There was a moment in the top of the second inning Sunday when it felt like DJ Herz was about to crumble.

The rookie left-hander, in only his second career start, had cruised through the top of the first but then during a four-batter span the following inning had given up two runs after issuing two walks, allowing two singles and uncorking two wild pitches, the last of which came after back-to-back, high-and-tight fastballs to Jarred Kelenic that left the Braves left fielder contemplating whether he needed to charge the mound.

And then Herz, who had been known in the minors to let a game get away from him from time to time, battled back and struck out Kelenic on his next pitch before getting Ozzie Albies to fly out on the pitch after that. The inning was over, and Herz had thrown 33 pitches, but only the two runs had crossed the plate.

“I’m proud of him,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said. “Because a situation like that, and a good team like that, he was able to get composed and throw strikes when he needed to, get out of a big jam there and keep us in the ballgame.”

Herz wasn’t credited with his first big league win at the end of the day. Because he didn’t complete the requisite five innings, he couldn’t get the W, which instead went to reliever Jacob Barnes at the official scorer’s discretion. But he impressed nonetheless during his 4 1/3 innings, the majority of which featured plenty of outs and few baserunners.

To swing or not to swing at the first pitch? That is the question the Nationals have confronted too regularly this season with a lineup that preaches an aggressive approach but often takes things too far and makes way too many quick outs that make life way too easy on opposing starters.

And for three innings today, it looked like that approach was once again going to be their undoing, with a rapid flurry of outs made against a rookie in his major league debut.

Here’s the thing, though: Across the sport, hitters have better numbers on the first pitch than almost any potential count. And as much as it feels like they struggle in this department, the Nats actually hit .332 on the first pitch, slightly better than the leaguewide average of .330.

So by sticking to the aggressive approach, and most importantly actually making hard contact, the second time around, the Nationals exploded for their biggest offensive inning of the year and went on to beat the Braves 8-5 to complete another series win over their division rivals, this one before an appreciative crowd of 34,282.

"Look, I don't mind being aggressive. We talk about it all the time," manager Davey Martinez said. "But you've got to get the ball in the zone. We can't just swing at everything. It's talked a lot in the dugout about it. And then when they finally do it, the results are a lot better."

The Nationals are using a long-awaited off-day to skip over Patrick Corbin’s next turn in the rotation.

Corbin, who last pitched Wednesday against the Mets, was lined up to make his next start Monday. With the Nats set to enjoy their first day off since May 23, he would normally be on the mound Tuesday for the team’s series opener in Detroit.

But the Nationals’ announced rotation for that series against the Tigers has Mitchell Parker on Tuesday, followed by Jake Irvin and MacKenzie Gore. They haven’t announced their rotation plans beyond that, but Davey Martinez suggested this morning Corbin will start Saturday against the Marlins, which means he would be pitching on nine days’ rest instead of the usual four.

“Just to give him a little bit of a breather,” Martinez said. “We take care of all our young guys, but we’ve got to take care of our veteran guys, too.”

The Nats have often used scheduled days off to adjust their rotation order, but that’s usually an attempt to give young starters extra rest, managing their workload over the course of a long season. In this case, the move likely has more to do with Corbin’s continued struggles than anything else.

DJ Herz makes his second career start today. And he’ll be more experienced than the guy he’s going up against in the Nationals’ series finale against the Braves.

Yep, Atlanta’s starter is Hurston Waldrep, called up from Triple-A Gwinnett to make his major league debut less than one year after he was drafted out of the University of Florida. Waldrep is the organization’s top prospect, and he’s supposedly got a devastating splitter. But he made only one start at Triple-A, and the Braves decided to bring him up instead of pitching Max Fried today. Fried will be pushed back two days to face the Orioles.

So the Nats, who have already won two of the first three games of this series, now seemingly have a better chance of winning three of four against the Braves for the second time in two weeks. They’ll still need to figure out Waldrep at the plate. And they’ll need Herz to be better than he was in his debut last week.

The left-hander, who replaced the injured Trevor Williams in the rotation, held his own against the Mets. But he still wound up charged with four runs in four-plus innings, two of those runs scoring after he departed in the fifth. The nerves should be a little less severe today for Herz, so we’ll see how he handles this assignment.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind 16 mph left field to right field

The Nationals and Braves have played each other enough over the last two weeks – seven of their last 10 games, to be precise, with one more still to come Sunday – to have seen everyone the other side has to offer, oftentimes more than once. It’s as good as any way to judge the progress a young, rebuilding club has made against an established powerhouse.

And at this point, it’s impossible not to be encouraged by the Nats’ ability not only to hold their own against the Braves, but to at times look like the clearly superior team.

Today’s 7-3 victory was the latest in a string of examples to support that conclusion. Behind another strong (if inefficient) start from MacKenzie Gore and a much-appreciated display of sustained offense, the Nationals improved to 5-2 against Atlanta during this stretch. And three of those games have been won by four or more runs.

No, it’s not appropriate to say the Nats are the Braves’ equals at this point. Even with these losses, Atlanta is 35-27 and comfortably in the pennant race. Even with these wins, the Nationals are 29-35, part of a large pack of sub-.500 clubs that could climb into the race with a hot streak but aren’t there yet.

But the gap is undoubtedly closing after several years of head-to-head matchups that looked as lopsided as any in the sport. (The Nats went 5-8 last season, 5-14 the season before that, against the six-time division champ.) And that’s wholly encouraging for the local ballclub.

Nick Senzel knew. And even if he didn’t know, his teammates made sure to let him know.

The Nationals have used 17 position players this season. And until the fourth inning Friday night, 16 of those players had successfully stolen at least one base. The only holdout on the team: Senzel.

So when it finally happened, with Senzel swiping second behind CJ Abrams’ swipe of third as part of a double-steal that proved critical in the Nats’ 2-1 victory over the Braves, the dugout celebrated accordingly and Senzel responded in a perfectly self-deprecating manner: He held up an index finger and said, “That’s one!”

“Oh, they knew I was the last player on the team,” he said today. “That’s why I was holding up the one finger when I got to the bag, just trying to make it fun for them. They were giving me a hard time, but it’s all fun and games.”

The Nationals lead the majors in stolen bases, with 97 in total entering today’s game. And the distribution has been spread around in impressive fashion; even the team’s three catchers used so far (Keibert Ruiz, Riley Adams, Drew Millas) have done it.

The Nationals’ 2-1 win Friday night was arguably one of their best of the season, with Jake Irvin outdueling Chris Sale in front of a sellout crowd. Now they try to keep it going today with another talented young starter taking the mound.

Like Irvin, MacKenzie Gore was really good when he faced the Braves a mere 10 days ago in Atlanta, striking out 10 with zero walks and allowing one earned run in 5 1/3 innings. He was not, however, good five days ago against the Mets when he was roughed up for six runs in 4 1/3 innings and struck out only two. It was one of the left-hander’s only blowups so far this season, as evidenced by the fact his ERA is still a solid 3.57, but he can’t let that become a trend and needs to get back on track this afternoon.

The Nationals are facing a familiar opponent in Charlie Morton, and they hit the veteran right-hander quite well two weeks ago, to the tune of eight runs on 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Four of those runs came in the top of the first, and you better believe Davey Martinez is pleading with his guys to get off to a good start again today.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 85 degrees, wind 10 mph out to right field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
LF Jesse Winker
DH Eddie Rosario
2B Luis García Jr.
C Keibert Ruiz
3B Nick Senzel
1B Joey Gallo
CF Jacob Young

Confirmed: Josiah Gray will begin his long-awaited rehab assignment on Sunday with Single-A Fredericksburg.

After being cleared earlier this week to pitch in a competitive game for the first time in almost two months, the Nationals have finally locked down the date and time for the right-hander to retake the hill.

The FredNats take on the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox) at Virginia Credit Union Stadium at 1:35 p.m. Gray will look to complete about three innings.

“We're looking for three ups, 50-55 pitches,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame media session. “If we get through that, that would be a good day for him. Then what we want to do is bring him back here after that. Let him go through his workouts here. And if everything goes well, the next one will probably be in Harrisburg. And then we'll go from there.”

Gray landed on the 15-day injured list on April 9 (retroactive to April 6) with a right elbow/forearm flexor strain. He had only made two starts to that point, giving up 15 hits, 13 runs and five walks with nine strikeouts over 8 ⅓ innings.

Looking to snap a four-game losing streak, the Nationals found themselves in a similar situation as they were last night against the Braves: Holding a two-run lead with their starter pitching a shutout.

Last night, it was Mitchell Parker taking a no-hit bid into the sixth. He then gave up a two-run home run to tie the game in the seventh. The Nats would go on to lose 5-2.

Tonight, it was Jake Irvin, who was also taking the mound against the Braves for the second time in a week, dominating the opposing lineup with a two-run lead. And thanks to a bounceback night by Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan's 17th save, he was victorious over Atlanta.

The Nationals beat the Braves 2-1 in front of an announced sellout crowd of 39,175, many of whom are probably sticking around for the Flo Rida postgame concert at Nats Park.

“He was good," manager Davey Martinez said of his starting pitcher. "Another guy to face the Braves this last week. Goes out and pitches really well against them again. That's a tough team, as we all know. They get hit, so what our two starters did these first two games was pretty impressive. It really was. He kept us in a ballgame. We faced a tough pitcher. We just got enough runs. Sometimes just one more than the other guys helps, right? So I'm proud of the guys. They fought all game, we hung and then Finney came in and closed the door.”

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Anthony Santander made loud contact, paused to watch the ball begin its flight toward the right field seats, and heard the ovation as he rounded the bases with his 13^th home run. Orioles fans packed the area behind the visiting dugout at Tropicana Field tonight, the usual turnout that makes the road venue feel like home – except for the catwalks, of course.

They stayed patient as the Rays fought back to tie and erupted again after Ryan Mountcastle broke it with a two-run shot in the fifth. And again after Jordan Westburg joined the double-digit home run club in the eighth.

And finally, when Ramón Urías squeezed a popup to end it.

Santander hit his fourth homer in the last seven games, Mountcastle bagged his fifth in the last seven, and the Orioles defeated the Rays 6-3 before an announced crowd of 17,822.

Westburg’s two-run shot to right field after Ryan O’Hearn’s leadoff double gave him 10 and made it easier for the Orioles to post their 40^th victory. They also knocked the Rays (31-32) below .500 again.

The Orioles are 6-4 in a stretch of four straight series and 14 consecutive games versus American League East opponents. The Birds in this span went 2-1 at home versus Boston and Tampa Bay and then went 2-2 at Toronto. 

Tonight the Orioles (39-22) and Tampa Bay (31-31) open a four-game series at the Trop.

The Orioles have gone 20 straight series since early April of 2023, without losing one against a division opponent. In that time they have won 14 of those series and tied six. They are 43-22 (.662) in the games in this stretch.

The Orioles went 32-20 (.615) last season in the division and are now 13-6 (.684).

The Orioles hosted the Rays last weekend in Baltimore and won the first two games of the series. Going for a sweep last Sunday, they led 3-0 after four innings but lost that game 4-3.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Kyle Bradish threw a light bullpen session this afternoon and he’s starting Saturday afternoon against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Bradish is working on six days’ rest after starting last Saturday against the Rays at Camden Yards and allowing five runs and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings. He walked his last three batters.

The rest of the rotation is also confirmed. Grayson Rodriguez starts Sunday afternoon and Corbin Burnes starts Monday night, giving them an extra day with the Orioles in the midst of a brutal stretch that includes only one break in the schedule this month.

The Orioles host the Braves next week in a three-game series at Camden Yards. Albert Suárez and Cade Povich are lined up to start Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. However, the club could choose to move Suárez to the bullpen and give Povich the ball on regular rest following yesterday’s major league debut.

X-rays on Austin Hays’ rib cage came back negative but he’s out of tonight’s lineup.

Usually when a team is in the midst of a four-game losing streak, they’ll look to their starting pitcher to be the stopper. Well, Mitchell Parker pitched well enough last night to do just that, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning. It’s the Nationals offense – which has scored two or fewer runs in 25 of 62 games – that has been this team’s undoing.

Jake Irvin is the next starter up to try and stop this losing skid. He will make his second start against the Braves in his last three times taking the hill, striking out a career-high 10 batters over six shutout innings last week in Atlanta. The right-hander used a balanced mix of his four-seam fastball and curveball in that fantastic start, so it will be interesting to see how he decides to attack Braves hitters tonight. And how they adjust to him after having little success facing Parker for the second time.

Chris Sale makes his 12th start for the Braves after he was acquired in December via a trade with the Red Sox and signed a two-year, $38 million extension with an $18 million club option for the 2026 season. The veteran left-hander is 8-1 with a 3.06 ERA and 0.946 WHIP, which are actually inflated after he was charged with eight runs, nine hits, a walk and four strikeouts over just four innings in his last start against the Athletics.

Sale leads the National League with a 2.49 Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP), 1.3 walks-per-nine-innings rate and 8.20 strikeout-to-walk rate. That’s a statistical way of saying he throws strikes, so the Nats need to get him in the zone. He also gets deep into games, pitching into the sixth inning in all but one of his starts so far and completing seven frames six times. He is averaging just over 93 pitches per start, so if the Nats attack early in the count, they better make sure it’s worth it.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 81 degrees, wind 15 mph from left to right field

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Cole Irvin is starting for the Orioles tonight on normal rest, the only certainty in the rotation for the four-game series against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Irvin has allowed two runs in 11 1/3 innings since returning to the rotation, and he’s carrying a 2.61 ERA and 1.142 WHIP in nine starts. He faced the Rays on Sunday at Camden Yards and allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings. José Caballero led off the seventh with a homer.

Irvin has a 3.86 ERA and 1.169 WHIP in five career games (four starts) against the Rays. He’s surrendered six runs and 14 hits in 13 1/3 innings at Tropicana Field.

The starters for the next three games remain TBA.

Jordan Westburg is starting at second base and Ramón Urías is at third. Connor Norby goes to the bench.

It's been a weird stretch for the Nationals. One week ago, they were feeling really good about themselves, having just won series over both the Mariners and Braves. Since then, they've lost a series to the Guardians, been swept by the Mets and lost Thursday night's series opener to the Braves despite the fact Mitchell Parker carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

The Nats also lost Trevor Williams to an injury that's going to sideline him for a while, called up DJ Herz to make his major league debut and are counting down the days until Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli are ready to come off the injured list. But about that lineup that has now been held to two or fewer runs in 25 of 62 games played this season ...

Let's take some time this morning to answer your questions about the team. Please submit your inquiries in the comments section below, then check back later for my replies.

Having already passed just about every test thrown his way in his first two months in the majors, Mitchell Parker stared down a new challenge tonight: Face an opponent for the second time, and ideally try to beat that club again.

Parker did everything he could to pass the test, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Braves and a shutout into the seventh. But he ultimately departed with no-decision after surrendering a game-tying homer in the seventh, and was forced to watch and see if his teammates could pull off the win late.

They could not. Hunter Harvey, one of the most reliable late-inning relievers in the sport, gave up three runs in the top of the eighth, and the Nationals lineup did nothing against the Atlanta bullpen en route to a disheartening 5-2 loss.

The Nats’ fourth straight loss bore some resemblance to the previous ones in their inability to produce at the plate early on. This one differed from the others, though, in the manner the back end of their bullpen gave up the decisive runs late.

"We've played some good teams lately, and it just seems like on nights we hit and pitch, they're just not on the same night," right-fielder Lane Thomas said. "We took some good swings tonight. You've just got to take more than two off a team like that."

The Nationals’ offensive identity this season was established early in April. Knowing they weren’t likely to hit for much power, they decided their best chance at scoring runs was to get on base and then use their speed abilities to get around the bases as quickly as possible.

Two months later, the Nats lead the majors with 95 stolen bases, with four individuals already in double digits and three others with eight steals.

But they’re also getting thrown out a decent amount, especially in recent games. The Nationals have been caught stealing 24 times in total, third-most in the majors. And they’ve been caught 10 times in their last 14 games, a particularly rough stretch that has at times cost them.

That drop in success rate, from 85 percent through their first 47 games to 64 percent during these last 14 games, coincides with the team’s scoring output dropping from 4.1 runs to 3.8 runs per game. Manager Davey Martinez sees a correlation.

“I think we’re trying to push the envelope a little too much because we’re not scoring any runs, and that happens because as a team we start pressing and trying to make things happen,” he said. “I think we’ll get back to (stealing successfully) as soon as our guys start swinging the bats better. The success rate will definitely go up.”

This homestand started off in miserable fashion for the Nationals, who were swept by the Mets and didn’t look particularly good in the process. They now have to try to salvage things with a four-game series against a team that on paper is far more intimidating in the Braves.

The good news: The Nats just took three of four in Atlanta last week, so they should feel confident about themselves entering this matchup. They won those three games thanks to some stellar pitching, including another quality start from the guy who takes the mound tonight: Mitchell Parker.

Parker allowed three runs while reaching the seventh inning in that game at Truist Park. The rookie left-hander tonight makes his 10th career start, and he has yet to surrender more than three runs in any of them. This will, however, be the first time he faces an opponent a second time, so it will be very interesting to see if he or the Braves make any adjustments.

On the mound for Atlanta is old friend Reynaldo López. The 30-year-old right-hander made his major league debut for the Nationals way back in 2016, then was part of the blockbuster trade with the White Sox for Adam Eaton. He’s had an up-and-down, nomadic career since and is now pitching for his fourth organization in the last two years, but he’s been outstanding so far since joining the Braves: a 1.73 ERA and 1.081 WHIP in 10 starts.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Storms ending, 79 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center field

April was an especially encouraging month for the Nationals, who played .500 ball for the entire month and saw one of their most important young players take his game to another level.

In that opening month to the season, CJ Abrams put forth a titanic offensive slash line: .295/.373/.619. He got on base. He stole bases when presented with the opportunity. He scored runs. He drove in runs. He drove in himself. It was to be just the beginning of a breakthrough season for the 23-year-old shortstop.

Then came May, and with it a precipitous drop in production. Abrams slashed a far less impressive .205/.216/.304 in the season’s second month. He didn’t get on base. He didn’t steal bases. He didn’t score as many runs. He didn’t drive in as many runs.

And with an 0-for-3 showing Wednesday in the Nationals’ 9-1 loss to the Mets, Abrams’ prolonged slump continued. He’s now batting a mediocre .246 with a .293 on-base percentage and .446 slugging percentage.

Is it any wonder the Nats are 13-19 since May 1, making that April of success feel like a distant memory?

TORONTO – The O's came into Wednesday night looking for their third straight win in Toronto, and a series-clinching win. The script was set just for that, as they took an early 2-0 lead, but the offense fell flat after the second inning and the Blue Jays walked off the O's to win 3-2 in front of 27,929 at Rogers Centre.

The Orioles fall to 39-21 with their third walkoff defeat of the year after two very early on April 6 and 7 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tonight's walk-off was aided by a miscue in the field.

Justin Turner led off the ninth against O's closer Craig Kimbrel with his third hit of the night, a single on an 0-2 pitch and was replaced by pinch-runner Cavan Biggio.  

The miscue followed shortly after. Kimbrel tried to pick off Biggio, but his throw went off his body and into right field, allowing Biggio to get into scoring position. Then he moved to third, advancing on an Alejandro Kirk fly-out. 

Runner on third, one out, and now the winning run was 90 feet away as the infield came in. Kimbrel then faced the contact-oriented Isiah Kiner-Falefa.