Meaningful late-inning opportunities for Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey have been so sparse this season that Davey Martinez has regularly been compelled to use his best relievers in blowouts just to make sure they don’t get rusty.

The Nationals have had a save opportunity in only two games this month (each of them blown saves by Rainey, for what it’s worth). So when the situation finally presented itself again early this evening on South Capitol Street, it was more than appropriate to feel some pangs of anxiety for the home ballclub.

Turns out there was nothing to be worried about, because Finnegan and Rainey delivered in the eighth and ninth innings to close out a tense, much-needed, 1-0 victory over the Dodgers to avoid a series sweep.

"Those are the moments you want to be pitching in, and those are the moments you're hoping for," Finnegan said. "To get one of those tonight and do our job at the back end of the bullpen and come away with the win, it was awesome."

A matinee finale that saw Erick Fedde toss six scoreless innings and the Nationals push across one run in the bottom of the sixth, ultimately came down to the two relievers Martinez has ready to pitch the final two innings every night but hardly ever had been able to use as desired through the season’s first 45 games.

For the sixth time in 14 series this season – and the third straight series – the Nationals head into the finale needing a win to avoid getting swept. This is not a good way to live life in the major leagues, but it’s the way this team is living this year, and that’s just the way it is.

The Nats will hope Erick Fedde can put forth a better start than Joan Adon or Josiah Gray did the last two nights. Fedde arguably has been the team’s most effective starter recently, but he faces quite a challenge this afternoon in a Dodgers lineup that has blasted out 19 runs over the last 48 hours.

The Nationals go up against Los Angeles left-hander Julio Urías, who just shut out the Phillies over five innings in his last start and led the league with 20 wins a year ago. Lane Thomas isn't batting leadoff against the lefty, as he did in the series opener, but he's still near the top of the order, behind César Hernández.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 70 degrees, wind 9 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
LF Lane Thomas
RF Juan Soto
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Josh Bell
3B Maikel Franco
C Riley Adams
CF Victor Robles
SS Alcides Escobar

MILWAUKEE – The worst thing a team struggling to win – and, more specifically, struggling to score runs – can do is try too hard to make something big happen.

The Nationals have been trying too hard for several weeks now, committing unforced errors in the field, on the bases and at the plate. It seems to be happening on a nightly basis during their current road trip. And tonight it may have come to a head in absolutely agonizing fashion.

Trailing the Brewers at the time 2-0 with one out in the top of the seventh, Lane Thomas drove a ball off the wall in deep right-center. And when it caromed to the side a bit, Thomas had himself an easy triple.

Except third base coach Gary DiSarcina wanted more. He waved Thomas around, shooting for an unlikely inside-the-park home run. And when the Brewers successfully relayed the ball to the plate to nail Thomas for the second out of the inning and the home crowd of 29,609 roared with approval, all the Nationals could do was watch in disbelief as it happened yet again.

"He thought he may have had a shot," manager Davey Martinez said of DiSarcina. "But when you don't score any runs, you try anything you can to get a run across the plate."

MILWAUKEE – Hello from the stadium formerly known as Miller Park. It’s now American Family Field, and yes, that’s going to take a while to get used to. The Nationals come to town for a three-game weekend series with the Brewers, hoping for some better results than they experienced during the first half of this trip in Miami, which required some extra-inning drama to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Marlins.

At this point, we kind of know what needs to happen for the Nats to have a realistic shot at winning: They need to hit. Or, more specifically, they need extra-base hits. Though they rank fourth in the National League with a .250 batting average and sixth with a .317 on-base percentage, they’re only ninth in runs scored with 158. Most of that is due to a lack of power; their .360 slugging percentage ranks 11th.

So that’s the challenge tonight against Brewers left-hander Eric Lauer, who enters with a 2.60 ERA and 0.981 WHIP but has allowed a hefty 1.8 homers per nine innings, including three in his last start (against the Marlins). Boy, this would be a good night for Nelson Cruz to get a hold of a pitch on the inner third of the plate, wouldn’t it?

Erick Fedde starts for the Nats, and it’s been some kind of wild ride for him of late. Fedde issued five walks May 8 in Anaheim, yet emerged without allowing a run. He issued three first-inning walks Saturday against the Astros but escaped the jam without any damage before giving up three runs later. Plain and simple, the right-hander needs to have an early feel for more than one of his pitches, keep the ball in the zone and keep his pitch count down against a Milwaukee lineup that’s 10th in the NL in batting average (.233) and on-base percentage (.311) but fourth in runs (179) because … they hit for power (.408 slugging percentage ranks fourth)!

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Where: American Family Field
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

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."

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

The Nationals’ just-completed West Coast trip simultaneously featured some of their best performances of the season and some of their worst.

There were back-to-back deep starts in Colorado by Erick Fedde and Patrick Corbin, the latter authoring the team’s first complete game of the year. There were offensive explosions in San Francisco, Colorado and Anaheim, with the team scoring seven or more runs in five of the nine games played. And there was at times dominant relief work from several members of a suddenly thinner bullpen.

On the flip side, there was a continued lack of power from a lineup that has totaled only 20 homers in 30 games this season. There were periods of atrocious defense. And, of course, there was Tanner Rainey’s blown save in the bottom of the ninth Sunday in Anaheim.

The end result of all that: a 4-5 trip that represented clear progress from where this team resided just before it, yet still felt short of what truly was possible.

“It would be a great road trip,” Davey Martinez said prior to Sunday’s finale against the Angels. “We’re playing a lot better than we have in the beginning. And we have an opportunity to win another series today.”

ANAHEIM, Calif. – On paper, the heart of the Angels batting order looks as intimidating as any in baseball. Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon are as accomplished a 2-3-4 trio as you’ll find in the sport, and even if they haven't been collectively performing up to their usual standards this season, there’s no denying the presence each has when he steps into the box.

For 26 innings this weekend, the Nationals pitching staff did just about everything it could to hold that fearsome trio in check.

They just couldn't do it in the 27th inning.

Needing one more out to complete a Sunday afternoon win and a series victory, Tanner Rainey gave up a game-tying double to Ohtani, then the game-winning single to Rendon that handed the Nats a gut-wrenching, 5-4 loss.

"I thought we did well pitching to those guys all series," manager Davey Martinez said inside a quiet visitors' clubhouse. "You’re playing with fire when those guys come up in the middle of that order, and you saw what they can do really quick.”

ANAHEIM, Calif. – It’s been a long, strange trip for the Nationals. They headed west mired on an eight-game losing streak, then won two of three in San Francisco with a surprising offensive explosion, then lost two of three in Colorado, then split the first two games of this series with the Angels. What that means: Today is the rubber game, not only of the series but of the entire trip. Given what they’ve been through, a 5-4 record would be quite an achievement, no?

The Nats have put themselves in this position thanks in large part to a resurgent rotation that has performed far better of late than it did earlier in the season. Their starters have allowed three or fewer earned runs in six of the eight games to date on the trip. And they’ve averaged nearly 5 2/3 innings per start, a significant improvement from April.

Erick Fedde is among those most responsible for that change in directions, having tossed seven innings of one-run ball at Coors Field in his last start, arguably the best of his career. The Nats will be asking for more of that from Fedde today against a really good Angels lineup, though one that has mostly been held in check so far this weekend.

The Nats lineup also has enjoyed a strong trip, producing an average of 6.8 runs and 12.1 hits per game, batting a collective .330/.384/.497 out west. That group will try to do it one more time this afternoon against Angels left-hander Patrick Sandoval, who has been outstanding early this season (1.29 ERA, zero homers allowed in 21 innings).

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone out there watching and reading, and especially to the most important moms in my life: Lois Zuckerman and Rachel Zuckerman!

DENVER – Something funny happened when the Nationals left the unfriendly confines of D.C. and flew west for what looked on paper like a daunting road trip.

Instead of crumbling, they’ve picked things up. Instead of looking overmatched, they’ve controlled their opponents. Instead of continuing the eight-game losing streak that plagued them at home, they’ve played their best baseball of the young season.

Tonight’s 10-2 blowout victory over the Rockies was simply the latest in a sudden string of impressive showings from the Nats. They took two-of-three in San Francisco, scoring a total of 28 runs in the process. Then they came to Coors Field and kept their foot on the gas, never giving the hometown team a chance to mount the kind of comeback this ballpark has been known to foster.

"Just seeing a lot of hits all across the lineup is huge. A lot of guys, I think, are settling in, in the rotation and throwing the ball well. And we're playing great defense. That's kind of the mixture for success," right-hander Erick Fedde said. "Maybe it was just taking a couple games to see it and believe it. Now we're playing really quality baseball."

For tonight's win, they can thank Fedde, who picked an opportune moment to author one of the best starts of his career. The right-hander allowed one run over seven innings, only the fourth time he’s ever recorded 21 outs in a big league game.

DENVER – The Nationals lineup just scored 28 runs over the weekend in pitcher-friendly Oracle Park. How many will they score over the next three nights at Coors Field, the greatest hitter-friendly park in major league history? The Nats haven’t hit for much power all season, even in San Francisco. So the thin air may not help them as much as the huge outfield dimensions here might.  

Davey Martinez will hope he can keep Josh Bell, Yadiel Hernandez and Victor Robles hot. He’ll also hope Juan Soto, Nelson Cruz and Keibert Ruiz can get going and start contributing on a more consistent basis. They’ll face Rockies right-hander Germán Márquez, who enters with a 5.57 ERA but has enjoyed success against the two Nationals he’s faced the most in his career: Bell (1-for-18 with a homer) and César Hernández (1-for-11).

Erick Fedde gets the start for the Nats; he was effective last time out against the Marlins, allowing only two runs on three hits. But he lasted only 4 2/3 innings because his pitch count was a whopping 91. He’s got to figure out how to finish off hitters once he gets ahead in the count and avoid those long at-bats that keep killing him.

The Nationals announced they have returned from rehab assignment and reinstated Dee Strange-Gordon, optioned Lucius Fox to Triple-A Rochester and transferred Aníbal Sánchez to the 60-day injured list.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at COLORADO ROCKIES
Where: Coors Field
Gametime: 8:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 61 degrees, wind 10 mph in from left field

For more than three hours on a blustery, 58-degree, late April night, a crowd of 13,356 sat at Nationals Park and waited for the home ballclub to do something, anything, that might be worthy of a robust reaction.

It didn’t happen while Erick Fedde was on the mound for 4 2/3 laborious innings. It didn’t happen while any of the first four Nationals relievers followed out of the bullpen. And it sure didn’t happen with any Nats at the plate during the first seven innings of lackluster baseball at the park.

And then, finally, a glimmer of a spark. A two-out rally in the bottom of the eighth that featured zero base hits but nonetheless somehow pushed one run across the plate, and brought Yadiel Hernandez to the plate with the bases loaded and a chance to deliver the clutch the crowd so desperately wanted.

And when Hernandez blasted Anthony Bender’s slider deep to left-center, everyone in the park reacted as if he had surely just delivered the biggest clutch hit this sport permits. Alas, it was too much to ask for on this night. The ball died in the cold air, caught by center fielder Jesús Sánchez at the warning track and the Nationals were left to wonder what might have been at the end of a 2-1 loss to the Marlins.

"Yadi couldn't do more than what he did," manager Davey Martinez said of Hernandez's 361-foot flyout, which according to Statcast had an expected batting average of .950. "He smoked that ball (at) 107 mph. Sometime soon, those balls will be home runs."

What happened to that beautiful late spring/early summer weather we were enjoying over the weekend? It’s gone now, with rain Tuesday night and now a cold northerly wind sweeping through town. It’s going to make for a bundle-up kind of evening at the ballpark when the Nationals host the Marlins, seeking to end their six-game losing streak.

If past matchups mean anything, the Nats have a favorable one tonight. Erick Fedde is 4-0 with a 1.43 ERA in seven career starts against the Marlins, including 2-0 with a 1.61 ERA in four head-to-head matchups last season. He could certainly use a good one after getting torched by the Diamondbacks for seven runs (six earned) in only 3 1/3 innings his last time out.

Marlins right-hander Pablo López takes the mound with a league-leading 0.52 ERA in three starts so far this season. He also has been very good against the Nationals, at least over the last two years when he’s gone 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA.

MIAMI MARLINS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 55 degrees, wind 16 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
RF Juan Soto
1B Josh Bell
DH Nelson Cruz
LF Yadiel Hernandez
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Lane Thomas
3B Maikel Franco
SS Lucius Fox

The day began with news of Sean Doolittle landing on the 10-day injured list with an elbow sprain, a development that on its own could’ve been enough to ruin the Nationals’ entire day.

Who knew it would be only the first in a series of calamities over the course of eight hours that ended with an 11-2 debacle of a loss to the Diamondbacks in which Erick Fedde recorded only 10 outs, Josh Bell departed with tightness in his left knee and a pregame demonstration of the U.S. Army parachute team prompted an emergency evacuation of the U.S. Capitol grounds.

Suffice it to say, it was not a particularly positive Wednesday night at the ballpark, wiping out plenty of the good vibes that emerged during Tuesday’s doubleheader sweep of Arizona.

"It felt like a cursed day, for sure, in that sense," Fedde said. "We're all trying to get our feet under us, and sometimes it's harder some days than others. I think we're all just trying to get through this first month and survive at this point."

This game represented a complete reversal of fortunes for both clubs. After holding the Diamondbacks to one total run across 18 innings of baseball the previous day, the Nationals pitching staff gave up a boatload of them tonight, with Fedde setting the tone during a start that lasted only 3 1/3 innings.

The Nationals seemed to get through Tuesday’s doubleheader in great shape, sweeping the Diamondbacks and holding them to one run over 18 innings. It may have come at a price, though, because there are roster changes today.

Sean Doolittle, who retired two of the three batters he faced in the sixth inning of Game 1, is going on the 10-day injured list with a sprained left elbow, which obviously is a concern. Sam Clay has been called up from Triple-A Rochester to take his spot. Additionally, the Nationals have kept lefty Francisco Perez (yesterday's 29th man for the doubleheader) in their bullpen and optioned Donovan Casey back to Rochester before the outfielder ever had a chance to make his major league debut.

So the roster looks a little different for tonight’s game, the third in this four-game series. The pressure will be on Erick Fedde to do what Josiah Gray and Joan Adon did Tuesday and provide quality innings, taking pressure off the bullpen. Fedde was solid in his last outing against the Pirates, allowing only two runs in five innings, but his pitch count of 96 was too high for Davey Martinez’s likes.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 59 degrees, wind 5 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
SS Alcides Escobar
CF Victor Robles

Ask Sean Doolittle if there’s one thing he can point to above all else to explain his dramatic return to form this season, and the answer might catch you off-guard.

“To be honest, I think it’s my brain,” the Nationals reliever said over the weekend in Pittsburgh.

Wait, even when trying to explain how his velocity has increased?

“Yeah,” he insisted. “Because I think over the last couple years, when you’re not throwing with confidence and you’re thinking: ‘Where do my hands need to be? Or where does my front side need to be when I break my hands? Or how am I moving?’ Your body can’t do a thing like that and compete at the same time. You can’t move quickly. You’re not going to have the same conviction behind the ball. That’s what I meant when I said it’s about confidence.”

Whatever the reason, the difference in results is impossible to ignore. Five appearances into the season, Doolittle has yet to allow a batter to reach base. He has faced 14 of them. He has retired 14 of them (six via strikeout). He has thrown only 46 pitches in total, 35 of them strikes.