So far, it’s been a weekend of firsts for members of this Nationals squad.

Jake Alu recorded his first major league home run on Friday. And on Saturday, after seven minor league seasons and a week in the majors, Blake Rutherford recorded his elusive first hit.

“I don't even know if it's really sunk in. It was a surreal moment,” Rutherford said of his first hit after the Nationals’ 3-2 walk-off win over the Athletics. “I can't really thank all these players, all the coaches for having my back and for telling me to keep going, to keep pushing. Every single one of them is picking me up every single day and I couldn't be more thankful for that. To have my brother fly in and my girlfriend here to be able to see it, not as many people as the debut, but to still have people here who are part of the journey is special and I'm extremely grateful for them and for all my family back home watching. It's just a special moment for all of us, not just me.”

The 26-year-old wasted no time in last night’s game. In his first at-bat in a 1-2 count, the left-handed hitter slapped a 100-mph outside sinker from righty Luis Medina the other way for a single to load the bases.

He had a huge smile on his face as he stood on the bag with his teammates giving him a standing ovation from the dugout and first base coach Eric Young Jr. giving him a big hug.

Recaps of the 2023 season should include mention of two Orioles who fell off the major league landscape.

Outfielder Kyle Stowers and infielder Terrin Vavra broke camp with the team. Made the Opening Day roster. Figured to be key contributors as extras coming off the bench.

Stowers was assumed to be lined up for extensive at-bats based on his prospect status and a designated hitter spot that unclogged. Put him in the outfield, use him at DH to keep his bat in the lineup.

Well, Stowers had two stints with the club, went 2-for-30 with 12 strikeouts and hasn’t played for them since May 14. He was batting .243/.370/.493 in 46 games with Triple-A Norfolk before last night, with six doubles, a triple, 10 home runs, 33 RBIs, 29 walks and 46 strikeouts in 189 plate appearances.

Right shoulder inflammation forced Stowers on the injured list May 23 and he didn’t begin an injury rehab assignment until June 29 in the Florida Complex League. He played four games with High-A Aberdeen and returned to Norfolk July 14.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Recalled RHP Joey Krehbiel from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Placed LHP Danny Coulombe on the 15-day Injured List with left biceps tendonitis, retroactive to August 9.

PHILADELPHIA – Hello from Citizens Bank Park for the start of what has turned into a highly anticipated four-game series between the Nationals and Phillies.

The Nats are coming off an impressive three-game sweep in Cincinnati and are now owners of an 11-5 record since July 21. The Phillies just won two of three against the last-place Royals and have won five of their last seven games while tied with the Giants for the first National League wild card spot.

Tonight’s pitching matchup is a rematch of the July 2 game here when the Nationals sealed a series win in Philly: Trevor Willams vs. Ranger Suárez.

Williams, who was officially activated off the bereavement list yesterday, has had a bit of an odd schedule so far this second half. He’s only pitched 17 ⅔ innings over his four starts since the break, limited to just 2 ⅔ in St. Louis because of rain and only lasting four in his last start on June 30 in New York before going on bereavement leave. He did complete five innings while giving up three runs and earning the win here last month.

On the other side, Suárez has been able to eat up a little more innings for the Phillies, going at least five in each of his second-half starts. He only gave up one run over 6 ⅓ innings in his previous start against the Marlins, but the left-hander gave up five in 5 ⅓ when he faced the Nats in July.

When the Nationals left Wrigley Field on July 19, they did so with a bullpen in shambles.

Hunter Harvey had just joined an injured list that already included Carl Edwards Jr. The rest of the group featured one established late-inning arm in Kyle Finnegan, a once-promising setup man now in the midst of massive slump in Mason Thompson and a bunch of other inexperienced and ineffective pitchers who had just endured through a nightmare of a series.

Over the course of their last two games against the Cubs, Nationals relievers had collectively surrendered 20 earned runs on 18 hits and seven walks in only 5 2/3 innings of work. They twice turned competitive, low-scoring games into lopsided blowouts.

At that point, all Davey Martinez could do was acknowledge the situation he was in, and hope things would improve with time and experience.

“They’re going to get another opportunity,” the manager insisted after an embarrassing 17-3 loss. “Many more opportunities. Hopefully they bounce back and learn from today.”

CINCINNATI – Well, well, well. Look at what we’ve got here. The Nationals have won 10 of 15 for the first time since June 2021. They’ve won four of their last five series, three of those coming against playoff contenders San Francisco, Milwaukee and Cincinnati. And they have a chance today to pull off their second three-game sweep in less than a month, if they can beat the Reds one more time.

Jake Irvin gets the start, facing the same Cincinnati club he held to three runs over six innings last month in D.C. The rookie right-hander continues to give his team a chance most times he takes the ball, even if his 4.86 ERA doesn’t exactly scream high-quality. Davey Martinez is probably going to need some length from Irvin today, because the back end of his bullpen may be burned up and unavailable, with Kyle Finnegan, Jordan Weems and Andrés Machado each having pitched each of the last two days.

It would help, then, if the Nationals lineup can score runs in bunches and provide some cushion for the pitching staff. That group will be facing an unfamiliar foe today in Lyon Richardson, a 23-year-old right-hander making his major league debut. A second-round pick in 2018, Richardson missed all of last season following Tommy John surgery. He burst through the Reds organization this year, producing a 1.86 ERA and a whopping 81 strikeouts in only 58 innings across three levels of the minors. But he made only one start at Triple-A before getting this promotion, and he has yet to pitch more than four innings at a time. So look for the Reds to pull him early, regardless of the result, and go to their bullpen.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CINCINNATI REDS
Where: Great American Ball Park
Gametime: 1:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 14 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
DH Joey Meneses
C Keibert Ruiz
1B Dominic Smith
2B Jake Alu
3B Ildemaro Vargas
LF Blake Rutherford
CF Alex Call

CINCINNATI – Only once in his major league career had Joan Adon looked anything like this. It wasn’t in his two relief appearances earlier this season. It wasn’t in any of his 14 starts last season, 12 of which ended in a loss.

No, you have to go all the way back to Adon’s major league debut on the final day of the 2021 season to find any outing that resembled today’s performance by the young Nationals right-hander.

On that day, best remembered as the final day of Ryan Zimmerman’s storied career, Adon took the mound at Nationals Park, stared down a potent Red Sox club that needed to win to make the postseason and caught everyone by surprise with an eye-opening performance.

Nearly two years and a lot of disappointing starts later, Adon rediscovered his prime form today during a 7-3 victory over the Reds at Great American Ball Park. And then dialed it up a few more notches to put together the best outing of his brief career.

With both power and precision, the 24-year-old carried a perfect game into the sixth inning before the Reds finally got to him. No matter, because thanks to early run support from his teammates and lights-out work from his bullpen, Adon still emerged at the end of the day with only his second major league win.

CINCINNATI – The Nationals added another reliever to the injured list today, placing Mason Thompson on the 15-day IL with a left knee contusion that appears to have prevented the right-hander from pitching most of the week.

Thompson hadn’t appeared in a game since Monday, when he tossed a scoreless eighth on all of five pitches, helping lead the Nats to a 5-3 win over the Brewers. Despite the team being in several close games since then, manager Davey Martinez did not call upon his top setup man.

Martinez revealed Thompson recently hurt himself after falling, though he did not offer any more specifics than that.

“I don’t know how he fell, but he said he fell and he’s been dealing with it for a few days,” Martinez told reporters before today's game against the Reds. “Hopefully it will go away. He had an MRI that showed he had a contusion. So we’re going to make sure we take care of him and get him ready to go again.”

Though it has been five days since Thompson last pitched, IL moves can only be backdated three days. So he officially goes on the IL on Aug. 2 and will eligible to return Aug. 17.

CINCINNATI – Don’t look now, but the Nationals are playing some pretty good baseball. Seriously. They’ve won nine of their last 14 games, and they’re 19-16 since June 24, when they opened up a solid West Coast trip in San Diego and Seattle. That’s actually the sixth-best record in the National League during that time frame, 11th-best in the majors.

They’ll look to keep the good vibes going tonight and capture another series against a quality opponent if they can defeat the Reds again, though they’ll do so with something of a surprise starter on the mound: Joan Adon.

This was supposed to be Trevor Williams’ turn in the rotation, but the right-hander isn’t expected back from bereavement leave until Sunday, so the team needed a fill-in for this game. That fill-in is Adon, who makes his first big league start of the season, his third overall appearance. The 24-year-old right-hander wasn’t exactly tearing it up at Triple-A Rochester (3-5, 4.62 ERA, 1.506 WHIP in 17 starts) but his strikeout numbers of late (13 in his last 11 innings) have been good, so maybe that’s a sign of something.

The Nationals face a good young left-hander in rookie Andrew Abbott, a University of Virginia alum who enters with a 6-2 record, 2.35 ERA and 1.031 WHIP over his first 11 big league starts. Davey Martinez counters with a right-handed-heavy lineup that includes Joey Meneses at first base, Keibert Ruiz as DH, Riley Adams behind the plate and Stone Garrett in left field.

One other note: To clear a spot on the active roster for Adon, the Nats placed Mason Thompson on the 15-day injured list with a left knee contusion. The reliever hadn’t pitched since Monday, but IL moves can only be backdated three days, so that means he’s eligible to return Aug. 17.

CINCINNATI – Blake Rutherford initially figured he’d make his major league debut for the team that used its first-round draft pick on him in 2016: the Yankees. When he was part of a significant trade one year later, he assumed his debut would now come for the club that acquired him: the White Sox.

So imagine what must’ve been going through Rutherford’s mind Friday night when he took the field at Great American Ball Park, making his long-awaited major league debut not for the Yankees, not for the White Sox but for the Nationals.

“A lot of emotions,” the 26-year-old admitted. “A lot of people to thank. A lot of special people in my life that allowed me to get to this moment.”

The path may have been longer and more winding than he imagined when he became a professional seven years ago, but that didn’t make the end result any less sweet for Rutherford. He’s a big leaguer now, promoted by the Nationals and thrust into their starting lineup in left field for Friday’s series opener against the Reds after veteran Corey Dickerson was released.

Rutherford was a top-50 prospect in the sport back in 2017, the 18th overall pick in the draft by the Yankees out of his Southern California high school. And he was highly touted enough to be part of a four-player package (including Tyler Clippard) the Yankees sent to the White Sox in a July 2017 trade for Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle.

Inside a rollicking Nationals clubhouse Wednesday afternoon, Luis García was all smiles. He was kidding around with Victor Robles. He was intently watching Ildemaro Vargas get interviewed about his game-winning run in a walk-off, 3-2 victory over the Brewers. By all accounts, he had no idea the news he was about to receive.

García was optioned to Triple-A Rochester a few minutes later, after reporters had left the clubhouse, before the team departed for a weekend series in Cincinnati. The team’s starting second baseman since Aug. 26, 2022, was now a minor leaguer again.

The García move – as well as the requesting of unconditional release waivers on outfielder Corey Dickerson – caught people off-guard because of the timing, minutes after an inspiring, come-from-behind win over a playoff contender. Truth be told, it was probably in the works for a while, the odd timing an unfortunate byproduct.

Make no mistake, García was in a prolonged slump. Over his last 27 games, he was batting .196 with a .227 on-base percentage and .272 slugging percentage. Those are paltry numbers. His defense was fine – he was charged with only two errors over his last 31 games – but that couldn’t make up for his offensive decline.

So the Nationals made the move, perhaps hoping it would serve as something of a wake-up call to the 23-year-old, who has now played in 303 big league games and taken 1,170 plate appearances but just learned he’s not as secure as he perhaps thought.

The Nationals made another change to their ever-changing bullpen today, adding recently acquired left-hander Robert Garcia to the mix and optioning right-hander Hobie Harris to Triple-A Rochester.

Garcia was just claimed off waivers from the Marlins on Tuesday, a lower-profile transaction on trade deadline day that nevertheless could have some short-term impact for a Nats club that has been desperately trying to find quality lefties for its bullpen all season.

Garcia, 27, made his major league for Miami last month, pitching one-third of a scoreless inning against the Orioles, after posting a 2.85 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 41 innings for Triple-A Jacksonville. He wound up getting caught up in a roster crunch as the surprising Marlins became buyers at the trade deadline, and the Nats jumped in and claimed him.

“Terrific Triple-A season so far,” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “A lefty that has two good pitches and has shown a propensity to strike guys out. Tough left-on-left. And a guy we think will add to a deficiency of our minor league system.”

Originally a 15th round pick of the Royals in 2017, Garcia becomes the third left-hander in a Nationals bullpen that for much of this season had none. Whether he, Jose A. Ferrer or Joe La Sorsa sticks remains to be seen, but there’s been a concerted effort to try to address that obvious area of need.

The Nationals made their one obvious trade deadline move 24 hours before the deadline, dealing Jeimer Candelario to the Cubs before Monday night’s game. They then spent deadline day deciding if any offers they received for other potential candidates were good enough to make another move.

In the end, they didn’t believe any were worth it.

Kyle Finnegan and Lane Thomas are still part of the Nationals, as is anyone else who was on the roster this afternoon, after the club opted not to make any more moves before today’s 6 p.m. deadline. Candelario wound up the only player dealt this year.

Finnegan and Thomas always loomed as possible pieces to move at the deadline, but the price for either always was going to be high because of their contract statuses. Neither player can become a free agent until after the 2025 season, leaving the Nats to ponder whether they believed one or both could be part of what they hope will be a winning roster before either could depart on his own.

"Those are two guys we feel very good about," general manager Mike Rizzo said. "We're very high on both of them. They're good players, but more importantly, they're great guys in the clubhouse. They've both become leaders in the clubhouse. When you're building a young foundation like we are here, you've got to sprinkle in some good, veteran players. And those two guys are good players. (Potential trades) never reached the bar we set for each player."

This trade deadline always promised to be different from the previous two, in which the Nationals dealt away some of the biggest names in club history for premier prospects, four of which are currently on their big league roster.

So as Trade Deadline Day 2023 finally arrives, we already know not to expect those kind of fireworks coming out of the offices on South Capitol Street. The question now is: After Monday’s trade of Jeimer Candelario, will there be any fireworks at all?

Candelario was the likeliest player to be dealt all along, and Mike Rizzo went ahead and made that move with 24 hours to spare, sending the third baseman to the Cubs for minor league shortstop Kevin Made and left-hander DJ Herz. Where does that leave the organization now heading into the 6 p.m. deadline?

It’s quite possible the Nats don’t do anything else. There’s no obvious, slam-dunk name everyone expects to be gone at this point. Besides Candelario, the other players set to be free agents at season’s end are either injured (Carl Edwards Jr.) or haven’t been productive enough to generate much interest (Corey Dickerson).

The asking price, meanwhile, on players with multiple years of control remains quite high, according to sources familiar with Rizzo’s negotiations. Rizzo views Lane Thomas and Kyle Finnegan, in particular, as potential long-term pieces to the Nationals’ puzzle, so he isn’t about to give either away for whatever best offer he receives.

With their No. 3 hitter on his way to the North Side of Chicago, the Nationals face the daunting proposition of making up for lost production from a lineup that doesn’t have a lot of proven producers to begin with.

Fortunately, they have a guy who has already proven he can deliver at the plate at the trade deadline.

Joey Meneses, who famously homered in his major league debut hours after the Nats traded Juan Soto one year ago, did it again tonight. The 31-year-old designated hitter opened the bottom of the second with a blast to left field, his sixth homer in 19 games. Then he delivered a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh that gave the Nationals the 5-3 lead over the Brewers they would hold onto the rest of the night.

Only 30 minutes after they dealt Jeimer Candelario to the Cubs for two prospects, the Nats took the field with a depleted lineup, hoping someone else could step up and produce some runs for them tonight and over the season’s final two months.

They wound up with two someones coming through: Lane Thomas, who drove in a pair of runs, and Meneses, who drove in the other three in a familiar position.

When the Nationals lineup for tonight’s series opener against the Brewers was published and Jeimer Candelario’s name wasn’t included, all eyes in the home clubhouse immediately turned toward the third baseman’s locker. Candelario, for the record, was there, in his usual Nats gear, preparing for batting practice.

Three hours later, he was no longer a National.

The Nats finalized a trade with the Cubs shortly before tonight’s game that will send Candelario back to the organization he began his career with, receiving two prospects in return, the club announced.

Kevin Made, a 20-year-old shortstop who was the Cubs’ 14th-ranked prospect, and DJ Herz, a 22-year-old left-hander who was their 16th-ranked prospect, will now join the Nationals organization.

Candelario was far and away the most likely Nationals player to be dealt before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. deadline. A number of teams, headlined by the Angels and Yankees, reportedly were interested in the 29-year-old, who entered the day with an .823 OPS, 30 doubles, 16 homers, 53 RBIs and 3.3 bWAR in 99 games played.

The Washington Nationals recalled right-handed pitcher Hobie Harris from Triple-A Rochester and placed right-handed pitcher Trevor Williams on the Bereavement List on Monday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Harris, 30, returns for his second stint with Washington after making the Nationals’ 2023 Opening Day roster. He appeared in 15 games out of Washington’s bullpen, pitching to a 5.40 ERA. Harris allowed two earned runs in 7.1 innings (2.45 ERA) across his final six outings before being optioned to Triple-A Rochester on May 20.

In nine games with the Red Wings, Harris went 1-2 with a 8.10 ERA. He was placed on the Injured List on June 10 and was activated on July 22. Harris allowed two earned runs on three hits in 3.1 innings across three outings prior to being recalled. 

Harris enjoyed his best professional season in 2022, leading International League pitchers (min. 50.0 IP) and ranking second in Milwaukee’s Minor League system in ERA (2.04) and opponents’ batting average (.164).

Williams, 31, is 5-6 with a 4.72 ERA in 22 starts for the Nationals this season.

NEW YORK – The first time came on the back end of a perfectly executed double-steal, with Jeimer Candelario drawing the throw to second to allow CJ Abrams to race home from third.

The second time came moments after a pickoff attempt, Abrams immediately swiping second ahead of the throw.

And by the third time Abrams attempted to steal Sunday afternoon at Citi Field, the Mets didn’t even bother attempting to throw him out.

The first three-steal game of Abrams’ career wasn’t enough to propel the Nationals to victory. They only scored two runs as a team, and one of those came via the aforementioned double-steal in the top of the first. But it did underscore just how far the 22-year-old shortstop has come in a short period of time, not only at the plate and in the field but on the bases as well.

Abrams is now 24-for-26 on the season on stolen-base attempts, and 21 for his last 21. He hasn’t been thrown out since May 3, when he took off for second too soon and was picked off by the Cubs’ Adbert Alzolay.

NEW YORK – When the Nationals’ lineup for today’s series finale against the Mets was posted and Lane Thomas’ name was notably missing, eyebrows surely were raised within the clubhouse, the fan base and perhaps around the rest of the majors.

Such is life in the final days of July, when any player who could be on the trade block doesn’t play.

Thomas’ day off, though, is nothing more than that. Manager Davey Martinez said he had been wanting to give his right fielder a breather for a while, and with a quick turnaround from Saturday night’s rain-delayed win, this felt like the right time to do it.

“He’s good. I’ve just got to give him a day,” Martinez said. “I just wanted to give him a day off today, and he’ll come back tomorrow and be ready to go.”

Thomas started 103 of the Nationals’ first 105 games this season, and both of his days off came way back in April. His performance and importance to a lineup short on consistent production has dictated his usage, and Martinez has been hesitant to sit him at all.

NEW YORK – It’s been quite a weekend here at Citi Field, with two rain delays, two wins for the Mets, one win for the Nationals and one massive trade of a New York pitcher who will forever be better known for pitching for Washington. Now it’s the finale of this four-game series, the Nats with a chance to head home with a split and rub some more salt in the Mets’ wounds.

Neither team released its starting lineup early, which is no surprise given the presence of the trade deadline in two days. No reason to unveil something that could change before gametime. But as far as we know, Jeimer Candelario is playing for the Nationals and Justin Verlander is starting for the Mets.

Verlander could be on his way out at some point in the next 48 hours, perhaps back to Houston, where he’d suddenly be going up against Max Scherzer and the Rangers in the American League West pennant race. If he does start today, he’ll be facing the Nats for the first time this season. The 40-year-old has been very good of late, with a 1.46 ERA in his last six starts.

Trevor Williams, meanwhile, faces his former team for the third time this season. The right-hander gave up four runs in five innings here in April, then allowed one run in 2 1/3 innings in a May start that was cut short by a long rain delay.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 1:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 77 degrees, wind 9 mph in from left field