NEW YORK – It was easy to focus on the manner in which the Nationals lost Thursday night’s game to the Mets, 2-1. Both runs allowed came off the bullpen, which had to adjust on the fly after a sudden downpour halted play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning before Kyle Finnegan could throw his first pitch.

Davey Martinez, though, recognized the larger problem with Thursday’s game. It had nothing to do with the Nats pitching staff. It had everything to do with their lineup.

“We’ve got to start swinging the bats,” the manager said. “We’ve got guys on third base with less than two outs, in games like this, those runs are important. We’ve got to have better at-bats, any way you can to get the ball in the outfield. We’ve got to do a better job of that.”

The only run the Nationals scored in this game came in the top of the sixth, and it wasn’t exactly a rousing rally that made it possible. CJ Abrams drew a leadoff walk and then stole second. Jeimer Candelario reached on catcher’s interference. Joey Meneses singled through the left side of the infield to load the bases. And Keibert Ruiz then lofted a ball to right field for the sacrifice fly that scored Abrams.

That’s all they managed all night. Even though there were opportunities for more.

NEW YORK – Kyle Finnegan trotted in from the bullpen, took the ball from Davey Martinez and began warming up for what was about to be the biggest moment of the night. The bases were loaded with one out in the bottom of the eighth, the Nationals and Mets were tied and Finnegan was going to have to try to pitch his way out of this jam and send the game to the ninth still tied.

And then before he could actually throw his first pitch to Mark Canha, Finnegan turned to his right and saw the Citi Field grounds crew racing into action. Umpires motioned to everyone to get off the field. The PA announcer instructed fans to take cover. And this tie ballgame was thrust into a most untimely delay just moments before the skies over Flushing opened and dumped torrential rain and wind onto the now-covered field.

By the time it was finally OK to play again, some 97 minutes later, Finnegan was back on the mound, ready to face that bases-loaded jam again. And though the Nats closer did his job, it wasn’t enough to prevent the eventual winning run from scoring.

Canha’s sacrifice fly to right on Finnegan’s fifth pitch was enough to lift the Mets to a wild, 2-1 victory at the end of a long and strange night at the ballpark.

"As a a reliever, you're constantly getting warmed up and then sat down," Finnegan said. "So I just played it like that. I was fine. No issues."

NEW YORK – Two key Nationals relievers are ready to start facing live hitters in game-like situations. The club is motivated to get one of them off the injured list as soon as possible, not as much with the other.

Carl Edwards Jr. and Tanner Rainey are both scheduled to face hitters in a simulated game Friday in West Palm Beach, Fla., the first time each right-hander will reach that stage of his respective rehab program.

A simulated game is usually the final step for a recovering pitcher before he begins a minor league rehab assignment, but while Edwards may be ready to take that final step soon, the Nats appear likely to wait a bit longer with Rainey.

Edwards, on the 15-day IL with inflammation in his shoulder, has been out since June 19. The 31-year-old, who had a 3.69 ERA and two saves in 32 appearances before getting hurt, was going to be one of the Nationals’ top trade chips this summer. With the Aug. 2 deadline now only five days away, Edwards is almost out of time to make it back onto the active roster to prove to interested clubs he’s fully healthy again.

Teams are allowed to trade players who are on the IL – the Nats did it with Kyle Schwarber in 2021 – but the return for injured players is almost always going to be diminished to some extent. If the Nationals can get Edwards back on the active roster and to pitch at least once for them before Aug. 2, they might be able to find a taker willing to give up a prospect of more consequence for the veteran setup man.

NEW YORK – The Nationals just completed their best homestand of the season. They’ve won nine of their last 14 overall. Now they’ll see if they can keep it up on the road against a Mets team that desperately needs to turn things on, lest they actually become sellers at next week’s trade deadline.

Yeah, the situation is that dire here in Flushing, where the most expensive team in baseball has the eighth-worst record in baseball, is 17 1/2 games out of first place and 7 1/2 games out of the wild card race, with five teams to chase in front of it. If we’re being realistic, the Mets probably need to sweep this four-game series to make a compelling case for owner Steve Cohen to buy before Tuesday’s deadline.

The Nats will try to prevent that with their All-Star starter on the mound for the series opener tonight. Josiah Gray is coming off an excellent outing against the Giants, when he allowed one run and four hits over seven innings. He’s already pitched very well here at Citi Field this year, shutting out the Mets over six innings April 25.

Kodai Senga starts for New York. The 30-year-old rookie from Japan hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in a month, lowering his ERA to 3.27 in the process. He faced the Nationals in that same late-April series, allowing two runs in five innings but taking the loss.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Chance of storms, 81 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left field

Jeimer Candelario tries his best not to think about it. There’s always another game to prepare for, batting practice to take, grounders to field. That’s how he keeps his mind off the subject everyone else wants to bring up with him: Next week’s trade deadline.

“You know how it is: I want to be able to live day by day,” the Nationals third baseman said. “I know the deadline is there, but I don’t want to pay attention to that. I want to keep going, helping my team where I’m at. Right now, I’m here. And I want to control what I can control right here.”

The Nationals have no superstars on the block this late July. Max Scherzer and Trea Turner were dealt two summers ago. Juan Soto and Josh Bell were dealt last year. The best chip they’ve got is Candelario, who is enjoying a strong season and is due to be a free agent, and that makes him far and away the most likely player on the roster to be moved before the Aug. 1 deadline.

Candelario, who signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Nats last winter after getting non-tendered by the Tigers, has professed his desire to stay in D.C. He’s performed well, and on Monday night delivered his 16th homer of the season to match Lane Thomas for the team lead, to go along with 28 doubles, 50 RBIs and an .821 OPS. He’s also played solid defense and would be a welcome addition for any contending team in need of help at third base.

Despite the noise surrounding him, Candelario has managed to continue to play well. He’s now hit six homers in July, more than any previous month.

CHICAGO – Rarely does a team deal away two stars, one of them a surefire Hall of Famer, in one trade deadline transaction. Now consider how rare it is for a team to do that two years in a row.

Suffice it to say, the Nationals’ 2021 and 2022 trade deadline moves were highly unusual. Teams just don’t generally put the likes of Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Juan Soto and Josh Bell all on the trade block in the span of 12 months. Whether they should’ve done that or not is an old debate at this point. It’s too late now to change history.

What isn’t debatable is the significance of the Scherzer/Turner deal to the Dodgers in 2021 and the Soto/Bell deal to the Padres in 2022. Those two moves alone netted the Nationals four current young major leaguers, one of the highest-rated prospects in baseball, two more who could reach the majors in the coming years and two others who to date haven’t panned out.

“I think we impacted our franchise greatly,” general manager Mike Rizzo said this week when asked to look back at his last two deadlines. “I think that we put the rebuild process in overdrive. And I think that we’re further along than if we hadn’t done those two trade deadlines.”

We’re now 12 days away from this year’s trade deadline (Aug. 1), and this much is clear: While the Nationals do have a few quality players who could be attractive to contenders, they don’t have anyone who compares to the aforementioned fabulous four. There are no franchise-altering deals to be made this time, only some calculated transactions and some interesting decisions to be made on a few guys who still could or could not be part of the Nationals’ long-term plans.

CHICAGO – With a chance to win another road series, with a chance to use their few remaining reliable relievers late, the Nationals yet again put themselves in position to emerge victorious.

This time, despite an inspired rally to tie the game in the eighth, they watched as one of those few trusted relievers gave up the eventual winning run minutes later. Then they watched as one of the unproven relievers turned this game into another rout in a matter of seconds.

Mason Thompson, entrusted with a tie game in the bottom of the eighth, was the pitcher of record in what finished as an 8-3 loss to the Cubs. Cory Abbott gave up the grand slam that blew things wide open after Thompson was pulled with the bases loaded later in the inning.

Through injuries, demotions, promotions and a flurry of transactions in recent weeks, the Nats bullpen has devolved into a mess in its current incarnation. There's no immediate help coming. They have no choice but to keep putting the same group on the mound and hope things will finally click.

"It's still the same game," Thompson said. "At the end of the day, we've just got to go out there and do a better job of helping the team win."

The Orioles today announced that they have acquired right-handed pitcher SHINTARO FUJINAMI from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for minor league left-handed pitcher EASTON LUCAS.

Fujinami, 29, is 5-8 with an 8.57 ERA (47 ER/49.1 IP) with 52 hits, 48 total runs, six home runs, 30 walks (1 IBB), five hit batters, and 51 strikeouts in 34 games (7 starts) this season. After opening the year in the rotation, he was transitioned to a reliever in late April. Since June 1, he has a 3.26 ERA (7 ER/19.1 IP) with 17 hits, two home runs, six walks, one hit batter, and 20 strikeouts in 17 games (3 starts). All three of those starts after moving to the bullpen were 1.0 inning or less. 

A native of Sakai, Japan, Fujinami signed with the A’s as a free agent on January 13, 2023 after pitching 10 professional seasons with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He was a three-time NPB All-Star from 2013-15.

Fujinami, pronounced shin-TAR-oh foo-jee-NAH-mee, will be the second Japanese-born player in Orioles history, joining Koji Uehara from 2009-11.

Lucas, 26, was 1-0 with one save and a 2.93 ERA (10 ER/30.2 IP) with 19 hits, 11 total runs, six home runs, 13 walks, and 38 strikeouts in 21 combined games between Triple-A Norfolk and Double-A Bowie this season. He made his Triple-A debut with the Tides on June 9. Born in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Lucas was acquired by the O’s from Miami for infielder Jonathan Villar on December 2, 2019. He was originally selected by the Marlins in the 14^th round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Pepperdine University (CA).

CHICAGO – The Nationals made yet another bullpen move today, calling up recently acquired right-hander Rico Garcia from Triple-A Rochester and placing Paolo Espino on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain in his right ring finger.

It’s the club’s 10th bullpen change in six weeks, evidence of a revolving door unit that has dealt both with injuries and poor performances from those who have tried to fill the void.

Garcia only joined the organization one week ago when he signed a minor league deal after getting released by the Athletics, for whom he posted an 8.31 ERA in seven appearances. The 29-year-old wound up pitching only twice for Rochester before getting the call he was reporting to Chicago to join the big league staff.

“Everything kind of happened so quickly,” Garcia said. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be here.”

The 5-foot-9 Hawaii native has endured through a winding professional career that has included major league stints with the Rockies, Giants, Orioles and A’s. In total he’s pitched 27 big league games, producing a 6.89 ERA and 1.837 WHIP.

CHICAGO – As ugly as Tuesday night – and oh boy was it ugly – the Nationals still arrive at Wrigley Field today with a chance to win this series and head home with a 3-3 record on the second-half-opening trip. Even better news: The two semi-reliable relievers they still have are both available.

Kyle Finnegan and Mason Thompson are good to go if the situation presents itself in the late innings. So is Jordan Weems, who hasn’t appeared since Sunday in St. Louis. So the key, then, is for Trevor Williams to at least provide five (ideally six) quality innings and give his a team a chance, which is basically what he’s done all year. Williams is plenty fresh, because his last start was cut short after 2 2/3 innings due to rain. So there’s no reason he can’t reach, or even top, 100 pitches tonight if he’s performing well enough.

Veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks starts for the Cubs, and he has allowed nine runs, 18 hits and six homers over his last 10 1/3 innings after pitching quite well prior to that. Hendricks isn’t an overpowering guy; his changeup is his go-to pitch. It’s imperative for these Nationals hitters to stay patient with him and not get jumpy at the plate.

The Nationals announced some roster moves this afternoon, selecting the contract of right-hander Rico Garcia from Triple-A Rochester, placing Paolo Espino on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain of his fourth right finger and transferred Israel Pineda (right finger fracture) to the 60-day IL.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 8:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 76 degrees, wind 7 mph right field to left field

The Washington Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Rico Garcia on Wednesday. Additionally, the Nationals placed right-handed pitcher Paolo Espino on the 15-day Injured List with a flexor strain of his fourth right finger and transferred catcher Israel Pineda to the 60-day Injured List. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements.

Garcia, 29, went 2-1 with six saves and a 2.93 ERA in 24 relief appearances between Triple-A Las Vegas (OAK) and Triple-A Rochester. He struck out 36 batters and held the opposition to a .182 average. This marks his third Major League stint of the season after appearing in seven games out of Oakland’s bullpen. He pitched to an 8.31 ERA with six strikeouts with the Athletics.

A native of Honolulu, Hawaii, Garcia has appeared in 27 games (one start) across four Major League seasons. He is 1-2 with a 6.89 ERA with Oakland (2023), Baltimore (2022), San Francisco (2020) and Colorado (2019).

Garcia was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 30^th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Hawaii Pacific University.

Espino, 36, has appeared in three games out of Washington’s bullpen, pitching to a 24.75 ERA.

CHICAGO – It's been quite an eventful start to the second half of the season. The Nationals experienced three rain delays in St. Louis, winning a suspended game in extra innings before dropping the other two. They saw their closer land on the injured list and their best trade chip suffer an injury that fortunately didn't linger for long.

Since arriving in Chicago, the Nats have won a game behind the efforts of their two remaining reliable relievers, then lost the next night after the rest of that bullpen allowed 14 runs in two innings. Yes, that's 14 runs in two innings.

On the minor league level, they promoted one of their top prospects to Double-A, they signed a bunch of recent draft picks (including two guys well above slot value) and are now just trying to lock up their No. 1 pick before next week's deadline.

Oh, and the trade deadline is fast approaching, as well.

Given all that, this seems like a good time to take your questions. Submit them in the comments section below, then check back throughout the morning for my responses ...

CHICAGO – Though he had his moments in the first half of the season, CJ Abrams wasn’t fully satisfied with his performance at the plate or in the field. He knows what success feels like, and this wasn’t meeting that standard.

So, the Nationals’ young shortstop set about to make strides, especially in his approach at the plate. And slowly but surely, he began seeing positive results.

Those positive results weren’t lost on manager Davey Martinez, who had been waiting all year for the right moment to bump Abrams up to the leadoff spot in his lineup. Three days before the All-Star break, Martinez decided the time was right.

Abrams has since done his part to validate that decision. And on Monday, he received outside validation for his efforts, winning the first National League Player of the Week award of his young career.

“It feels good to be able to see what hard work can do,” Abrams said. “The last few weeks I’ve been putting a lot of work in with (hitting coach Darnell Coles). It just feels good to be able to go out there and do my thing.”

CHICAGO – Whether it was a concession to a depleted bullpen that is running out of experienced late-inning arms or a concerted attempt to push a young starting pitcher to a place he hasn’t been often but eventually will need to reach, MacKenzie Gore took the mound for the bottom of the seventh tonight at Wrigley Field.

This was only the third time in Gore’s young career he had seen the seventh, the second time this season. His pitch count stood at 93. He was working on 10 full days of rest, and his previous start only lasted 17 pitches because of a rain delay.

Davey Martinez watched from the dugout as the 24-year-old left-hander promptly served up a two-run homer to Patrick Wisdom on his 106th pitch of the night, forcing the Nationals manager to entrust the rest of the game to that depleted bullpen.

A depleted bullpen that still managed to get the final eight outs from Mason Thompson and Kyle Finnegan required to lock up a 7-5 victory over the Cubs that tested everyone’s nerves and hearts.

"You can't say enough good things about the bats today," Gore said. "And Finny and Mason going an inning-plus, they've been doing that all year. You can't say enough good things about them." 

CHICAGO – Hunter Harvey’s MRI revealed a mild right elbow strain, an injury that will sideline the Nationals reliever for a while but was still described as “good news” by manager Davey Martinez, who feared worse.

“Best-case scenario for us,” Martinez said. “We’re going to shut him down for 10 days, and he’ll resume his throwing. We’ll just let it calm down a little bit and build some strength up and get him back as soon as we possibly can.”

Harvey, who reported soreness in his arm after pitching a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th Saturday in St. Louis despite diminished fastball velocity, was officially placed on the 15-day injured list today. The Nationals were prepared to make that transaction no matter the severity of the injury, but club officials were relieved to learn the injury wasn’t more serious or would require surgery.

“Especially with his history, and the way he was feeling, I was very concerned,” Martinez said. “But this came out great. They said everything looks great. He just has a little mild strain in there, and he should be back.”

Harvey’s career has been littered with IL stints, the vast majority of those coming while he was a member of the Orioles organization from the day he was drafted in 2013 until he was placed on waivers after the 2021 season. He did miss 2 1/2 months with a forearm strain last summer after joining the Nats, but he had been a durable fixture in the bullpen since, making 73 big league appearances in the last calendar year with no health issues.

CHICAGO – The sky is blue, there’s a nice cool breeze blowing in off Lake Michigan and most importantly there’s no rain in the forecast. Ahhhhhhh, we earned this one after a brutal weather weekend in St. Louis.

The Nationals come to Wrigley Field for a three-game series with several changes to their roster. Hunter Harvey was officially placed on the 15-day injured list with what the team is now calling a right elbow strain. They also optioned Joan Adon to Triple-A Rochester and recalled Joe La Sorsa and activated Patrick Corbin off the paternity list. Corbin won’t pitch until Tuesday, but he was only allowed to spend three days on leave, so he’s back now.

After using up their bullpen all weekend, the Nats would really like some length tonight from MacKenzie Gore. The lefty is plenty rested after having his last start cut short by rain and then having an extra-long All-Star break as the team tries to limit his innings over the long haul. Gore needs to throw strikes and he needs to enjoy some quick innings.

The Nationals lineup gets to face yet another left-hander in Drew Smyly. It feels like they’ve faced at least one, if not two, southpaws every series this season. Here’s another chance for Stone Garrett and the other righties in their lineup to take their hacks.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 8:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 73 degrees, wind 7 mph in from right field

ST. LOUIS – The Nationals made it through the first two months of the season with only two changes to their Opening Day bullpen. On April 30, they called up Andres Machado after designating Anthony Banda for assignment. On May 20, they activated Chad Kuhl off the injured list and moved him to the bullpen, optioning Hobie Harris to Triple-A Rochester.

That’s all Mike Rizzo had to do with his bullpen for two months, the kind of stability rarely seen in these parts.

Later today, the Nationals are expected to place Hunter Harvey on the IL with an arm injury the extent of which won’t be known until they get results of the MRI, he returned to Washington to have done. That will represent the ninth bullpen change they’ve made in the last six weeks, a dramatic number of moves that have been necessitated both by injuries and poor performances.

When it’s all said and done, only two members of the Opening Day relief corps will remain on the active roster: Kyle Finnegan and Mason Thompson. That’s not the kind of stability any organization aspires to maintain.

It remains to be seen how much time Harvey will miss, but there is legitimate concern among club officials about the 28-year-old right-hander, given his extensive injury history since the Orioles made him their first round pick in the 2013 draft. A 3-mph drop in fastball velocity Saturday afternoon, combined with Harvey’s admission of soreness near his right triceps, sounded alarm bells in Davey Martinez’s mind.

ST. LOUIS – At the end of a long weekend that included three rain delays, one suspended game, one extra-inning game and way too much time spent looking at red, yellow and green blobs on the Doppler radar, the Nationals experienced the rarest outcome of all: a road series loss.

With an 8-4 loss to the Cardinals today, the Nats dropped two of three on the road for the first time since June 13-15 in Houston.

They came into the day hoping to keep their winning ways away from D.C. alive, seeking their fourth straight road series win. But they couldn’t overcome a ragged and laborious start by Josiah Gray, nor a rough bottom of the sixth from the relievers who replaced him.

It appeared for a few moments the game might be called in the middle of the seventh, the Nats already trailing by five runs and an intense line of storms approaching from the west. Crew chief Bill Miller called for the Busch Stadium grounds crew to roll out the tarp for the third straight day this weekend and the game went into delay.

The storm indeed arrived about 10 minutes later and dumped heavy rain on the ballpark along with high winds. And given the disparity on the scoreboard, there was perhaps some consideration to calling the game right then. But the system cleared out quickly, and because the infield was pre-emptively covered, very little prep work was needed to restart the game after a mere 38-minute delay.

ST. LOUIS – Given his lengthy history of injuries, the mere fact Hunter Harvey made it through the first half of this season healthy was considered a win for the Nationals. The fact the 28-year-old right-hander also pitched well enough to assume the closer’s role and become one of Davey Martinez’s most trusted relievers was icing on the cake.

So when Harvey took the mound for the ninth inning Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium, saw the velocity on his fastball drop several miles per hour and later reported soreness in the back of his triceps, the Nats were understandably concerned.

“He’s one of our top-end guys in the back of our bullpen,” Martinez said. “So we want to make sure we keep an eye on him.”

It appears that plan ultimately will include a stint on the injured list.

The Nationals sent Harvey back to Washington today to get an MRI, playing a man down in their bullpen for their series finale against the Cardinals (an 8-4 loss). They'll have to wait for MRI results before deciding a course of action, but at minimum Harvey is likely to spend 15 days on the IL.

ST. LOUIS – It’s another hot, muggy day here, and there once again is a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. We’ve already seen the first two games of the weekend get delayed. Why not another to complete the rain sweep?

The Nationals survived Saturday’s pseudo-doubleheader, winning the first game before losing the nightcap. That still puts them in a position to win the series, with All-Star Josiah Gray on the mound. It’s not the worst position to be in.

Gray, who looked really good during his 1-2-3 inning of relief Tuesday night in Seattle, should be plenty motivated to get his second half off to a strong start. He’d also love some redemption for his previous start against the Cardinals (June 19 in D.C.) when his teammates handed him an early 5-0 lead and he proceeded to give all of them back, plus one. That frustrating start including back-to-back homers by Brendan Donovan and Paul Goldschmidt in the top of the fifth.

Gray’s opponent that night was Jack Flaherty, and wouldn’t you know the two right-handers meet again today. The Nats jumped all over Flaherty to take that aforementioned 5-0 lead, all five runs scoring in the first two innings. The problem: They shut down offensively after that, allowing the opposing starter they had on the ropes early to make it all the way to the seventh inning.

UPDATE: Jeimer Candelario was initially in today's lineup, but he has now been scratched. The plan was to test his bruised right thumb in the batting cage and fielding grounders, and apparently it didn't go well. So Ildemaro Vargas once again will start at third base in his place.