No matter if and when the Nationals' offense showed up today against the Brewers, the pitching simply needed to be better.

After allowing 16 runs and giving up a club-record 25 hits in Friday’s series-opening loss, the collective effort on the mound had to drastically improve for the home team or else they again would have no shot to beat the team with the best record in baseball.

Leading that charge on the hill was Jake Irvin, who was looking to follow up his strong outing his last time out in his home state of Minnesota. But the right-hander surrendered an early lead en route to another short outing in the Nats’ 8-2 loss in front of 28,869 fans on South Capitol Street.

Before he tossed seven strong innings of two-run ball against the Twins, Irvin turned in his shortest start of the season against the Reds, giving up five runs in just 3 ⅔ innings on 72 pitches. He just barely eclipsed that Saturday afternoon.

The Brewers were all over Irvin from the jump, their lineup filled with lefties and switch-hitters who were easily pulling his pitches into right field. They ended up scoring in each of the first three frames to put the Nats in an early hole.

Keibert Ruiz walked around the Nationals' clubhouse with his usual big smile. He then had a playful interaction with CJ Abrams walking from his locker to the kitchen. All seemed normal.

Except life is still not normal for the 27-year-old catcher, who continues to experience symptoms from a concussion that has placed him on the injured list twice since June 24 and most recently since July 8.

“I feel much better than a couple weeks ago,” Ruiz said at his locker before today’s game against the Brewers. “And I'm just following the protocol. I gotta get used to noises and I'm sensitive. ... I'm doing a little bit more every day, like working out and all that stuff.”

Ruiz missed 10 days during his first IL stint after he was hit in the head by a ricocheting foul ball in the visitors’ dugout in San Diego. In just his second game back, he was struck in the facemask by two foul balls, which brought back the concussion symptoms.

The Nats chose to place him back on the IL the following day with the same concussion that had been reaggravated. Since then, Ruiz has barely been around the team, not traveling with them on road trips and not coming around the home clubhouse while trying to get his sensitivity to light and noises down.

The Nationals offense waited too long to get going last night against the Brewers, scoring seven of their eight runs over the last four innings. But it doesn’t matter when the offense produces if the Nats don’t get better pitching.

Mitchell Parker gave up eight runs on 12 hits in four-plus innings Friday night, as four relievers joined him in combining to surrender 16 runs and a club-record 25 hits. They really only can improve from there.

Jake Irvin will be tasked with leading the charge. The right-hander is 8-5 with a 4.69 ERA and 1.295 WHIP in 22 starts. And he’s coming off an impressive outing in his hometown against the Twins, in which he tossed seven strong innings of two-run ball. Irvin faced the Brew Crew in Milwaukee in the last game before the All-Star break, giving up three unearned runs with five strikeouts in five frames.

Opposing him is Brandon Woodruff, the veteran right-hander who also faced the Nats right before the break. The 32-year-old is 2-0 with a 2.01 ERA and 0.716 WHIP in his four starts since returning from injury. When he faced Washington three weeks ago, he gave up two solo home runs to rookies Daylen Lile and Brady House but struck out 10 in 4 ⅓ innings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 8 mph in from right field

The Nationals continued their sell-off this evening by sending right-hander Michael Soroka to the Cubs, a source confirmed to MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman.

In return, the Nats are getting 18-year-old infielder Ronny Cruz and 25-year-old outfielder Christian Franklin.

Soroka, signed to a one-year, $9 million contract in December, finishes his time with the Nats with a 3-8 record, 4.87 ERA, 1.131 WHIP and 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings over 16 starts.

Though his last start was his shortest with Washington both in terms of innings (3 ⅓) and pitches (74), he only surrendered two runs on four hits and no walks with four strikeouts. That helped make Soroka’s underlying numbers – 3.32 xERA and 4.12 FIP – more desirable than his traditional stats.

Soroka is also good in short spurts. Going back to his success as a reliever last year with the White Sox, he posted a 2.75 ERA and 1.222 WHIP in 16 appearances out of the bullpen. Through the first three innings this year, Soroka had a 3.00 ERA. The deeper in the game he got, the worse he got: In innings four through six, he had a 7.66 ERA.

Interim general manager Mike DeBartolo has already conceded the Nationals will be sellers at next week’s trade deadline. And he also mentioned he’s not looking to trade the team’s top young players, such as MacKenzie Gore, though he said he would answer the phone if another team called to ask.

That likely just leaves veterans on expiring contracts to be traded as two-month rentals. The price tags for such players are usually low, but teams may become desperate as they look to reload their rosters ahead of playoff runs.

Luckily, the Nats have a handful of such players. And even more fortunately, those players are trending in the right direction at the right time.

Perhaps the most positive development has been Josh Bell’s recent surge.

After slashing just .151/.254/.289 through his first 45 games this season, the switch-hitter is now slashing .298/.374/.497 with an .871 OPS, nine doubles, seven home runs, 23 RBIs and 17 walks to 19 strikeouts over his last 43 games. Even better, he’s slashing .309/.389/.491 with an .880 OPS over his last 32 and has homered in back-to-back games.

Jacob Young is no stranger to making incredible defensive plays in center field. Since becoming a full-time major leaguer last year, the 25-year-old has been one of the most electric outfielders in the sport.

So while it wasn’t a surprise Young made a miraculous catch to rob Will Benson of a home run yesterday, it was still a play that should draw plenty of praise. And a highlight that should be remembered from an otherwise forgettable 5-0 loss to the Reds.

With Cincinnati having already extended its lead to 3-0 in the eighth inning, it looked like Benson was going to add more with a two-run homer off Jackson Rutledge. He hit the right-hander's elevated first-pitch fastball 103.1 mph off the bat and it traveled 400 feet to straightaway center.

But he needed 401 feet to beat Young.

The 5-foot-11 center fielder ran back and climbed the wall with two literal steps to reach over and bring the ball back for the final out of the inning, sending a loud roar of approval from the crowd ringing across Nationals Park and putting a lot of astounded looks on players’ faces.

In order for the Nationals to accomplish something they hadn’t in two months, they would need to build on the offensive outputs they posted in each of the first two games against the Reds.

They claimed victories in those outings in very different ways, setting up an opportunity for their first three-game sweep since mid-May against the Orioles in Baltimore. On Monday, they jumped out to a big early lead and held on late. On Tuesday, they stayed patient against a tough starter, who they eventually got to the second time through the order, and relied on the bullpen.

Unfortunately, the Nats were victims of another feat, something that has happened to them more recently than their own sweep.

Neither version of the offense showed up this afternoon, as the Nats were shut out by Nick Lodolo in a 5-0 loss in front of 21,567 fans on camp day at Nationals Park.

Lodolo became the third pitcher to toss a complete-game shutout against the Nationals this season, joining Erick Fedde (who was coincidentally designated for assignment by the Cardinals today after going 3-10 with a 5.22 ERA) on May 9 and David Peterson with the Mets on June 11.

Good morning and welcome to a rare combination around these parts. First, we have a getaway game starting at noon. But even more rare is the Nationals’ chance at a three-game sweep.

Yes, the Nats have not swept a three-game set since mid-May against the Orioles in Baltimore. And their opponent, the Reds, have not been swept at all this year. The Nationals held on after an offensive outburst to win Monday’s series opener. Then they used timely hitting and an impressive collective effort from Brad Lord and a makeshift bullpen to take Game 2 last night.

How will they fare today?

On the bump will be Michael Soroka, who is 3-7 with a 5.10 ERA and 1.147 WHIP in 14 starts. He didn’t get to face the Reds in Cincinnati back in early May, but he was strong in his first start of the second half, holding the Padres to just one run in five innings.

Nick Lodolo will go for Cincy. The southpaw is 7-6 with a 3.33 ERA and 1.082 WHIP in 20 starts this year. But the Nats knocked him around for seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits in 5 ⅓ innings on May 3 at Great American Ball Park.

Before the Nationals broke for the All-Star break, they made a small adjustment to their starting rotation that left a lingering question mark heading into the second half. And before their second-half opener against the Padres, interim manager Miguel Cairo provided an answer.

Brad Lord will be stretched out as a starter again to fill the fifth spot in the rotation, taking the opening left by Shinnosuke Ogasawara who was optioned to Triple-A Rochester following his second big league start Saturday against the Brewers.

“It feels good. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to start again,” Lord said in the Nationals' dugout ahead of this six-game homestand. “I'm looking forward to building up and just seeing what I can do.”

The 25-year-old right-hander is in line to start Tuesday against the Reds, following Jake Irivin who will start Monday’s series opener against Cincinnati.

“It's going to be Lord. So Lord, we're going to stretch (him out),” Cairo said. “We're going to start Lord on the fifth day. It's gonna be a progression, how many pitches, how many innings. But we're gonna stretch him out.”

Apologies that my annual Nationals draft tracker was not up this year. I was making my way back from covering the team in Milwaukee on Monday and couldn’t follow along the second day of the MLB Draft live.

But on this, the slowest day in the sports calendar, let us revisit the 17 picks the Nationals made in Rounds 4-20 throughout the day Monday.

Of course, we know the Nationals brass – now led by interim general manager Mike DeBartolo along with mainstays vice president of amateur scouting Danny Haas, senior director of amateur Scouting Brad Ciolek and assistant director and national crosschecker of amateur scouting Reed Dunn – made somewhat of a surprising pick by taking Oklahoma high school shortstop Eli Willits at No. 1 overall.

Their other two picks from Sunday night include power-hitting outfielder Ethan Petry out of the University of South Carolina at No. 49 overall and right-hander Landon Harmon out of East Union Attendance Center High School (Miss.) with the No. 80 overall pick.

And with that, let’s take a look at the rest of the Nationals’ 2025 draft class (round, overall, name, position, B/T, height, weight, age, school) …

MILWAUKEE – If the Nationals were going to head into the All-Star break on a positive note, they had an uphill climb to battle.

Already having struggled this weekend against Brewers pitching, facing right-hander Freddy Peralta, who was selected for the upcoming All-Star Game but will not pitch in it, may have proved to be the Nats’ toughest challenge yet.

And they were shorthanded heading into the matchup, with their two best hitters sidelined before the game even started. For the first time in 174 games since he made his major league debut, James Wood was not in the starting lineup, the struggling All-Star slugger getting some extra rest before tomorrow’s Home Run Derby.

“He's going to be in the Home Run Derby, he's going to play in the All-Star Game. And he doesn't have time off, so I just wanted to give him the day today so that he can just chill out and relax," interim manager Miguel Cairo said after the game. "He's been playing every day. He's the big player on our team. And I just wanted to give him a day.”

Then 30 minutes before first pitch, CJ Abrams was scratched from the starting lineup, with Paul DeJong taking over at shortstop and batting fourth. The Nats announced during the game (a change from the team’s policy under the previous regime) that the young shortstop was scratched with minor right shoulder soreness, which he first experienced on Saturday.

MILWAUKEE – The Nationals made a small roster move ahead of their first-half finale against the Brewers. They recalled right-hander Andry Lara from Double-A Harrisburg to take the open roster spot left by Shinnosuke Ogasawara, who was optioned to Triple-A Rochester last night.

“Very happy. Very happy to be back here,” Lara said of coming back to a major league clubhouse, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz.

Lara’s return comes 11 days after he made his major league debut on July 2 as the 27th man in the first game of a split doubleheader against the Tigers, in which he tossed three scoreless innings and struck out four to preserve the Nats' bullpen for the nightcap. His outing came in an 11-2 loss, but he was the lone bright spot for the team in a moment he’ll never forget.

“I remember everything. Everything,” Lara said. “It was really special to me. Of course, it was my major league debut. That's something I've always dreamed of, and I'm really happy.”

The debut was a long wait for the 22-year-old, who signed with the Nationals out of Venezuela for $1.25 million as one of their top international prospects six years ago. After some ups and downs in the minor leagues, Lara, currently the Nats’ No. 16 prospect per MLB Pipeline, gets another chance at the major league level.

MILWAUKEE – One more. There is only one more game to play before the Nationals head into the desperately-needed All-Star break.

This week has not been easy for the boys in curly W caps. The front office shakeup. The managerial change. Having lost seven of their last eight games, yesterday in spectacularly heartbreaking fashion. But there is one more game they need to battle through before they can finally rest for a couple of days.

Jake Irvin will try to be the stopper against the Brewers. And much like his team as a whole, he really needs to finish the first half on a strong note. Although his record is better than it was at this point last year (7-4 vs. 7-8), the rest of his numbers are worse. His ERA is over a run higher (from 3.49 to 4.78) and his WHIP is about 200 points higher (from 1.112 to 1.306). He also leads the National League with 22 home runs surrendered after giving up 14 in the first half last year. A strong outing against this potent Brewers offense would be a good step toward a strong second half.

The Nats' offense, on the other hand, will have to face another tough starting pitcher in Freddy Peralta. The right-hander was selected to the All-Star Game, but obviously will not pitch. So he will be full-go this afternoon in his first-half finale. Peralta is 10-4 with a 2.74 ERA and 1.086 WHIP over 19 starts, and he’s given up more than three earned runs in a start only once this year.

A small roster move this morning: The Nats recalled right-hander Andry Lara from Double-A Harrisburg to take the roster spot of Shinnosuke Ogasawara, who was optioned to Triple-A Rochester after yesterday's game.

MILWAUKEE – The Nationals entered Saturday’s matchup with the Brewers needing to put Friday night’s loss behind them. They struggled mightily against opener DL Hall and regular starter Quinn Priester, who combined to hold them to just three runs over the course of the series opener.

But today, the Nats would only need to face one Milwaukee starting pitcher before manager Pat Murphy turned it over to his traditional relievers. The problem was that one starter was Brandon Woodruff.

That mattered little to two Nationals rookies, who hit two home runs off the two-time All-Star and then one more late in the game. But that was not enough to power their team to a win, as the Nats were walked off by the Brewers in the ninth for a 6-5 loss.

Handed a two-run lead following CJ Abrams’ sacrifice fly in the top of the inning, Kyle Finnegan immediately ran into trouble in the bottom of the ninth.

The Nats' closer issued a first-pitch infield single that bounced over third baseman Brady House's head to lead off the frame. He then walked Christian Yelich on four pitches and gave up a two-run double to Andrew Vaugn that tied the game at 5-5. After a groundout moved the runner to third and an intentional walk to set up a potential double play, Caleb Durbin hit a single down the right field line to give the home team the walk-off celebration.

MILWAUKEE – Brady House’s bat helped him earn his first promotion to make his major league debut about a month ago. But it’s his glove at third base that’s impressed the most so far over his first 21 big league games.

House slashed .304/.353/.519 with an .873 OPS, 15 doubles, 13 home runs and 41 RBIs in 65 games with Triple-A Rochester before getting the call on June 16. And while the bat is slowly coming around at the major league level, his defense at the hot corner has been the best the Nationals have received at the hot corner this year.

“I'm feeling good. I'm just trying to attack everything that kind of comes my way,” House said before today’s game against the Brewers. “That's kind of helped out a little bit with that mindset. Just once it's hit, try to come up and get it, unless it's hit hard. But yeah, just trying to attack it and not let the ball attack me.”

The 22-year-old was a first-round pick out of high school in 2021, largely because he was scouted as one of, if not the, best prep bats in that draft class. A shortstop in school, many thought his 6-foot-4, 208-pound frame was a better fit at third base. And although he said he wished to stay at short after he was selected 11th overall, the Nationals quickly moved their top prospect over to be their third baseman of the future.

“He's special. He can play defense, and you can see that,” said interim manager Miguel Cairo. “Last year, when I first got here for my first year as the bench coach for the Nationals, the improvement from one year to another one has been amazing. He's still, what, 22, 23? He's still a young player. And he's elite. To me, he's an elite third baseman every day over there.”

MILWAUKEE – After struggling against two Brewers pitchers last night, the Nationals offense hopes to get going in the second matchup of this three-game set before the All-Star break, which will feature two starting pitchers making just their second starts of the season for completely different reasons.

The Nats' bats’ challenge doesn’t get any easier against Brandon Woodruff. The veteran right-hander, who is coming off various injury setbacks, dominated in his first start of 2025, holding the Marlins to just two hits and one run over six innings while striking out eight.

For the Nats, Shinnosuke Ogasawara takes the hill for just his second major league start. His season wasn’t delayed due to injury but rather because the 27-year-old Japanese left-hander, who was the first player the Nats have ever signed directly out of Asia, wasn’t yet up to the challenge of major league hitters. And his debut was evidence of that, as he was charged with four runs and seven hits in 2 ⅔ innings against the Red Sox.

The roof is open for the first time this weekend at American Family Field, so playing conditions will be less controlled.

A quick shoutout to our colleague Andrew Golden at The Washington Post. He and his now-wife Jasmine celebrated their wedding last night back home in the D.C. area. Wishing a lifetime of health and happiness to the newlyweds!

MILWAUKEE – There aren’t a lot of positives to take away from an 8-3 drubbing like the one the Nationals suffered at the hands of the Brewers last night. But of the few, the biggest one perhaps was the contributions the Nats got from their No. 9 hitter and backup catcher.

With primary backstop Keibert Ruiz back on the seven-day concussion injured list, Riley Adams has been thrust back into the starting catcher’s role. And while most of the Nats' lineup struggled against Brewers opener DL Hall and Quinn Priester on Friday night, Adams actually reached base in each of his first three plate appearances, finishing 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk and two of the Nats’ three runs scored at the bottom of the lineup.

“It was big,” said interim manager Miguel Cairo. “It was nice to see him get a couple (of hits). A homer and a double and a really good walk, too. So it was nice to see him come back. You know, he's going to be catching, so he's going to be helping us.”

Adams drew a five-pitch walk – just his fourth of the year – against Hall leading off the third inning. He then hustled to score all the way around from first on CJ Abrams’ triple to give the Nats an early 1-0 lead.

After working a full count against Priester in the fifth, he smoked a ball 102 mph off the bat for just his fourth double of the year.

MILWAUKEE – The Nationals have three opportunities this weekend to end this disappointing first half on a high note. They entered this three-game set against the red-hot Brewers having lost five of their last six games.

Even so, they began the day only 2 ½ games behind the Braves in the National League East, leaving a small chance they could enter the All-Star break not in last place for the first time since June 23.

Alas, this surging Brew Crew squad was too much for the Nationals to handle, getting them off to a rough start to the weekend with a 8-3 setback in front of an announced crowd of 35,057 at American Family Field.

For the Nats to have any chance of a more successful second half, the pitchers in the starting rotation not named MacKenzie Gore need to find more success on the bump. Once a promising young core on the roster, Nats starters entered the day with a collective 4.72 ERA, fifth-worst in the major leagues.

Mitchell Parker is definitely in that group looking to turn things around. After a strong rookie campaign in 2024, the left-hander has struggled to recapture that success in his sophomore season.

MILWAUKEE – For obvious reasons, this week has been challenging for the Nationals. Two mainstays for the organization – general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez – are no longer here.

It’s been an adjustment period for the players, many of whom were drafted or acquired by Rizzo and only knew Martinez as their big league skipper. But it’s also been a challenge for the coaching staff, particularly interim manager Miguel Cairo, who moved over from the bench coach role to take over the head man’s job after the dismissal of his close friend.

Cairo’s first series at the helm of the Nationals resulted in losing two out of three to the Cardinals in St. Louis. Now as he gets ready for his second series as skipper, he’s settling more into his new role, one that he’s somewhat familiar with after managing 34 games on an interim basis with the White Sox in 2022.

“We got to take it one day at a time,” Cairo said during his pregame media session ahead of tonight’s opener against the Brewers. “The guys are playing hard. I got to continue being myself. And put the players in the best situation possible for them to succeed. That's my main goal. And with the pitching staff, the same way. Put them in the spot where they can have a good outing and be successful.”

One of his first challenges comes tonight against a Brewers team that is 13 games over .500 and owns the best record in the major leagues since May 25 (28-12). And Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy is not making it easy on his counterpart by sending out left-hander DL Hall as an opener before handing the ball to right-hander Quinn Priester.

MILWAUKEE – Hello, Wisconsin! Now that my obligatory “That '70s Show” reference is out of the way, let’s get back to baseball. The Nationals have one weekend left of this forgettable first half. All that stands between them and the All-Star break are three games against the Brewers, who are 53-40 and currently hold the top National League Wild Card spot.

The Nats will be looking for any positives to carry over into the second half. But perhaps the most encouraging ones would come from the starting rotation, as all pitchers not named All-Star MacKenzie Gore (who will not pitch in this series) are searching to get back on track. Mitchell Parker will try to end his first half strong while improving upon his 5-9 record, 4.72 ERA and 1.377 WHIP. The lefty got roughed up by the Red Sox in his last outing, giving up 10 hits and nine runs, though only four were earned.

Meanwhile, the bats will have to navigate an opener to start this series. DL Hall, the former Orioles prospect, will start the game for the Brewers before giving way to Quinn Priester, a 24-year-old right-hander who was traded to Milwaukee from Boston in April. Hall is 1-0 with a 2.29 ERA and 0.864 WHIP in 10 appearances, two of which were starts. In those starts, the lefty has pitched a combined six scoreless innings with one hit, three walks and seven strikeouts.

Priester was charged with five runs (four earned) in just 4 ⅔ innings in his last start against the Marlins. But in his outing before that, he struck out 11 Rockies over seven shutout frames. So the Nats will need to stay patient and not give him easy outs early, or it could be another long night.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Where: American Family Field
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors