The Nationals have found themselves in this position plenty of times over the last month-plus, having lost the first game of a series before bouncing back to win the next night, leaving the finale as the decisive rubber game. And in five of the last seven such instances, they’ve lost the finale and thus lost the series.

One of those series came last month in San Diego, where the rubber game featured a pitching matchup of MacKenzie Gore vs. Nick Pivetta. Gore was outstanding that afternoon, allowing one run over six innings. And Pivetta was better, tossing seven scoreless innings with only three batters reaching base. Thus did the Padres win the game, 1-0.

Here we are again with the same pitching matchup in the series finale between the same two teams, this time at Nationals Park. Can Gore duplicate his efforts from that outing? More importantly, can the Nats mount more of an offensive threat against Pivetta and provide their ace with some desperately needed run support? That’s what’s at stake this afternoon.

SAN DIEGO PADRES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 87 degrees, wind 11 mph out to right field

PADRES
RF Fernando Tatis Jr.
1B Luis Arraez
3B Manny Machado
DH Xander Bogaerts
CF Jackson Merrill
LF Gavin Sheets
SS Jose Iglesias
2B Jake Cronenworth
CF Bryce Johnson
C Elias Díaz

Mike DeBartolo’s first week on the job as the Nationals’ interim general manager was consumed with the Major League Baseball Draft. His second and third weeks on the job are now focused on MLB’s upcoming trade deadline, and a critical question he must confront: How committed is the organization to its current group of young players?

The Nats will be sellers at the deadline for the fifth straight year, that much DeBartolo concedes. Veterans on expiring contracts like Kyle Finnegan, Michael Soroka, Josh Bell, Amed Rosario and Paul DeJong will be shopped.

But the asking price for those two-month rentals isn’t likely to be steep. If DeBartolo is interested in making more significant changes and acquiring more prominent prospects before July 31, he would need to consider dealing players still under club control beyond 2025.

First baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining, is one possibility. But what about MacKenzie Gore, one of the key prospects acquired in the 2022 Juan Soto blockbuster and a first-time All-Star, yet one who only has 2 1/2 years left of club control (same as Soto at the time of that trade)?

DeBartolo didn’t straight up shoot down the possibility when asked Saturday in a session with reporters following No. 1 draft pick Eli Willits’ introductory press conference. But he did make it fairly clear he’s not interested in breaking up what he believes is a solid foundation of young players already at the major league level.

TAMPA – Kyle Bradish will begin his injury rehab assignment Thursday with High-A Aberdeen, staying on track for a second-half return to the Orioles’ rotation.

Bradish had two ups yesterday during live batting practice in Sarasota.

Adley Rutschman (oblique) will start his rehab assignment Tuesday with Triple-A Norfolk. He’s getting at-bats today against Tyler Wells, who’s nearing his own assignment.

First baseman Ryan Mountcastle (hamstring) will join Rutschman later in the week.

Left-hander Cade Povich (hip) starts Thursday or Friday at Norfolk.

Kyle Finnegan said he couldn’t wait to get back on the mound tonight and erase the sting of Friday night’s disastrous ninth inning. The Nationals closer got his wish. And made the most of the opportunity.

Handed a two-run lead in the top of the ninth, Finnegan shut down the Padres and finished off a 4-2 victory before a boisterous Saturday night crowd of 31,136 that waited out a 1-hour, 5-minute rain delay and was rewarded for its patience with a much-needed victory by the home team.

Finnegan needed it as much as anyone. The slumping closer entered with a 4.37 ERA and zero saves (with three blown saves) since June 6. He avoided any drama this time, retiring the side and giving his teammates a chance to celebrate at the center of the diamond.

"Any pitcher will tell you: After a bad one, you don't want to stew on it for too long. You want to get back out there and put it behind you," Finnegan said. "So I was excited for the opportunity to do that tonight. Happy that they had the faith in me to go back out there and get the last three outs."

"I told him right now: It doesn't matter who's coming up to hit, you're my closer," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "Go out there and just do your job. And he did it today."

TAMPA – Tony Mansolino is new to this whole managing thing, carrying his interim tag into every major league ballpark and a few of the minor league fill-ins, but he’s a quick study and knows that he can’t control the narrative.

The media’s gonna media.

The pressure of the approaching trade deadline could be impacting the Orioles, who are predicted by some outlets to be the most active team with a bundle of pending free agents on the table and hopes of contending fading like old jeans.

Or it isn’t. The blame might fall instead to deficiencies in the rotation, a slumping offense and an injury bug that could devour an entire city. The Orioles had 25 different players on the injured list in the first half to tie the White Sox for most in the majors. The Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets were next with 22, which is an important note because they seemed to cope better than the others.

“I’m an optimist in every which way, so I’ve never gravitated toward the feel sorry for me or everything’s terrible or everything’s negative,” Mansolino said. “I tend to look at the opportunity that somebody else gets and look at the possibility of doing great.

TAMPA – A fast start tonight by the Orioles would have to set a pace that didn’t let the Rays pass them. It was a dangerous little game that was destined to cause a crash.

Three of the first four batters reached and the Orioles scored twice before the bats were tamed again, with no runs over the next seven innings.

None were surrendered by Dean Kremer through the sixth and only one through the seventh for another quality start, but it proved to be no match for the Orioles’ failures in the clutch.

Seranthony Domínguez was charged with three runs, two earned, in the bottom of the eighth and the Rays rallied past the Orioles 4-3 before an announced sellout crowd of 10,046 at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

The losing streak grows to four games and the Orioles are 11 under again at 43-54.

TAMPA – The Orioles got on a serious draft signing roll today, with two more players entering the organization.

The club reached agreements with left-hander Joseph Dzierwa, a second-rounder out of Michigan State, and right-hander JT Quinn, a Competitive Balance B Round selection out of Georgia.

Five of the Orioles’ first six picks have signed professional contracts.

Catcher Caden Bodine, the 30^th-overall pick out of Coastal Carolina, will report to the Sarasota complex on Sunday and meet up with 19^th-overall selection Ike Irish, a catcher/outfielder from Auburn.

Bodine, who began switch-hitting when he was 4 years old, wasn’t fazed by the Orioles taking another catcher before him.

When it came time to negotiate his first professional contract, Eli Willits felt no need to waste any time. He wanted to get the deal done and get to work. He does have a goal, of course, of reaching the big leagues at an extremely young age.

“I’m just ready to get out there and play,” the Nationals’ top draft pick said this afternoon. “I set a goal to be in the big leagues by the time I’m 20. That’s something I’m really excited to do, and hopefully I get there and start playing well, and that can be something I accomplish in the next few years.”

So it was that Willits found himself at Nationals Park, only six days after he was selected No. 1 overall in the Major League Baseball Draft, signing his first professional contract, donning City Connect gear and working out at shortstop and in the batting cage alongside big leaguers prior to tonight’s game against the Padres.

Of course, Willits wasn’t legally allowed to sign that contract by himself. Because he won’t turn 18 until December, his parents also had to sign the $8.2 million deal offered to him by the Nats.

That dollar amount, while a record for a player drafted out of high school, still came in well below MLB’s designated slot value for this year’s No. 1 pick ($11,075,900). The Nationals already were enamored enough with Willits on his playing merits and long-term potential to select him over fellow Oklahoma high school shortstop Ethan Holliday and LSU left-hander Kade Anderson. But the fact they could spend less on his signing bonus and apply those savings to later-round picks was an added bonus for a recently reshaped front office that entered this draft hoping to do something along those lines.

TAMPA – Zach Eflin is nearing a return to the Orioles’ rotation, perhaps next week in Cleveland.

Eflin tossed four innings yesterday in the Florida Complex League, allowing five unearned runs in the fourth. He threw 68 pitches, 40 for strikes, and said he felt “great” and “ready to go.”

The Orioles put Eflin on the 15-day injured list retroactive to June 29 with lower back discomfort and he's itching to rejoin the club.

“I’ve been eager,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been ready. More so just to prove I can kind of do it yesterday. Back feels great.”

Eflin went on the IL earlier this season with a low-grade lat strain. He said the back discomfort has “kind of popped up the past couple years, like once a year, and typically takes like seven days to clear up and I’m pretty much good to go after that."

It promises to be another eventful day and evening at Nationals Park, and it’s not just about the game. The Nats are set to formally sign and introduce No. 1 draft pick Eli Willits this afternoon. You can watch the press conference live on MASN at 3:15 p.m. Interim general manager Mike DeBartolo is also scheduled to meet with reporters for the second time since assuming the position, and there are no shortage of topics to discuss with him.

As for the game, the Nationals will look to bounce back from a sloppy, 7-2 loss to the Padres on Friday night. They’ll hope for more early offense after getting shut out by Dylan Cease, looking for better results against Yu Darvish, who makes only his third start of the season after missing several months with right elbow inflammation.

Mitchell Parker takes the mound for the Nats, and he pitched well last month at Petco Park, holding the Padres to three runs over six-plus innings, ultimately earning the win. The lefty will need to provide some length, you would think, after Miguel Cairo used up seven relievers during Friday’s loss.

SAN DIEGO PADRES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of storms, 82 degrees, wind 5 mph out to left field

PADRES
RF Fernando Tatis Jr.
1B Luis Arraez
DH Manny Machado
LF Gavin Sheets
SS Xander Bogaerts
CF Jackson Merrill
3B Jose Iglesias
2B Jake Cronenworth
C Martín Maldonado

TAMPA - The Orioles signed another first-day draft pick today, Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy, the 31^st-overall selection.

Aloy receives the full slot value of $3,042,800, as reported by MLB.com’s Jim Callis.

The club already inked catchers Ike Irish and Caden Bodine, the 19^th and 30th selections. The deadline for signings is July 28 at 5 p.m.

Aloy, 21, fell to the Orioles and they pounced. A native of Hawaii, he won the Golden Spikes and Southeastern Conference Player of the Year awards this year by slashing .350/.434/.673 with 19 doubles, two triples, 21 home runs, 68 RBIs and 81 runs scored.

In three seasons, Aloy hit .332/.406/.609 with 43 doubles, seven triples, 49 homers and 170 RBIs in 181 games.

The Orioles today signed shortstop WEHIWA ALOY, the No. 31 overall pick in the 2025 First-Year Player Draft.

Aloy, the Wailuku, Hawaii native and University of Arkansas product is the third of 24 Orioles draft picks to agree to terms, along with catchers IKE IRISH (No. 19 overall) and CADEN BODINE (No. 30 overall). The deadline for MLB teams to sign their draft selections is Monday, July 28, at 5 p.m. ET.

Not that there was much reason to worry, but the Nationals will be officially signing their No. 1 draft pick less than one week after selecting him.

Eli Willits, the 17-year-old shortstop from Oklahoma who became the first player in the country drafted Sunday night, will be at Nationals Park today to formally sign his first professional contract, then be introduced both to media during an afternoon press conference and then to fans attending tonight’s game against the Padres.

MASN will televise the press conference live at 3:15 p.m.

It’s a quick turnaround for both Willits and the Nats, who agreed to a deal in short order. Terms of that deal aren’t yet known, but Willits is expected to sign for less than Major League Baseball’s suggested slot value for the No. 1 pick of $11,075,900, a move that appears to have allowed the club to go above-slot on multiple later-round picks.

The Nationals surprised some in the baseball world when they chose Willits over fellow Oklahoma high school shortstop Ethan Holliday and LSU left-hander Kade Anderson. But in a wide-open draft with no consensus best player, the Nats believe Willits was as good (if not better) than the other options and came with the added prospect of financial flexibility.

TAMPA – Coby Mayo remembers the conversation he had last year with outfielder Kyle Stowers and the question posed to his friend.

“I asked him, ‘Would you rather be in the big leagues and not playing much or be down in Triple-A and playing every day,” Mayo recalled, “and he’s like, ‘I think being in the big leagues is very valuable, even if you’re not playing, just learning.’ Being able to watch the game and being around the coaches.”

The Orioles must agree because they’re carrying Mayo on the roster and sitting him much more than he plays.

Last night’s start against the Rays was only his third in the last 12 games. An 11-for-36 stretch over 11 games to finish June didn’t create a regular spot for him in the lineup.

Stowers made his first All-Star team with the Marlins and hit his 20^th and 21^st home runs last night, including a walk-off, to give him five blasts in his last two games.

The idea is to play a more fundamental brand of baseball the rest of the season, Miguel Cairo explained this afternoon. The Nationals’ interim manager then watched as the Padres showed them the proper way to do that while watching his own team come up woefully short on multiple occasions.

Despite getting a jolt from CJ Abrams’ game-tying homer in the bottom of the eighth, the Nats still lost 7-2 when San Diego scored five runs off Kyle Finnegan in the top of the ninth, an inning that featured a successful hit-and-run, the game’s second successful safety squeeze, good baserunning and then a grand slam for the final dagger.

The Nationals? They ran themselves into three more outs (Josh Bell accounting for two of them at critical moments in the game), stumbled in the field and watched another winnable game not only slip from their fingers but turn into a rout.

In short, the second half of a season gone awry opened in much the same manner the first half closed.

"I said it before: That's something we need to keep working on getting better," said Cairo, whose team is now 1-6 since he replaced Davey Martinez. "We're going to keep working on doing the little things better than the other team. There's still 2 1/2 months to go, and we've got to keep our heads up. I'm going to stay aggressive. If you're not aggressive, you're not trying."

TAMPA – Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino gathered his players today for a post-break meeting, a “good talk” with details that he wanted to keep private.

“I’m not gonna tell you the message, but it was multiple things,” he said this afternoon during his media scrum inside the visiting dugout at steamy George M. Steinbrenner Field. “Just a lot of the things kind of surrounding us, the challenges that kind of lay ahead, and also the opportunities that lay ahead.”

Mansolino wants his team to block out the distractions, including trade deadline talk, and to keep pushing. Play up to the level of talent. Treat the second half like a fresh start.

The Rays took all of the air out of an uplifting speech, busting it like a balloon.

Junior Caminero hit a three-run homer off Charlie Morton in the bottom of the first inning, Danny Jansen followed with a solo shot in the second, and the Orioles saw the game go from bad to worse in an 11-1 loss before an announced sellout crowd of 10,046.

TAMPA – The chances of Grayson Rodriguez facing batters in 2025 just took another hit.

Rodriguez is shut down again for an indefinite period due to the same elbow soreness that kept him from pitching in spring training after a March 5 game against the Twins in Fort Myers.

The injury report lists Rodriguez with right elbow inflammation but he initially was sidelined with a strained lat that forced the cancellation of an April 17 bullpen session. Rodriguez spoke earlier of triceps tendinitis.

Rodriguez had advanced to throwing breaking balls in his bullpen sessions but clearly was behind other pitchers on the IL, including Kyle Bradish, who’s recovered from reconstructive elbow surgery last June and will log two innings Saturday against live hitters in Sarasota before beginning a rehab assignment.

“We had to pull back a little bit on Grayson,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “There’s a little bit of elbow discomfort from the issue he had in spring training, same spot, so we’re gonna kind of pull back, we’re gonna reevaluate and we’ll probably have more information on that in the next week or so.”

For four months, Derek Law tried to get his arm ready to pitch in the major leagues, hoping the setbacks he experienced along the way could finally be overcome. Until the veteran Nationals reliever was told last week he has a partial tear of the flexor tendon in his right elbow, at which point hope turned to acceptance.

Law will undergo surgery soon to repair the tear, a procedure that will prevent him from pitching this season and likely sideline him until early-to-mid 2026. It’s a tough pill to swallow for the 34-year-old, who wanted to believe all along he’d be able to contribute to the Nats in 2025 but has now resigned himself to the fact he can’t.

“It was already hard enough to miss Opening Day this year. And then you hear that,” he said. “I needed every bit of five days to figure out in my head what the heck’s going on, the downtime I’m going to miss.”

The workhorse of the Nationals' bullpen, Law made 75 appearances and pitched 90 innings last season, the highest total by any of the team’s relievers since Tyler Clippard in 2010. He did so while missing two weeks in late-August with a flexor strain, an injury he rebounded from to close out the season with no real issues.

Law never could get his arm right this season, though. After a delayed build-up in spring training, he began experiencing elbow soreness, so he opened the year on the injured list. That turned into a much longer process than initially envisioned, with Law eventually making four appearances in minor league rehab games over the last month but unable to emerge from those sessions without a return of the elbow pain.

And we’re back. After a much-needed, four-day break, the Nationals return for the second half of the season, surely hoping it will go much better than the first half did. The “second half,” of course, is a misnomer. They’ve already played 96 games, so there are only 66 still to be played.

It begins tonight with the opener of a three-game series against the Padres, who are sending someone to the mound the Nats may not be thrilled to see again: Dylan Cease. Almost exactly one year ago, the right-hander tossed a no-hitter here at Nationals Park. Cease hasn’t been nearly as good this season; he enters 3-9 with a 4.88 ERA, but he’s still striking out more than 11 batters per nine innings.

The All-Star break gave Miguel Cairo and Jim Hickey a chance to reorganize their rotation. So with MacKenzie Gore having thrown his scoreless inning Tuesday in Atlanta, he’ll now be pushed back to Sunday. And with Jake Irvin having thrown Sunday’s first half finale in Milwaukee, he’ll get extra rest. So it’s Michael Soroka out of the chute tonight, with Mitchell Parker set for Saturday night’s game.

SAN DIEGO PADRES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 80 degrees, wind 66 mph out to left field

PADRES
RF Fernando Tatis Jr.
1B Luis Arraez
3B Manny Machado
LF Gavin Sheets
CF Jackson Merrill
SS Xander Bogaerts
2B Jake Cronenworth
DH Trenton Brooks
C Elias Díaz

TAMPA – The Orioles filled the opening on their 26-man roster by signing reliever Corbin Martin to a one-year major league contract.

Martin was designated for assignment Sunday before the Orioles knew that reliever Scott Blewett would go on the injured list with right elbow discomfort. Martin declined an outright assignment, became a free agent and signed a new contract.

The 40-man roster is full.

Zach Eflin’s rehab assignment was transferred to the Florida Complex League and he could be reinstated from the injured list if he gets through it without any setbacks.

Catcher Chadwick Tromp begins his rehab assignment at Class A Delmarva.