CHICAGO – MacKenzie Gore’s emotions already were running high long before he took the mound this afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Gore is close friends with CJ Abrams, the fellow first-round picks of the Padres forever joined at the hip for their inclusion in the August 2022 blockbuster that sent Juan Soto and Josh Bell to San Diego. Now, here was the 25-year-old left-hander preparing to face the Cubs while his 23-year-old shortstop was preparing to head to West Palm Beach for the season’s final week as part of his disciplinary demotion by the club.

How would Gore channel all that emotion today? As well as the Nationals could possibly have hoped.

Carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Gore thoroughly dominated Chicago’s lineup in one of the best performances of his career, leading the Nats to a 5-1 victory on a sun-splashed Saturday at the Friendly Confines that was played under less-than-normal circumstances.

"I thought they did really well. We kept it together," said manager Davey Martinez, who held a pregame meeting to inform his players of Abrams' demotion. "They went out there, and it all really started with MacKenzie. MacKenzie got out to a good start, and the guys were just very comfortable.”

CHICAGO – CJ Abrams’ 2024 season is over, and not for any baseball-related reasons.

The Nationals optioned Abrams to Triple-A Rochester this morning, a stunning transaction at this late stage of the season that club officials said was made not for performance or service-time reasons.

“It’s an internal issue,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I’m not going to get into specifics, or talk about specifics, because I need to keep these guys and everything on the down-low. I’ve got other guys out there I want to support. I’m going to support CJ. He’s a big part of our Nats family, and he will be. But at this point, for me, it’s the right thing to do.”

Abrams, who earned the first All-Star selection of his career with an impressive first half, had been mired in a prolonged slump since July but had one of his best games in months Thursday night when he went 4-for-5 with two doubles and two stolen bases in the Nats’ 7-6 loss to the Cubs. He was back in the lineup Friday afternoon and went 0-for-3 with a walk, then was summoned to Martinez’s office for a long postgame meeting and was informed he was being demoted.

Prior to the game, an X post from Cody Delmendo of CHGO Sports said Abrams “was at the Bally’s casino in the loop until 8 am this morning,” citing a source. Asked about that report, Martinez said: “I’m not going to get into any specifics. I’m going to handle this internally.”

CHICAGO – It hasn’t been an especially uplifting road trip for the Nationals. They’ve lost all five games they’ve played so far against the Mets and Cubs. They lost Luis García Jr. and Jacob Young to injuries. They’ve scored a grand total of nine runs, and six of those came in Thursday night’s loss here.

But it’s a new day, so maybe today is the day things click again for the boys and they combine good pitching, hitting and defense and emerge victorious. They’ll look for a good start out of MacKenzie Gore, who has been excellent. Over his last five starts, the left-hander sports a 1.95 ERA and 1.048 WHIP with 27 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings. (There was one dud in there against the Braves, but despite giving up seven runs he was only charged with two earned runs in that one, so the ERA wasn’t destroyed.)

More than anything, the Nats need to hit and they need to score runs. They’re facing a wily veteran today in Kyle Hendricks, who is 4-11 with a 6.25 ERA over 118 innings this season. But it should be noted the right-hander has been much better recently, with a 2.93 ERA over his last three starts.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 2:20 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 84 degrees, wind 9 mph right field to left field

NATIONALS
CF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
DH Luis García Jr. 
1B Juan Yepez
2B José Tena
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Joey Gallo
3B Ildemaro Vargas
SS Nasim Nuñez

CHICAGO – The Nationals’ primary focus during these final weeks of the season surely is on the bevy of young players they’ve added to the roster this summer, many of whom they believe will form the core of their next winning ballclub.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t still some opportunities for veterans to help their own causes here down the stretch. Which is why Trevor Williams was on the mound at Wrigley Field this afternoon.

Williams is not part of the Nats’ long-term plan. The 32-year-old right-hander spent the last 3 1/2 months on the injured list with a flexor strain in his elbow. He’s a pending free agent. But he worked his way back from the injury before season’s end, and the Nationals decided it was worth it to give him two big league starts, both to help him as he enters free agency and to give their other young pitchers some extra rest near the end of a long season.

Williams rewarded the Nats for giving him this opportunity, tossing five innings of one-run ball in his return to competition. They would end up losing to the Cubs, 3-1, but it certainly wasn’t their starter’s fault.

"It was awesome to see him pitch the way he did," manager Davey Martinez said. "He threw the ball really well. It almost looked like he didn't skip a beat, which was great."

CHICAGO – Though he’s out of the lineup this afternoon, Jacob Young sounded reasonably sure his left shoulder injury won’t prevent him from returning to play for the Nationals soon.

Young, who jammed the shoulder sliding into second base on a stolen base attempt during Thursday night’s 7-6 loss to the Cubs, said he’s still sore, but “it’s nothing crazy.”

“Just diving in the outfield, diving into bases throughout travel ball all the way up to pro ball, stuff like that happens where your shoulder gets put into maybe an uncomfortable position,” he said. “It’s not your throwing shoulder, so it doesn’t affect that at all. You kind of know what it’s going to be like in the morning. It’s going to be sore, maybe not feel great. Then you just give it some time, let the doctors do what they do and get it back to feeling good.”

The Nationals are still waiting for MRI results on Young’s shoulder, so manager Davey Martinez isn’t making any proclamations yet about his status for the rest of this weekend series or next week’s final six games of the season.

For now, Young is sitting this afternoon’s game, with Dylan Crews taking over in center field and Joey Gallo starting in right field.

CHICAGO – When last we saw Trevor Williams on a big league mound, he was tossing 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball to beat the Braves and improve to 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 1.076 WHIP. It was May 30, and the veteran right-hander looked like one of the best comeback stories of the season.

And then Williams reported a sore elbow and landed on the injured list. Nearly four months later, he’s finally returning to the mound this afternoon, activated off the IL and ready to make two final starts to a season that was severely interrupted.

What can we reasonably expect from Williams today against the Cubs? Who knows? He’ll almost certainly be limited to five innings and 80 pitches, give or take. If he can recapture his early season form, he’ll keep the ball down in the zone, induce weak contact and put the Nats in position to win. Whether he can do all that remains to be seen.

The Nationals would love to supply Williams with the kind of run support they supplied Patrick Corbin on Thursday night (even if it came in a 7-6 loss). They’ll face right-hander Jameson Taillon, who did not pitch when the two teams met in D.C. last month but has enjoyed a solid season (10-8, 3.54 ERA, 1.162 WHIP in 26 starts) and has strung together three straight quality starts entering this one.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 2:20 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 9 mph out to right field

CHICAGO – They got a rare, clutch homer from Joey Gallo off a left-hander. They got plenty of offense from CJ Abrams and James Wood. Shoot, they even got three hits from Darren Baker.

So how did the Nationals still end up losing tonight’s series opener at Wrigley Field? Because Patrick Corbin endured through another subpar start, and the bullpen couldn’t stop the bleeding after that, with Robert Garcia ultimately the pitcher of record in a 7-6 loss to the Cubs that also saw Jacob Young depart with an apparent shoulder injury.

A much-needed big night at the plate from a lineup that struggled mightily this week against the Mets still wasn’t enough for the Nats, who have now dropped four in a row to begin their final road trip of the season.

Unlike their just-completed sweep at Citi Field, they produced more than enough offense tonight to win. But just like the last two nights, they gave up a boatload of runs, now 17 allowed in their last 24 innings.

"That was tough," Gallo said. "I thought we did a good job of battling. We took the lead, they took the lead, we took the lead back. It's just how baseball goes. It was a great game, but unfortunately we came out on the losing end."

CHICAGO – Luis García Jr. is still dealing with a sore right wrist, so that means Darren Baker gets to start his first major league game tonight, in a ballpark very familiar to the rookie infielder.

Baker will start at second base for the Nationals in their series opener against the Cubs, the first time he’s had a chance to be in the lineup since making his big league debut earlier this month. That it happens to be taking place at Wrigley Field, where two decades ago his father managed for four seasons, was coincidence and fortuitous timing. But it nevertheless makes for a nice moment for the 25-year-old.

“It just kind of happened,” manager Davey Martinez said. “After last night, with Luis still sore, I said Darren’s going to play second today. I wanted to give him an opportunity. And if Luis doesn’t get better, I might (continue to) let him play second against righties.”

García has dealt with a sore wrist at multiple points during the season, and it got worse when he took a swing in the third inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Mets. He departed an inning later and sat out Wednesday’s game as well.

The Nationals were hopeful García would be ready to return tonight, but Martinez described the condition of his wrist as “the same” as it has been. At this late stage of the season, they won’t take any chances.

CHICAGO – Hello from The Friendly Confines, where it’s unseasonably warm for this time of year. The temperature reached the high 80s this afternoon, which is not the way it’s supposed to be in late September in Chicago. The wind will be blowing out to left field, though, so perhaps the Nationals can take advantage and actually hit the ball in the air for some power.

The lineup is missing Luis García Jr. for the second straight day, the second baseman still bothered by a sore right wrist. Getting the start in his place, though, is a new face: Darren Baker. Yes, the kid is in the lineup for the first time in the big leagues, and he’ll be playing in one of the ballparks he grew up in while his dad was managing the Cubs. That’s got to be a thrill for both him and Dusty.

The Nationals are facing right-hander Javier Assad, who they saw a few weeks ago in D.C. Assad tossed a quality start in that Aug. 31 game, allowing three runs over six innings. Andrés Chaparro got to him for a solo homer along the way.

It’s Patrick Corbin on the mound for the Nats in what looks to be his penultimate start for the franchise. With the team going to a six-man rotation the rest of the way with Trevor Williams coming off the injured list, Corbin is tentatively lined up to make his final start one week from today against the Royals. He’ll look to keep the Cubs within the confines tonight and give his teammates a chance.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 7:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 79 degrees, wind 9 mph right field to left field

35,000 FEET OVER AMERICA – I always get a kick out of using this dateline.

As you read this, I am (I hope) en route from New York to Chicago for the final road series of the season. The Nationals just got swept in ugly fashion by the Mets. Now they've got a four-game weekend series at Wrigley Field against a Cubs team that's technically still in the race but would need a miracle to make up a seven-game deficit with only 10 games to play. So perhaps that plays to the Nats' advantage.

There will be plenty to discuss when the season ends next week, but let's go ahead and take the opportunity this morning to start addressing some of those pertinent Hot Stove topics. Where do the Nationals look to be in good shape heading into 2025? Where do they need to improve? What are the chances they will be able to adequately improve and actually become a contender again?

Submit your questions in the comments section below, then check back throughout the morning for my answers. Fingers crossed the WiFi works and I'm able to crank out my responses while we're in the air. If for some reason you don't see anything from me by, say, 10:30 a.m. EDT, there unfortunately was a problem. Apologies in advance if that happens!

NEW YORK – If the Mets make the postseason – and it’s increasingly looking like they will – the Nationals will have played a significant supporting role in making it happen.

Teams may not play as many intradivision games as they used to, but they still face each other 13 times a year. And the outcomes of those games can go a long way toward determining a pennant race.

They certainly have in the case of the National League Wild Card race between the Mets and Braves. Because the Nats’ head-to-head results against those two combatants turned out to be wildly different.

Tonight’s 10-0 shellacking at Citi Field completed a season-long thumping at the hands of the Mets. The Nationals finished a dismal 2-11 against them, including 0-6 on the road. Compare that with their impressive 8-5 mark against Atlanta, and you quickly understand how New York has opened up a two-game lead for that final postseason berth with 10 games to go.

"We talk all the time about playing in our division," manager Davey Martinez said. "We've played some teams really well in our division. Some teams, we haven't. The teams that we don't play good against, we have to get better against them."

NEW YORK – Trevor Williams is set to return from the injured list and start Friday in Chicago, which sets up the Nationals to finish out the season with a six-man rotation.

Williams has cleared all hurdles in his rehab from a flexor strain in his elbow and will be activated off the 60-day IL this weekend, making his return to the mound Friday afternoon against the Cubs.

“He says he feels good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He’ll get a chance to start, and we’ll get a chance to push these guys back a little bit.”

Williams hasn’t pitched since May 30, after which he reported elbow pain and the flexor strain was diagnosed. It took 3 1/2 months, but the right-hander made it through the entire rehab process in time to pitch again, even if he’ll only make two big league starts before season’s end.

Given how well he pitched prior to the injury – 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 1.076 WHIP in 11 starts – Williams earned the opportunity to come back and make these final starts, even if he doesn’t figure into the Nationals’ long-term plans. A pending free agent, the 32-year-old will get the chance to prove he’s healthy heading into the offseason.

NEW YORK – As much as the Nationals dominated the Marlins this season, they’ve been completely dominated by the Mets. A loss tonight would drop the Nats to 2-11 vs. New York, the exact opposite of their record vs. Miami. Yes, there have been some close games, including three extra-inning losses, but overall this has been an incredibly lopsided matchup in 2024.

They’ll try to at least end on a positive note and win tonight’s finale at Citi Field, but it’s a stiff challenge. The Nationals have scored two runs so far in the series, which isn’t exactly a formula for success. They have to do more at the plate, and that will be tough against veteran left-hander Jose Quintana, who hasn’t allowed a run to them in 14 innings this year.

Luis García Jr., who departed Tuesday’s game with a sore right wrist, is not in tonight’s lineup. Though he may not have been anyway against the lefty, so we can’t say for certain whether the injury is keeping him out. Dylan Crews, meanwhile, gets bumped back up to the No. 2 spot after notching his first career three-hit game while batting seventh.

DJ Herz makes his third start of the season against the Mets. He was great in one of them (zero runs, 10 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings), not very good in the other one (four runs in four innings in his major league debut). The rookie will need to be on point tonight in what could be his second-to-last outing of the year.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain late, 72 degrees, wind 10 mph in from center field

NEW YORK – Shortly after the Nationals traded him to the Mets, Jesse Winker found himself facing the Mariners, one of his former teams. Then the Reds, with whom he spent the bulk of his time in the major leagues. And now, this week, the Nats, his most recent employer and the one that may have resurrected his career.

“It’s crazy. When I got traded, I’ve played every team that I’ve played for,” he said. “And then we play the Brewers the next road trip, so it’s great. It’s really cool, man.”

Winker has become a bit of a baseball nomad in recent years. After five seasons in Cincinnati that culminated with an All-Star selection, the outfielder has now played for four different teams the last three seasons, going from Seattle to Milwaukee to Washington to New York.

His stint in D.C. was the shortest, lasting only four months. But it might well have been the most important stint he’s had to date.

After struggling with performance and injuries last year with the Brewers, Winker faced a crossroads entering 2024. He said he received only one offer for a big league contract, declining to name the particular team, plus only two offers for minor league deals with an invitation to spring training. The Nationals were one of those two, and ultimately he decided to accept their offer and reported to West Palm Beach hoping to earn his way onto the Opening Day roster.

NEW YORK – The Nationals looked ready for primetime Monday night at Citi Field. They just couldn’t deliver the one clutch hit they would’ve needed to beat the Mets.

They looked very much not-ready-for-primetime tonight. From a poor start by Mitchell Parker to a mental mistake by James Wood to an unexpected early departure by Luis García Jr., the Nats never stood a chance of stacking up with their potentially postseason-bound division rivals, who coasted to a 10-1 victory before a raucous crowd of 24,932 at Citi Field.

In one of their uglier games in a while, the Nationals were routed by New York, which has now gone two games up on the Braves (who blew a lead in Cincinnati) in the race for the third and final Wild Card berth in the National League.

"Obviously, that's not how we envisioned this game going," said Wood, who won't want to remember many details from his 22nd birthday. "But we've just got to be able to learn from it and take it into tomorrow and be better tomorrow." 

If the Mets ultimately prevail, they’ll have done so on the strength of their dominance against the Nats. New York is now 10-2 in head-to-head matchups this season, with one more game to go here Wednesday night. The Braves, on the other hand, went 5-8 against Washington, which could spell doom for their chances of reaching the playoffs for the seventh straight year.

NEW YORK – CJ Abrams is good to go again.

Abrams is back in the Nationals lineup for tonight’s game against the Mets after a four-day absence with a left shoulder ailment, having convinced club personnel he was OK to play after going through a full round of pregame workouts.

Abrams last played Thursday against the Marlins, when he made a diving stop of a sharp grounder up the middle at shortstop and jammed his left shoulder in the process. He remained in that game through its conclusion but was scratched the following evening and remained on the bench throughout the rest of the weekend as well as Monday night’s series opener at Citi Field.

Upon reporting to the park this afternoon, Abrams said he felt good enough to play. The Nats had him go through a full round of pregame workouts – batting practice on the field, ground balls at shortstop – before announcing their lineup, but manager Davey Martinez sounded optimistic when he spoke to reporters shortly before 5 p.m.

“We’ve got him in the lineup right now,” Martinez said. “He’s going to do his stretches, take some ground balls, hit, and we’ll see if he can get through it. He said he wanted to try to play today, so we’ll see how he gets through his early work, and we’ll go from there.”

NEW YORK – The Nationals did a lot of things well in Monday night’s series opener against the Mets. They got a great start from Jake Irvin. They played crisp defense. They got some decent relief pitching. What they did not get is enough offense, especially in clutch situations late in the game. The Nats finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and that included 0-for-6 in the ninth and 10th innings alone, which is why they lost the game 2-1.

So more timely offense would really help the cause tonight. The Nationals will be facing Tylor Megill, who they got to for five runs in five innings back in June. They got a homer from Joey Gallo in that game, but it should be noted much of the damage that night was inflicted by guys no longer with the team (Lane Thomas, Jesse Winker, Eddie Rosario). So this will be a new group going up against Megill tonight.

Mitchell Parker faces the Mets for the second time, and the first outing didn’t go all that well. The lefty gave up five runs in six innings, including three home runs. Those were hit by Tyrone Taylor, Mark Vientos and Francisco Lindor, and while the latter is out again tonight with a back injury, the first two are playing. Parker has been good overall of late, though, and in his last five starts boasts a 3.38 ERA.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 74 degrees, wind 8 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
3B José Tena
DH Juan Yepez
2B Luis García Jr.
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Dylan Crews
1B Joey Gallo
CF Jacob Young

NEW YORK – It was the first, and arguably only time Jake Irvin faced real danger Monday night. Having set down the first nine Mets he faced, now here was the Nationals right-hander dealing with a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the bottom of the fourth.

Mark Vientos had worked the count to 2-2, and as the Citi Field crowd stood and roared in search of a hit that would put the home team on top in a must-win game, it looked like Vientos had delivered. Albeit not with a line drive to a gap, but a little dribbler up the third base line.

It’s not always how you hit them, but where you hit them, and this looked like a perfectly placed infield single at the right moment.

For Irvin, it was a chance to put into practice what he and other Nationals pitchers had worked on countless times during spring training and on occasion during the season as well.

“In the moment, you can’t really think about it. You rely on your preparation,” the right-hander said. “I guess when you see the ball go down there, imagine in your head making that play. Be convicted in it.”

NEW YORK – These Nationals don’t know what postseason baseball feels like, and they won’t be finding out in 2024. They do want to experience it in 2025, though, at minimum the pressure of a September pennant race where the outcome of each game only magnifies down the stretch.

So consider the final two weeks of this season a dress rehearsal for the youngest team in the majors, with 13 games left on the schedule, all of them against teams still in the race. And the first set of games in this closing stretch – against the Mets at Citi Field – may have the most pressure-packed feeling of the bunch.

So how did the Nats handle it all in tonight’s series opener? They didn’t appear to be overwhelmed by the situation most of the night, certainly not Jake Irvin, who authored yet another gem against the Mets. But they could not deliver the one hit or the one pitch they needed with the game on the line late, and that’s why New York ultimately was celebrating a 2-1 10-inning win at the center of the diamond, a crowd of 21,694 roaring as the home team retook the final Wild Card position in the National League from the Braves.

"It's tough," manager Davey Martinez said. "(Irvin) threw the ball really well. I thought today was probably the best day I've seen him throw the ball. ... He gave us everything we needed. We just couldn't get those couple runs he needed."

Starling Marte won it with a line drive single to left off Jacob Barnes, the Nationals’ fourth pitcher of the night. Tasked with stranding the Mets’ automatic runner after his teammates couldn’t score theirs in the top of the 10th, Barnes got Francisco Alvarez to fly out to right for one out, though that allowed Harrison Bader to advance to third. Barnes then left a 3-1 fastball over the plate to Marte, who lined the ball into left field and was mobbed by his teammates as the Nats trudged off the field.

NEW YORK – Though he’s out of the Nationals lineup for the fourth straight day, CJ Abrams did partake in more pregame drills than he had since hurting his left shoulder Thursday and should be available off the bench tonight if the team needs him during its series opener against the Mets.

Davey Martinez said Abrams has made progress and wants to return to the lineup, but the manager didn’t want to force the issue just to make it happen tonight.

“We’re just going to be very cautious,” Martinez said. “But he’ll go do some activities out there, and he’ll be available to pinch-hit.”

Abrams participated in infield drills with the rest of the team this afternoon and showed no ill effects of the injury to his non-throwing arm. He took swings in the batting tunnel prior to the team’s official batting practice on the field and looked “OK,” according to Martinez.

“He took quite a few swings in the cage,” the manager said. “I’d like for him to go get ground balls and stuff like that. We’ll keep an eye on him and see how he’s doing.”