of those runs scoring with two outs. They gave it back in the bottom of the ninth when Kyle Finnegan retired only one of the six batters he faced.

There were other developments of note, as well. And those shouldn’t be ignored as you process everything that took place in this highly eventful ballgame …

* Keibert Ruiz snapped out of his slump in a big way.

The young catcher insisted Friday night he wouldn’t hang his head after striking out three times and seeing his slump extend to 0-for-16. He made good on that promise Saturday, delivering a two-run double in the fourth and then a towering homer to lead off the ninth.

These were important swings for Ruiz. Not simply because of the results, but because of the authority with which he connected for those hits. His double carried an exit velocity of 106.4 mph. His homer was actually a bit lower, at 104.7 mph. He even made loud contact on a second-inning groundout to short, a ball that left his bat at 99.7 mph.

PHOENIX – This looked like one of those nights when the Nationals would be left to focus on the positives that emerged from a nondescript loss. Most notably, an ace-like performance from MacKenzie Gore.

Then this looked like one of those nights when the Nationals would celebrate a stunning victory thanks to the five runs they scored in the top of the ninth behind the offensive exploits of Keibert Ruiz, Ildemaro Vargas and Lane Thomas.

But at the end of a wild Saturday night in the desert, all the Nats could do was trudge off the field having suffered their toughest loss of the season, falling to the Diamondbacks, 8-7, after Kyle Finnegan blew an unexpected save opportunity in the bottom of the ninth in agonizing fashion.

"I can't say enough about what our team did, behind like that and coming back," manager Davey Martinez said. "It shows a lot of fight. It shows a lot of the character of our ballclub. And you've got a team over there that's fighting back. Look, we made it a battle. At the end, we couldn't hold the lead."

Entrusted with a one-run lead thanks to his teammates' shocking rally in the top of the inning, Finnegan immediately gave it back on Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s leadoff homer to left. Despite the pleas of Stone Garrett that a fan reached over the fence to interfere with his play, league officials in New York upheld the home run call, leaving the game tied.

One-plus months into this season, Davey Martinez’s offensive philosophy has become pretty well established, certainly when it comes to his regular 8-9-1 hitters: If CJ Abrams gets on base and there’s an opportunity to play for one run, Victor Robles and/or Alex Call will probably be asked to bunt.

It happened twice tonight, in both the third and fifth innings, and the end result of all that was one run. One that was made possible only because of an error on Robles’ sacrifice bunt attempt in the third.

As such, when Abrams, Robles and Call came back to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, this game was now tied. This time, each was allowed to swing away. And lo and behold, would you guess what happened next? Each delivered a clutch hit, combining to drive in three runs and propel the Nationals to a cathartic, 4-1 victory over the Cubs.

"It's nice to bunt, but you think about giving up outs," Martinez said when asked what made the strategy in the seventh different from the third and fifth. "At that particular moment in the seventh, I said: Hey man, we need to put some runs on the board. And they're swinging the bats well. So you give them a chance to swing. And they came through, which was awesome."

Abrams’ single to right, which brought Dominic Smith home from second, provided the go-ahead RBI. Robles’ infield single, a sharp chopper to third that ate up Patrick Wisdom, kept the rally going. And Call’s double to the gap in left-center brought both of his teammates home and provided the entire dugout reason to celebrate a three-run rally.

Josiah Gray was standing alone in right field around 1 p.m., going through his pregame stretch routine and preparing to enter the bullpen to begin warming up for he expected to be a 1:35 p.m. first pitch at Nationals Park.

And then the rain began falling, and all of a sudden people were huddling up and yelling across the field to others to halt all game prep and head back indoors, the start of the game now delayed.

Gray would return to the Nationals clubhouse and remain there for 2 1/2 hours before finally emerging again to start the routine all over again. Then he made sure the long wait was worth it, authoring another quality start to complete a most impressive opening month to what could be a breakthrough season.

With six innings of one-run ball against the red-hot Pirates, Gray made another statement in an April filled with them. The 25-year-old right-hander, with some much-appreciated run support from his teammates, led the Nats to a 7-2 victory over Pittsburgh to avoid a sweep at the end of a long weekend that featured as much rain as baseball.

"He's been unbelievable, since spring training," manager Davey Martinez said. "His routine, the way he's going about his business, the way he's mapping out the game plan ... that's just a testament to what he wants to do. And right now, he's doing unbelievable."

MINNEAPOLIS – The Nationals aren’t going to score 10 runs every day. They know that. They know as much fun as Saturday’s lopsided win over the Twins was, that’s not often going to be their path to victory.

For these Nationals to win, execution in key moments is imperative. If they only provide themselves with a handful of legitimate scoring opportunities each game, they’re going to have to make the most of them and hope their pitching is good enough to make it stand up.

The pitching was good enough this afternoon at Target Field. Patrick Corbin gave up three runs in six innings, a quality start that can only be deemed a success for the long-struggling left-hander. The lineup, however, did not come close to making the most of its few scoring opportunities, in one particular instance giving away outs in spectacular fashion to help make a 3-1 loss to Minnesota possible.

Thus did the Nats fail to do something they haven’t done in nearly two years: sweep a three-game series, last achieved in June 2021 against the Pirates. And they certainly didn’t do something they hadn’t done in nearly four years: sweep a road series, last achieved in August 2019 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

"The guys played hard, and they played hard today," manager Davey Martinez said. "To come out of here, when these guys have been playing well, and win two out of three with a day off coming up tomorrow, it feels good."

Victor Robles is getting his first day off of the season tonight, which isn’t all that newsworthy on its own merits. The player who will take over in center field in Robles’ absence, though, is somewhat surprising: Alex Call.

Call is getting the nod in center for tonight’s game against the Orioles instead of Lane Thomas, who will remain in right field as he has been for each of the Nats’ first 17 games this season.

The reason: Manager Davey Martinez didn’t want to move Thomas out of his regular position for just one day, given how well he has played there since Opening Day.

“I could’ve swapped everyone around,” Martinez said. “But I thought the best thing to do was leave Lane where he’s comfortable, put Call in center and leave Stone Garrett where he’s comfortable.”

Garrett is in left field for the third straight game, the only outfield position he has played so far this season in the majors.

Josiah Gray has unquestionably gotten off to a good start this season, especially once he overcame some early home run foibles in his first outing of the year. That’s important to the Nationals in the grand scheme, because improvement from the 25-year-old right-hander is high on their list of goals for 2023.

It would be nice, though, if the Nats could reward Gray for his efforts by getting him at least one win at some point. Or, you know, providing at least one run of support for him.

Alas, that isn’t happening at all, and the disturbing trend continued tonight during a frustrating, 1-0 loss to the Orioles in the opener of this year’s Battle of the Beltways on South Capitol Street.

Despite another strong start from Gray, the Nationals lineup was once again rendered helpless, shut out for the third time this season. Notably, all three shutouts have come during Gray’s last three starts.

"You go through some tough luck like this, when you do have good starters make some good pitches and pitch well, and it sucks," first baseman Dominic Smith said. "It sucks that we weren't able to push across a couple runs for him, especially with how well he's been pitching."

Stone Garrett finds himself back in the Nationals lineup today, the 27-year-old slugger given an opportunity to start in left field after spending the last five games on the bench in the wake of back-to-back impressive performances in Colorado.

Garrett is starting in place of Alex Call, who had been in Davey Martinez’s lineup 11 consecutive games, the last eight as leadoff hitter.

Garrett went 6-for-10 with two doubles, a homer and five RBIs during his back-to-back starts last weekend against the Rockies. Martinez said he hadn’t been back in the lineup since due to matchups, pointing out the Nationals hadn’t faced many left-handers since. Shane Bieber, who starts today for the Guardians, is a right-hander, but Martinez still views this as an advantageous matchup for Garrett.

“This guy throws a lot of off-speed stuff, keeps the ball out over the plate. So I thought it would be a good matchup,” the manager said. “Alex has been playing every day, so give him a day (off). Let’s get him out there. Like I said before, I’ve been wanting to get him out there. I think today is a good day.”

Call had taken over the everyday job in left field after Corey Dickerson suffered a calf strain in the season’s second game. He leads the team with nine walks and sported a .415 on-base percentage six days ago. But he’s just 1 for his last 17 with one walk, and has seen his batting average drop to .208, with his on-base percentage down to .322.

DENVER – When he did it in spring training, there were the obvious caveats attached. When he did it through the season’s first week, there was still reason to withhold judgment until the sample size was larger. And even though he continued to do it over the weekend, you still can’t talk about Victor Robles’ early season success without pointing out he just played four games at Coors Field, which can inflate any ballplayer’s offensive numbers.

So, yes, it’s still far too early to declare that Robles has been “fixed” or that his production through 10 games is definitely sustainable. But it’s not hard to look at what the Nationals center fielder is doing and believe that there is some legitimacy to it.

First, there are the cold, hard facts. Robles is batting .387 (12-for-31) with a .472 on-base percentage. He has drawn five walks. He has scored five runs.

Then there is the manner in which he has done this. He has dramatically cut down on his strikeouts, with only three of them to his name in 37 plate appearances. He is executing in near-flawless ways in fundamentals, whether placing a perfect safety squeeze to score the decisive run in Saturday’s win or singling through the vacated right side of the infield on a hit-and-run during Sunday’s loss. And we haven’t even discussed his work in center field yet, with several notable instances of restraint when in the past he would be tempted to throw the ball away.

All of these are encouraging signs, and reason to hope the 25-year-old is finally turning a corner after several disappointing seasons.

DENVER – It’s hard to call a six-run offensive performance unsatisfactory, especially for a lineup that hasn’t exactly been great at scoring runs so far this season. The usual standards of offensive success, though, don’t always apply 5,280 feet above sea level.

The Nationals, sorry to say, needed more than that this afternoon during a 7-6 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field. Maybe that’s more an indictment of their bullpen, which saw four runs cross the plate in the bottom of the sixth under its watch. But with several top relief arms unavailable after contributing to wins both Friday and Saturday nights, it was always going to be a challenge for the rest of that unit to pitch flawless baseball.

As such, the Nats failed to win this four-game series, settling instead for a long weekend split. Each loss came by only one run: a 1-0 heartbreaker Thursday afternoon, then today’s high-scoring, back-and-forth affair.

They leave town at 3-7, with a three-game series in Anaheim against the star-studded Angels next before they return to the East Coast.

"We talked about this all week here: You've just got to score as many runs as possible," manager Davey Martinez said. "Anything can happen. Look, we battled. It was just a tough day."

If I had asked who would be leading the Nationals in on-base percentage six games into the season, how many of you would have said Victor Robles?

Those of you with your hands raised are lying.

But it’s true, as the 25-year-old center fielder currently leads his team by getting on base at a .476 clip through the season’s first two series.

“For me, his on-base percentage,” manager Davey Martinez said when asked what numbers will be most significant in judging Robles’ success this year. “We talk a lot about team at-bats, too, and what they do in team at-bats. So he's a guy that needs to be very situational, whether it's bunting a guy over, getting a guy over from second base with no outs, driving in free runs from third base with less than two outs. Those are the little things that I want to see Victor do.”

It’s a small sample size, sure, but keep in mind where we’re coming from. Robles posted a career-low .273 on-base percentage in 132 games last year and he hasn’t come anywhere near his career-best rate of .348 in 2018 (which came in only 21 games).

On Opening Day, Patrick Corbin suffered through some defensive errors behind him, some bad luck on weak contact by Braves hitters and some poor pitches on his own part. He couldn’t retire the only batter he faced in the fourth while giving up four runs (two earned) and throwing 85 pitches.

In today’s matinee finale against the Rays, he was more efficient with his pitches but at times not all that effective, with the results more of the same in a 7-2 loss to complete a three-game sweep in front of 13,836 fans at Nationals Park.

Corbin kept his pitch count down throughout most of the outing, much better than his first start on Thursday. He had only thrown 69 pitches and 47 strikes while keeping it a 3-2 game through five innings. And he was getting ahead of hitters at a better rate, something he also struggled with against the Braves. Of the 21 hitters he faced through five frames, he got ahead of 12 of them to limit the Rays to six hits and three runs.

But in the sixth he ran into some classic Corbin issues. One out away from a quality start and possibly allowing himself to come out for another inning, he gave up a home run to Harold Ramírez after getting ahead 0-1. The 80-mph slider was just below the zone for the Rays designated hitter to golf over the center field fence to end a streak of 11 consecutive retired batters.

After a single by Manuel Margot, it was time for some of the usual bad luck to strike Corbin again. Victor Robles, who had just made a nice diving grab to rob Isaac Paredes of a leadoff hit, lost Taylor Walls’ fly ball to the Sun Monster, resulting in an RBI double. Then Jose Siri hit an RBI single to right, advanced to second on a throwing error by Lane Thomas and was put out at third on a heads up play by Jeimer Candelario and CJ Abrams.

Bryce Harper was the first to coin the phrase, way back on Sept. 23, 2012 when the then-rookie outfielder lost a fly ball in the sun during an afternoon game at Nationals Park.

“You can’t catch what you can’t see, you know?” Harper said that day. “Nothing you can do about it. Sun Monster got me.”

And for the last decade, anyone who has closely watched the Nationals has known to beware the Sun Monster every September. He comes out like clockwork, just as the summer humidity dissipates and the afternoon sun moves into a lower position above the upper deck at the ballpark.

In Thursday’s season opener, though, the Sun Monster made an extremely rare, late-March appearance, wreaking as much havoc on players in the field for both the Nats and Braves as perhaps it ever has.

It happened during the Nationals’ very first plate appearance of the season. Lane Thomas’ top-of-the-first popup into shallow center field appeared to make for an easy catch for either shortstop Orlando Arcia or center fielder Michael Harris II. But when Arcia called off his teammate and reached up to make the play, he recoiled in horror when he couldn’t locate the ball, which landed harmlessly on the grass for a cheap single.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Victor Robles has done this before, putting up big numbers in spring training only to watch them come crashing down to earth once the season begins.

So nobody, not the Nationals and not the 25-year-old center fielder himself, is going to get too worked up about his performance over the last month.

“In terms of the results themselves and the numbers, I really don’t care much about that,” he said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “Maybe partly because I’m on the team. I think it’s just a matter of making sure I prepare myself right and take the right approach, and then get ready for the season.”

Still, it’s hard to ignore the numbers altogether. After another two-hit showing Thursday night, Robles is batting .342 (13-for-38) with four doubles, a triple and a homer, six RBIs and a .969 OPS in Grapefruit League play.

If he maintains these numbers, this will be the fourth time in five years Robles has finished spring training with an OPS over .900. Only once in the previous four regular seasons has he finished with OPS better than .608. So skepticism remains high.

JUPITER, Fla. – While there’s been plenty of reason to fret about the Nationals rotation this spring, there hasn’t been much reason to worry about Josiah Gray. At least, not based on the right-hander’s results to date.

Gray enters today’s start against the Cardinals with a sparkling 1.42 ERA in three Grapefruit League starts. He’s allowed only one earned run across 6 1/3 innings. He’s issued only one walk while striking out six. The workload isn’t as high as others, because his last outing came on a back field against minor leaguers. But the results have been positive so far.

The lineup has a bit of a different look to it today, with CJ Abrams leading off and Victor Robles batting second. I wouldn’t read too much into that, other than Davey Martinez wanting to get both guys at-bats without having to play too deep into the game. But it’ll be nice to see how Abrams handles the leadoff spot against Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MLB.tv (Cardinals broadcast)
Radio: nationals.com
Weather: Sunny, 76 degrees, wind 9 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
DH CJ Abrams
CF Víctor Robles
RF Alex Call
LF Corey Dickerson
1B Matt Adams
3B Ildemaro Vargas
C Riley Adams
SS Jeter Downs
2B Michael Chavis

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – After a stretch of five straight games played in Palm Beach County, the Nationals hit the road for a bit of a longer drive today. Not that 45 minutes up I-95 is that bad, but it’s actually the only trip they’ve got left that will be longer than 15 minutes.

Cade Cavalli gets the start, and it would be nice to see the rookie have some success over multiple innings, even if he’s not facing the entire Mets’ A lineup today. Cavalli should be able to complete four innings, provided he keeps his pitch count in check. At this point, he’s scheduled to be the No. 5 starter when the season begins, so the time has come for him to step up and get himself into regular season mode.

Keibert Ruiz is leading off for the second straight day, an attempt to get some extra at-bats without having to catch too many innings and also perhaps see more pitches. (Though of course he swung at the first pitch Monday afternoon and grounded out to third, not exactly what Davey Martinez had in mind.)

Victor Robles returns to the lineup after missing five days with a bruised left knee. The center fielder was able to fully participate in drills Monday with no issues, so he should be good to go and get three at-bats today.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Clover Park, Port St. Lucie
Gametime: 1:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MLB Network, MLB.tv (Mets broadcast)
Radio: None
Weather: Partly cloudy, 74 degrees, wind 12 mph in from left field

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – There are added responsibilities that come with a $50 million contract extension, and Keibert Ruiz knows what awaits him now that he has committed to the Nationals for at least eight more years.

But do those responsibilities include becoming a leadoff hitter?

No, despite what Davey Martinez’s lineup card looks like today.

Ruiz is indeed batting first for the Nats’ exhibition game against the Astros, but it’s not something anyone should expect to see in the regular season.

The simple answer is that Martinez wants to make sure Ruiz gets a chance to take as many at-bats as possible while catching the fewest number of innings possible before departing for the day.

JUPITER, Fla. – Alex Call probably reported to spring training with a bit of a leg up for a spot on the Nationals’ bench, based if nothing else on the six weeks he spent with them to close out the 2022 season. The Nats liked his ability to play all three outfield positions and were impressed with the surprising pop he displayed (a .441 slugging percentage) in 115 plate appearances.

That Call has proceeded to perform well this spring has only bolstered his case to make the Opening Day roster. He enters today’s game against the Cardinals with a robust .417 batting average (10-for-24), four doubles and two stolen bases in Grapefruit League play.

“He’s staying on the ball really well,” manager Davey Martinez said. “What I like about Alex right now: He’s on time. His swing looks really easy, really smooth. But he’s getting himself on time every pitch, and I love that.”

Call ostensibly entered camp in competition with two newcomers, Stone Garrett and Derek Hill, for the fourth outfielder’s job. Hill pulled his hamstring earlier this month and will likely open the season on the injured list. Garrett showed off his power stroke Friday night when he launched his first homer of the spring, but overall he’s 5-for-23 with eight strikeouts.

Call, meanwhile, has done just about everything in his power to make the decision an easy one. He added to the ledger Saturday night with two hits, a walk and a run scored in the Nationals’ 10-7 win over the Mets.