DENVER – Josh Bell has been doing this long enough to know when his swing feels right and when it doesn’t. And more importantly, when he feels like he’s about to break out of a slump.

The first four weeks of this season have constituted a slump for the veteran slugger. He entered this weekend’s series against the Rockies with a .133 batting average, a .267 slugging percentage and only two homers. What, then would be the sign he was ready to break out at last?

“I think it’s just more balls in the air,” he said Saturday morning. “I think when I’m chopping balls foul, I’m in a dark place. But if I can put it in the air, that means my path is good. And if I can just stay inside a little more, I’ll get it in the air in the field of play. …

“Any fly out is a good thing. Any line out is a good thing.”

A couple hours later, Bell sent a fly ball to left field in his first at-bat of the Nationals’ series opener at Coors Field. It traveled 328 feet and was caught easily by Colorado’s Jordan Beck. But it was a fly out, and in Bell’s mind that was a good thing, right?

DENVER – After the chaos of Saturday’s wild slugfest, who would have imagined today’s doubleheader at Coors Field would feature back-to-back pitchers’ duels, with offense at an extreme premium?

The Nationals certainly weren’t counting on that flipping of the script. Even though they leave town with a series victory, they leave feeling a bit of a sting at missing a golden opportunity at a three-game sweep.

Despite getting quality pitching from Brad Lord and their less-reliable relievers, the Nats fell 3-1 to the Rockies in the nightcap of the doubleheader, settling for a Sunday split in the thin air.

The same lineup that exploded for 12 runs on a 45-degree Saturday afternoon managed only four total runs over 18 innings of baseball played under far more pleasant conditions today, held in check by a Colorado pitching staff that has allowed the most runs in the majors this season.

"Obviously, we can't go up there and put up a dozen every night," said first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who managed three of the team's eight singles tonight. "But we'd like to score more, obviously score more than we did tonight because we didn't like the outcome. We hold ourselves to a pretty high standard and obviously didn't perform to that standard in Game 2."

DENVER – Things looked pretty bleak for the Nationals when they arrived in Colorado following back-to-back series losses in Miami and Pittsburgh. Now, things look a whole lot rosier following back-to-back wins and now the opportunity to not only sweep today’s doubleheader but sweep the weekend series as well and salvage a 5-5 record on the road trip.

Davey Martinez pulled out all the stops to win the first two games, asking for a combined five innings out of Jose A. Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan. You would think neither will be available tonight. But as we’ve seen here before, don’t assume anything when it comes to bullpen usage.

It’s probably safe to say Martinez will need more work out of his bullpen than he did previously, because Brad Lord isn’t likely to provide as much length as MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin did. Lord hasn’t thrown more than 57 pitches in either of his two big league starts, so you would think he won’t go more than 70-75 tonight. Look for Jackson Rutledge and Cole Henry to see action. The Nats also have Jorge López back from suspension, plus 27th man Andry Lara if needed.

At the plate, the Nationals will look to duplicate Saturday’s 12-run explosion, not this afternoon’s six-hit (all singles) performance. They’ve got Keibert Ruiz and Luis García Jr. back in the lineup after both guys got a chance to sit this afternoon.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at COLORADO ROCKIES
Where: Coors Field, Denver
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 63 degrees, wind 10 mph in from left field

DENVER – The style of game could not have been more different. Saturday’s delayed series opener was a Coors Field special, with both teams finishing in double digits. Today’s opener of a day-night doubleheader was the rare pitchers’ duel in this hitters’ haven, teams having to scratch and claw for each run.

And yet the ultimate outcome still boiled down to the same scenario from the previous afternoon: Could Nationals relievers cobble together enough big outs late to preserve a slim lead and make sure a dominant start didn’t go to waste?

Yes, yes they could. With aplomb.

Behind five clutch outs from Jose A. Ferrer to close out the seventh and eighth innings, then three more outs from Kyle Finnegan to close out the game, the Nats escaped with a 3-2 victory over the Rockies, giving themselves a chance to sweep both the doubleheader and the series later tonight.

It was a much-needed effort from perhaps the only two members of the bullpen Davey Martinez can trust right now. Ferrer and Finnegan teamed up to close out Saturday’s wild 12-11 win in which the bullpen nearly blew a 10-run lead. This one felt far more conventional, even though nothing in this ballpark ever is.

DENVER – Andry Lara didn’t understand why Matt LeCroy called a postgame team meeting Friday in Rochester. He certainly didn’t foresee the news his Triple-A manager was about to reveal.

“They did a team meeting afterward, and I was kind of shocked by it,” the right-hander said, via interpreter Kenny Diaz. “But nonetheless, I’m happy to be here. And my family and I are super excited to be here.”

Lara said this standing at his locker at Coors Field this morning, a gray Nationals jersey with his name and the number 72 hanging behind him. He’s a big leaguer, if only for one day.

Needing to add a 27th man for their day-night doubleheader against the Rockies, the Nats promoted the only player who realistically made any sense for the assignment. Lara may sport a 9.26 ERA in three starts for Rochester so far this season, but he was the only pitcher on the 40-man roster who wasn’t already either in the big leagues or on the injured list.

So, the 22-year-old got the call Friday night, flew to Denver on Saturday and now finds himself available to pitch out of the bullpen in either of today’s games.

DENVER – It’s going to be a long day and night of baseball here at Coors Field. Lord knows how many runs these two teams will combine to score over 18 innings of play, but it should be entertaining.

The first game of the doubleheader sees Jake Irvin on the mound for the Nationals. He’s coming off his best start of the season, having shut out the Pirates over seven innings Tuesday to earn his first win of the year. We know Irvin’s curveball is his bread-and-butter out pitch, but can he have the same success with it in the thin air that MacKenzie Gore did Saturday? He pitched here last summer and proved he could do it, striking out 10 over six innings of one-run ball.

The Nats will also hope to keep their power stroke going at the plate following Saturday’s 12-run explosion that included four homers, all to the opposite field. Dylan Crews, James Wood and Co. will be facing veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland, who has spent his entire career here and done a pretty good job given the conditions. Freeland is 60-76 with a 4.49 ERA in 209 games over nine seasons. He’s not a big strikeout guy, but he does throw strikes, so the Nationals will need to be ready to hit.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at COLORADO ROCKIES
Where: Coors Field, Denver
Gametime: 1:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 58 degrees, wind 6 mph in from center field

NATIONALS
LF James Wood
2B Amed Rosario
DH Josh Bell
1B Nathaniel Lowe
RF Dylan Crews
C Riley Adams
CF Jacob Young
3B Trey Lipscomb
SS Nasim Nuñez

DENVER – As demoralizing as the first two legs of this three-city road trip were, the Nationals at least could take some solace knowing the location of their final stop: Coors Field.

Nothing turns a slumping lineup productive like some thin mountain air. And though they had to wait 19 hours for a mid-April snowstorm to pass through before finally opening their weekend series against the Rockies, the Nats happily accepted the much-needed offense that came with it.

Then again, nothing turns an already struggling bullpen into an absolute mess like Coors Field does, which meant not even a 10-run lead this afternoon was truly safe.

Despite getting four opposite-field homers, two of them by rookie Dylan Crews, and a 13-strikeout performance from starter MacKenzie Gore, the Nationals still had to hang on for dear life as their beleaguered bullpen gave up nine runs before closing out a way-too-tense, 12-11 victory.

"You know how many games like that I've seen here?" manager Davey Martinez sighed. "Whew, a lot."

DENVER – The Nationals arrived in Colorado a battered and bruised team. There are 11 players currently on the injured list, four of them having been sidelined since the season began.

The good news: They’re finally getting closer to bringing guys back to the active roster instead of losing them.

CJ Abrams and Michael Soroka, in particular, are making good progress in their respective recoveries.

Abrams, out since April 12 with a right hip flexor strain, has stayed with the team on this road trip and has been rehabbing with his teammates. The All-Star shortstop has begun hitting and continues to take grounders, though there are still a few steps remaining for him.

Abrams is eligible to come off the 10-day IL for Tuesday’s homestand opener against the Orioles. There appears to be a chance he’ll be ready for that series.

DENVER – The good news: It’s not snowing here anymore. The bad news: It’s still cold, cold enough to prevent the thin layer of white stuff that stuck Friday from melting in some shady areas. It’s going to be in the 40s when the Nationals and Rockies finally get their weekend series underway this afternoon, an hour later than originally scheduled to allow for more time for snow to melt and the field to be prepped.

The Nats hopefully used their unplanned day off to rest up and perhaps solve all their problems, of which there are many right now. They desperately need a winning weekend against the worst team in the majors. That’s going to require improvement in all phases, but especially at the plate.

The lineup should be licking its chops at Coors Field, but that group will be facing a promising young right-hander today in Chase Dollander. Once considered a potential No. 1 pick in the 2023 Draft out of Tennessee, he wound up falling to the Rockies at No. 9. He then cruised through the minor leagues, became a top-10 prospect and made his major league debut earlier this month. His first start wasn’t great (four runs in five innings vs. the Athletics) but his second one was solid (two runs in 5 2/3 innings vs. the Padres).

MacKenzie Gore gets the ball for the Nationals, hoping to keep the weakest-hitting lineup in baseball down with an ace-like performance. The lefty is coming off his worst start of the young season in Miami, where he gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks over six innings. He’s looking for a bounce-back performance in the cold today.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at COLORADO ROCKIES
Where: Coors Field, Denver
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 45 degrees, wind 4 mph out to left field

DENVER – A mid-April snowstorm in the Rocky Mountains has postponed the Nationals’ series opener tonight and will create an Easter Sunday doubleheader at Coors Field.

The Rockies officially postponed tonight’s game about seven hours prior to scheduled first pitch, recognizing there was no real hope of playing due to the snow that began falling in the region this morning and is expected to continue through the night.

And with temperatures still expected in the low 40s on Saturday, they opted not to schedule the makeup game until Sunday, when the forecast is much more favorable, with temperatures in the 60s.

First pitch for Saturday’s game actually has been pushed back an hour, to 4:10 p.m. Eastern, to give crews enough time to prep the ballpark for play. Sunday’s 3:10 p.m. Eastern game remains as scheduled, with the makeup game now scheduled for 8:10 p.m. Eastern.

All games will continue to be broadcast on MASN.

PITTSBURGH – If nothing else, the first two weeks of the season offered up an apparently real sign of improvement from the Nationals lineup: Power.

A ballclub that ranked near the bottom of the majors in home runs and slugging the last two seasons was now hitting the ball in the air with authority. Through their first 13 games, the Nats totaled 42 extra-base hits, 18 of them homers.

And then they hit the road and stopped hitting altogether, the latest example coming today in a lifeless 1-0 loss to the Pirates to wrap up a miserable series at PNC Park.

Shut out into the eighth by Andrew Heaney one night after they suffered the same fate against Bailey Falter, the Nationals wasted a quality pitching performance by Trevor Williams and their own beleaguered bullpen, which rose to the challenge for a change and kept the game close.

"Look, I think we're playing great baseball, and we all believe in ourselves and believe that we can take it to the next level," said Williams, whose team is now 7-12 to open the season. "We hold each other accountable, and we hold each other to a higher standard. We're going to keep putting our head down, because the only way through this is through."

PITTSBURGH – Major League Baseball has suspended Nationals reliever Jorge López three games "for intentionally throwing at Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates" and manager Davey Martinez one game in the wake of Wednesday night’s incident.

López has appealed his suspension and remains eligible to pitch until a hearing takes place. Managers are not permitted to appeal suspensions, so Martinez will be forced to sit out today’s series finale at PNC Park, with bench coach Miguel Cairo taking over.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh Wednesday night and the Nationals trailing 2-0, López hit Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds with a pitch. He then threw a wayward fastball over McCutchen’s head three pitches later, prompting Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton to come out of the dugout to complain.

That spurred both teams’ benches and bullpens to empty, though nothing close to a punch was ever thrown. Once everything settled down and everyone retreated to their respective sides, the umpiring crew huddled up and decided to eject López, much to the right-hander’s shock.

No warnings were ever issued by the umpires, and Martinez was not ejected from the game.

PITTSBURGH – Good morning from PNC Park, where the sun is shining and the Nationals and Pirates are set to wrap up their four-game series with an early, 12:35 p.m. matinee. The Nats need to win this one to salvage a split. Having already lost two of three in Miami to begin this road trip, there’s some real pressure to emerge victorious today.

To do that, they’ll have to show more at the plate than they did Wednesday night, when Bailey Falter faced the minimum over seven innings en route to a 6-1 win. They’re facing another left-hander today in Andrew Heaney, who has been solid for the Bucs so far and held the Nationals to one run over seven innings last season when he pitched for the Rangers.

Heaney did not win that game last summer, though, and coincidentally he faces the same opposing starter this afternoon: Trevor Williams, who tossed five scoreless innings that day and earned a hard-fought, 1-0 win. Williams has not looked like the 2024 version of himself yet in 2025. This would be a good day for the veteran right-hander to recapture some of that magic and help pitch his team to a much-needed win before everyone departs for snowy Colorado.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh
Gametime: 12:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 55 degrees, wind 5 mph right field to left field

NATIONALS
RF Alex Call
DH James Wood
3B Amed Rosario
1B Nathaniel Lowe
RF Dylan Crews
2B Luis García Jr.
CF Jacob Young
C Riley Adams
SS Nasim Nuñez

PITTSBURGH – A sleepy game between the Nationals and Pirates, one that saw the two teams combine for one run through six innings before a quiet, four-figure crowd at PNC Park, turned loud in the bottom of the seventh tonight.

Loud because of Jorge López’s inability to throw strikes. Loud because of the unwarranted clearing of benches and bullpens his lack of command caused. Loud because of the surprise ejection of López by an umpiring crew that didn’t seem inclined to do anything until Pirates manager Derek Shelton came out of the dugout to argue.

And, ultimately, loud because of the grand slam Oneil Cruz crushed off Eduardo Salazar to turn a tight, low-scoring affair into a 6-1 rout by Pittsburgh in the latest example of a Washington bullpen implosion.

The particulars might have looked different, but the result was all too familiar for the Nationals, who had already seen their beleaguered relief corps turn two close contests into blowouts on this road trip alone. And it cost them another shot at a late-inning rally that could’ve flipped the game back in their direction. (Though it might have been too much to ask for a rally from a lineup that sent the minimum 24 batters to the plate through eight innings before a too-late rally in the ninth.)

"The key was we couldn't score any runs," manager Davey Martinez said. "We started swinging the bats late in the game, but our bats didn't show up today."

PITTSBURGH – DJ Herz had Tommy John surgery today, officially sidelining the Nationals left-hander for the 2025 season after three weeks spent hoping the major elbow procedure would not be necessary.

Herz had his elbow ligament replaced by orthopedist Keith Meister in Dallas, according to manager Davey Martinez. He did not get the additional internal brace procedure some pitchers, including teammate Josiah Gray, have opted for in recent years.

Today’s news came three weeks after Herz landed on the 60-day injured list with a sprained ligament, an ailment he reported after the Nationals initially optioned him to Triple-A Rochester following a disappointing spring in which his velocity was down. The 24-year-old sought opinions from three doctors, hoping one of them would offer him the option to come back via rest and rehab only, but there was consensus on the need for surgery.

“Have hope. Have faith,” Herz wrote on his Instagram account below a photo of him in a hospital bed following today’s surgery. “The only easy day is yesterday. Believe in something you can’t see. Buckle down and keep believing.”

Acquired from the Cubs in July 2023 for Jeimer Candelario, Herz had been one of the pleasant surprises of the 2024 season, posting a 4.19 ERA and 106 strikeouts over 88 2/3 innings while authoring some of the Nats’ most dominant starts of the year.

PITTSBURGH – The Nationals won Tuesday night’s game, 3-0, but it came at a cost. Paul DeJong fractured his nose when he was struck by a pitch in the face, and he’s now on the 10-day injured list, joining CJ Abrams, who was lost over the weekend to a hip pointer strain. The left side of the Nats infield suddenly is quite thin.

They’ll have to hope Nasim Nuñez (4-for-7) continues to play well at shortstop in Abrams’ absence, and they’ll have to hope the trio of Amed Rosario, José Tena and the just-recalled Trey Lipscomb can hold their own at third base with DeJong out for a while. Some more power from James Wood (five homers over his last eight games) wouldn’t hurt, either.

Mitchell Parker will look to pick up where Jake Irvin left off Tuesday night and shut down a Pirates lineup that looked good in Monday’s series opener but overall has been among the least productive units in the league. Parker was outstanding in his first two starts, less so in his last outing against the Marlins (though he technically does have three quality starts to his name so far this year).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 49 degrees, wind 14 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
RF Alex Call
LF James Wood
C Keibert Ruiz
1B Nathaniel Lowe
DH Josh Bell
3B Amed Rosario
CF Dylan Crews
2B Luis García Jr.
SS Nasim Nuñez

PITTSBURGH – The fastball that struck Paul DeJong in the face Tuesday night fractured his nose, forcing the Nationals infielder to the 10-day injured list.

The Nats formally placed DeJong on the IL this morning and recalled infielder Trey Lipscomb from Triple-A Rochester to take his place.

DeJong was struck by a 93-mph, up-and-in fastball from Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller in the top of the sixth during Tuesday’s 3-0 victory at PNC Park, unable to turn his head away in time. The ball appeared to catch his left cheekbone and then the left side of his nose, leaving a cut below his eye and blood coming out of his nose.

Director of athletic training Paul Lessard and manager Davey Martinez rushed from the dugout to assist DeJong, who fell to the ground. Keller and Pirates catcher Henry Davis crouched down about 10 feet away, clearly upset by what they saw.

DeJong was able to get up to his feet and walk off the field under his own power, though he did struggle to maintain his balance as he went down the dugout steps and headed toward the clubhouse.

PITTSBURGH – The major league home run leaderboard may not matter much in mid-April, but there’s nothing wrong with taking a glance at the list even at this early stage of the season. Especially when a particularly notable name can be found there: James Wood.

With his monstrous, leadoff blast Tuesday night in the Nationals’ 3-0 win over the Pirates, Wood notched his sixth home run of the young season, his fifth in his last eight games.

That’s good enough for a nine-way tie for second-most in the majors right now. Athletics first baseman Tyler Soderstrom surprisingly leads the way with eight homers. Wood joins a star-studded list with six that includes Corbin Carroll, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber, Fernando Tatis Jr., Tommy Edman, Wilmer Flores and Mike Trout.

That’s some impressive company for a 22-year-old.

“It’s cool,” Wood said, showing off his usual go-with-the-flow mindset. “But it’s still early and it’s a long season, so you’ve just got to stay consistent. That’s what makes those guys so good.”

PITTSBURGH – Jake Irvin had done everything in his power to win this game for the Nationals and put an end to their three-game losing streak, precisely the kind of performance the situation called for.

Irvin authored seven scoreless innings on a frigid Tuesday night, and doing it on an economical 87 pitches. And now all he could do was watch from the visitors’ dugout at PNC Park like everyone else and hope his teammates could finish off the Pirates.

That’s been anything but a given for the Nats bullpen through the first 16 games of the season. But on this night, the two reliable back-end relievers did their job without breaking a sweat, Jose A. Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan teaming up to complete a 3-0 shutout and ensure Irvin's efforts were properly rewarded.

"We needed that today," manager Davey Martinez said. "He stepped up big-time."

Irvin was more than worthy of his first win of the year. Ferrer was more than worthy of his fourth hold of the year, throwing 14 of his 15 pitches for strikes. And Finnegan was more than worthy of his sixth save in as many attempts, finishing things off with a scoreless ninth to complete a 2-hour, 16-minute ballgame.

PITTSBURGH – One day after lamenting a lack of “intensity” from his beleaguered relief corps, Nationals manager Davey Martinez summoned the entire group to his office for a pump-you-up meeting prior to tonight’s game against the Pirates.

The message of that session?

“I just wanted to let them know it’s early,” Martinez said. “We’ve only played 10 percent of our games. We’ve still got 90 percent of our games left. … I just want them to stay positive, keep their heads up. We’ve got a lot of baseball left.”

Nationals relievers entered the day with a 6.91 ERA and 1.921 WHIP, both worst in the majors by a healthy amount. Each of the last two days, they’ve turned winnable games into blowouts, surrendering a combined seven runs over 5 2/3 innings.

After Monday’s 10-3 loss, Martinez noted there needs to be more intensity shown from some relievers when entering a close game, even if the team is trailing by a couple of runs. Today, he decided to bring the entire group together, offering his own thoughts but also opening the floor for the pitchers themselves to speak up.