The sting of the Nationals’ 10-5 loss to the Diamondbacks still loomed over the entire home clubhouse Tuesday night, but Stone Garrett couldn’t help but light up when asked about the grand slam he clubbed way back in the first inning off a team and a pitcher he knew all too well.

“It felt freaking good,” the 27-year-old said, his smile growing wide. “That’s my best friend pitching. And your old team. Keibert (Ruiz) just hit two home runs off his old team (last week at Dodger Stadium), so it feels good. Revenge game.”

Designated for assignment by Arizona last November, then signed by the Nats two weeks later, Garrett already faced his former team last month at Chase Field. And he already faced Tommy Henry, the 25-year-old left-hander who became one of his closest friends and a regular roommate through their respective treks up the organizational ladder.

This, though, meant far more. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, Garrett launched a changeup from his good buddy deep to left, the ball clearing the fence for the first grand slam of his career and the first grand slam by any Nationals player at home since Yan Gomes on June 15, 2021.

“It felt like a good pitch,” Henry told reporters in the visitors’ clubhouse. “Yeah, it’s unfortunate it was him. It’s unfortunate in any circumstance, but unfortunate it was him because I probably won’t hear the end of it now.”

For the second straight game, Davey Martinez pulled a struggling starter in the middle innings and entrusted a struggling reliever to keep a close game against a quality opponent close.

And for the second straight game, that struggling reliever not only couldn’t keep the game close, he couldn’t even keep it close enough for his Nationals teammates to have a realistic shot at coming back by night’s end.

Jake Irvin was tonight’s fading starter, and Erasmo Ramirez was tonight’s struggling reliever. They bore a striking resemblance to Trevor Williams and Andrés Machado from two days prior in a loss to the Phillies. In this case, the opponent was the Diamondbacks, who took full advantage of the Nats’ pitching woes during a 10-5 victory that further underscored some major problems for the home club.

"Walks," an unusually and visibly aggravated Martinez lamented. "We're walking too many guys. Hitting batters. Falling behind. Pitching 2-0, 1-0, 3-1. You're not going to win very many games like that. We've got to clean that up."

The Nationals have now lost six of their last eight, and a recurring theme throughout this stretch has been ragged relief pitching, whether in the middle or late innings. The situation already was dire entering the day, with the Nats owning the National League’s worst bullpen ERA (4.73) and WHIP (1.433), and things only got worse.

The Nationals made the first of what could be several moves in coming days to address a bullpen that has become the roster’s weakest link, designating Andrés Machado for assignment and recalling Jordan Weems from Triple-A Rochester.

Machado, who was tagged for four runs and gave up a pair of killer homers during Sunday’s loss to the Phillies, was out of options and couldn’t be demoted to the minor leagues without first clearing waivers. The Nationals will wait to see if the 30-year-old clears, but because he already went through this process last winter he’ll have the right to refuse an outright assignment to Triple-A and could elect to become a free agent instead.

A somewhat consistently effective bullpen arm for the Nationals in 2021-22, Machado had a 3.41 ERA and 1.326 WHIP across 91 appearances. But after opening this season in Rochester and making his return to the majors in late April, he struggled. In 14 games, he finished with an 8.47 ERA and 1.765 WHIP.

“It’s a tough move,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I really like Machado, and he’s got good stuff. It’s just his location was not good, and he was getting hit really hard.”

A Nats bullpen that performed well in 2022 and entered this season as a perceived strength has instead turned into a major cause for concern. The group enters tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks with a National League-worst 4.73 ERA and 1.433 WHIP.

The Nationals and Diamondbacks engaged in a highly entertaining series one month ago in Phoenix, the D-backs ultimately winning two of the three games (though one only after storming back to win in the bottom of the ninth). Now the surprise National League West leaders come to D.C. for a three-game series against a Nats club that continues to compete but would like to emerge victorious a few more times against quality opponents.

Jake Irvin gets the start, the seventh of his young career. The rookie right-hander showed some glimpses of improvement last time out against the Dodgers but still wound up allowing four runs in five innings to that potent lineup. The Nationals could sure use a solid start out of Irvin, whose spot in the rotation isn’t necessarily on thin ice, but it isn’t exactly solid either.

The Nats face yet another left-hander in Tommy Henry, who held them to two runs in six innings last month at Chase Field, both runs scoring on a Keibert Ruiz double. As noted here before, these guys have fared much better against lefties this season than righties, so here’s a chance to keep that trend going and provide Irvin with some run support.

As expected, there’s a bullpen roster move today: Andrés Machado was indeed designated for assignment following Sunday’s rough outing. Right-hander Jordan Weems was recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take his spot. So the Nats remain without any left-handed relievers for now.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Hazy, 80 degrees, wind 13 mph out to right field

The notion that Stephen Strasburg might still come back to pitch for the Nationals again, sadly, seemed to pass months ago.

When manager Davey Martinez revealed on the first day of spring training Strasburg was unable to complete an offseason bullpen session without a recurrence of the nerve pain that has plagued him for several years, the writing was on the wall.

And when general manager Mike Rizzo said on Opening Day the 34-year-old needed to rehab his injury “if nothing more, just to play with his children, get back to regular life,” it underscored the severity of the situation, far beyond anything that takes place on a baseball field.

Strasburg has not appeared at Nationals Park this season during the hours leading up to, during or after a home game. His locker remains where it has always been, his jersey and belongings neatly arranged, essentially untouched. Teammates he barely knows walk past it every day, with little reason to think about the pitcher whose name hangs above it.

Strasburg isn’t currently participating in any rehabilitation activities, as The Washington Post reported over the weekend. He resides on the 60-day injured list, technically still a part of the team but not on anybody’s immediate radar.

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi will throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Washington Nationals’ Night OUT celebration on Tuesday, June 6, as a special guest of the game’s presenting partner, Team DC.

This year’s Night OUT celebration is the club’s 18^th, making it the longest-running Pride event in Major League Baseball. The first 20,000 fans in attendance will receive a Screech Night OUT bobblehead, and fans who purchase a special Night OUT ticket will also receive an exclusive t-shirt with $5 of every special ticket purchased donated to Team DC, a charitable organization that educates the LGBTQ community on the benefits of individual and team sports participation.

Speaker Emerita Pelosi is being recognized for her long-standing commitment to fighting for the rights and dignities of the LGBTQ+ community, dating from her first congressional speech in 1987 on the AIDS crisis, up through leading recent legislation guaranteeing civil rights protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

It was an eventful week for the Nationals. It started in Los Angeles with three competitive games at Dodger Stadium, capped by an impressive, five-homer performance in a series-closing victory. It ended in D.C. with three competitive games at Nationals Park, capped by an unfortunate, five-homer performance by the Phillies in a series-closing victory.

Now, with an off-day heading into another home series against the Diamondbacks, let's take a moment to discuss everything that has happened, on and off the field of late. (And, yes, that includes the Stephen Strasburg situation, if you're interested.)

Submit your questions in the comments section below, then check back throughout the morning for my responses ...

SAN FRANCISCO – For Orioles rookie Gunnar Henderson, there were reasons to believe he could have a swing like that coming.

One where he hit what proved to be a game-winning homer in the seventh inning in a tie game. One where he did it off the pitcher with the fifth-best ERA in the National League and one that had gone 33 innings without giving up a homer.

One where he produced an exit velocity of 110.7 mph – both the hardest-hit ball by him all year and the hardest allowed by Giants starter Logan Webb, who had an ERA of 1.68 his previous seven starts.

Henderson’s bat has been, slowly at times, trending up. He had an OPS of .740 in May, drove in three runs just a few games earlier and nine of his 17 hits last month went for extra bases. The contact was getting louder more often.

And Webb found out the kid was ready to come through in a big moment.

Kyle Finnegan returned to the dugout after getting out of the top of the eighth Friday night, having surrendered the tying run to the Phillies (albeit an unearned run due to CJ Abrams’ throwing error) and having thrown 13 pitches.

Davey Martinez tried to tell Finnegan his night was done. The right-hander insisted it was not.

“I just felt like I had some more in me, and I wanted to empty the tank,” Finnegan said. “It was a good, hard-fought game, and I felt like I could go out there and get some more outs for us.”

So Martinez let Finnegan go back to pitch the ninth, understanding he wouldn’t let him go beyond his pre-designated limit of 35 pitches for his late-inning relievers.

Finnegan wound up finishing the game, securing the Nationals’ 8-7 win over the Phillies, on 34 pitches.

Mike Devereaux spent 12 years in the majors and played everywhere in the outfield, with center his most dominant position. He climbed fences and crashed the late-night highlights after arriving in Baltimore in 1989, when the Orioles shocked the industry by going from historically worst to contending until the final weekend.

Devereaux worked as a guest instructor at spring training in February and was struck by some similarities with this year’s club, which began its series in San Francisco last night with the third-best record in baseball and serious intent to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

“I got to meet these guys and I can see the confidence within them, and I can obviously see the talent,” he said this week. “They’re a young team, kind of like in ’89, and you see the drive. I had a feeling, and I told them, when Mike (Elias) said this is not a rebuilding year anymore, it changed everything. It’s like, ‘we’re ready to start winning.’”

The Orioles must keep it going while Cedric Mullins is on the injured list with a strained right groin muscle.

An impressive collection of players have skillfully patrolled center for the Orioles, most notably Hall of Famer Paul Blair, and Devereaux ranks Mullins highly on the all-time list.

The Nationals and Phillies took the field on a steamy, early June evening on South Capitol Street in a position neither likely expected to find itself at this stage of the season. An overachieving Nats club entered the night only one game behind the defending National League champions, who haven’t come close to living up to their lofty expectations two months into the 2023 campaign.

What took place over the ensuing three-plus hours suggested this head-to-head competition may not be nearly as lopsided as everyone assumed.

Despite blowing an early six-run lead, the Nationals rallied to re-take the lead in the bottom of the eighth thanks to a clutch, two-out stolen base by Alex Call and Lane Thomas’ subsequent RBI single. And Davey Martinez’s overworked, recently ineffective “A” bullpen somehow found a way to close out an 8-7 victory before a crowd of 29,827 to catch their division rivals in unlikely fashion.

Yes, the Nationals and Phillies are now tied in the NL East, one team the proud owner of a 25-32 record, the other a not-so-proud owner of the same record.

"It means a lot," Thomas said. "Nobody really expected us to be here. I think we take a few series like we have over the last month, and we could be sitting pretty good here in a few months."

Sean Doolittle’s rehab tour through the Nationals’ farm system continues tonight for Single-A Fredericksburg, where the veteran reliever will be returning to the mound only 24 hours after his last appearance.

Doolittle, in the final stages of recovery from last summer’s elbow surgery, just tossed a 1-2-3 inning of relief Thursday night. He struck out one batter, threw eight of his 13 pitches for strikes and reached 92 mph with his fastball, according to manager Davey Martinez.

That was Doolittle’s third rehab appearance overall, the first coming for Single-A Wilmington on Saturday before he moved to Fredericksburg on Tuesday. Each included a scoreless inning and at least one strikeout.

Tonight presents a new challenge as Doolittle pitches back-to-back days for the first time in competitive games since he had an internal brace procedure on his sprained elbow ligament nearly 11 months ago. The fact he’s ready for that kind of workload can only be considered a good sign about his health, though Martinez cautioned against speculating too much about what it means until the lefty actually pitches and reports no issues afterward.

“It’s a good thing, but we’ll see how he gets through it today,” Martinez said. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. It may be where he gets two days off after his back-to-back, and then we’ll go from there. Or maybe just one day, depending on how he feels.”

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Recalled LHP Bruce Zimmermann from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Placed RHP Mychal Givens on the 15-day Injured List with right shoulder inflammation, retroactive to June 1.

The Nationals are back home at last, following an eventful 3-3 trip to Kansas City and Los Angeles. And would you believe they have a chance to climb out of the National League East basement tonight?

Yes, that’s right. The Nats (24-32) trail the fourth-place Phillies (25-31) by only game. A win tonight would leave the two teams tied in the standings. Imagine what fans in both towns would’ve thought if presented with that possibility back on Opening Day.

This is going to be a nice test for Josiah Gray, who has kind of regressed a bit in recent outings. The right-hander still hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any start since his season debut, but he has walked nine batters over his last nine innings and needed a whopping 179 pitches to get there. Gray has got to show better command tonight, but he also has to keep the ball in the park on the first really warm day of the season, with an afternoon high of 92 degrees.

The Nationals, who mashed five homers during Wednesday’s wild win at Dodger Stadium, will try to keep that going against Zack Wheeler, who dominated the Braves in his last start to the tune of eight scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts.

Oh, and tonight also represents Trea Turner’s first of many upcoming appearances at Nationals Park as a member of the Phillies, who also have a couple games named Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber on their roster, in case you’ve forgotten.

LOS ANGELES – The Nationals won Wednesday’s series finale at Dodger Stadium thanks to far and away their biggest power display of the season. They blasted five home runs, including two from Keibert Ruiz, to emerge with a 10-6 victory and avoid a series sweep.

They headed home having finished 3-3 on a very eventful road trip through Kansas City and Los Angeles, one that started with a bang and ended with a bang, with some frustrating moments in between.

“We came in here, we had some young mistakes, but to come out of here after a long road trip and win the last game to go back home now, it feels pretty good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We finished .500 on the road. To come out to the West Coast is never easy. So, I’m proud of the guys, after getting beat the first two games, to come back the way they did today and pull this one out.”

Wednesday’s game was a wild affair itself, the Nats digging themselves into a 3-0 hole in the first, clawing back to take a 5-4 lead in the fifth, giving it back in the seventh, then taking the lead for good in the eighth. Those five homers were the headline of the game, but there were several other developments that deserve further exploration on this day off …

* Luis Garcia bookends a strange trip in style
Garcia’s week got off to an historic start: He went 6-for-6 on Friday night against the Royals, joining Anthony Rendon as the only players in club history to pull off that feat. But then Garcia followed that up with a slump. He went 0 for his next 16 before finally delivering an RBI single in the seventh inning Tuesday night, but then went hitless in his next four at-bats as well, leaving him in a 1-for-21 funk.

LOS ANGELES – If you woke up this morning without having watched Tuesday night’s game and looked at Jake Irvin’s pitching line, you probably weren’t impressed. The Nationals rookie gave up four runs on eight hits in five innings, taking the loss as his team fell to the Dodgers, 9-3.

Irvin’s outing, to be sure, was not a particularly good start. But it might not have been as bad as the final line indicated. And if nothing else, the process that got him to that final line was exactly what he and the team wanted.

“I thought Irvin did a much better job today,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Only one walk. That was very encouraging.”

Irvin had been plagued by the free passes in more recent starts. He issued four walks in four innings against the Padres last week. Prior to that, he issued four walks in 2 2/3 innings against the Tigers.

That wasn’t the case this time, even against a potent Dodgers lineup. Irvin’s one and only walk came with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, to the second-to-last batter he faced in the game. He wound up throwing 61 of his 94 pitches for strikes, by far his best strike rate in his six big league starts.

LOS ANGELES – Monday was Memorial Day, the traditional day on the baseball calendar when it becomes acceptable to start drawing broad conclusions about a team or a player’s performance for the season. It also happened to coincide with the Nationals’ 54th game of the year, making this juncture all the more significant.

Yes, the Nats have now completed one-third of their season. Time flies when you’re having fun, right?

The Nationals have had more fun to date than in prior seasons. That’s what happens when you win more games, play in competitive games on a more regular basis and get major contributions from several young players who could be a part of the long-term plan around here if they keep this up.

To be sure, this is not a good team. Not yet. Following Monday’s 6-1 loss to the Dodgers, the Nats find themselves with a 23-31 record. That’s worst in the National League, fourth-worst in the majors. Nobody should be celebrating that.

Still, for a franchise that went 55-107 games one year ago and entered this year with exceptionally low expectations, a 69-win pace can only be viewed as encouraging. The fact the Nationals have played .500 ball since April 20 also helps frame things in a more positive light.

LOS ANGELES – The ball came off Miguel Vargas’ bat at 92.8 mph, a sharp grounder to the left side of second base. CJ Abrams shuffled several steps to his left and put his glove down for what he hoped would be the start of a 6-4-3 double play that would help Trevor Williams get through a fifth scoreless inning at Dodger Stadium.

Abrams did not make the play. The ball squirted away from the Nationals shortstop, who awkwardly stumbled as he tried to corral it in time to save the play. By the time teammate Luis García finally tracked it down, Vargas was safe at first and Jason Heyward was safe at third, having aggressively advanced 180 feet on the error.

What transpired after that illustrated one of baseball’s great “What if?” scenarios. Williams proceeded to give up six runs before the inning ended, all of them unearned, the decisive sequence in the Nationals’ 6-1 loss to the Dodgers.

If Abrams makes the play and the inning ends a few batters later with no damage, would Williams have continued to dominate? Or would he still have had a nightmare of a time trying to hold down a potent Los Angeles lineup for the third time in the game, no matter what transpired before?

We’ll never know, of course. All we do know is how the bottom of the fifth did play out tonight, and it was especially ugly from the Nats’ perspective.

LOS ANGELES – Victor Robles bounded into the visitors’ clubhouse at Dodger Stadium this afternoon, grabbed his glove and headed out toward the field, a hop in his step not seen much over the last three-plus weeks as he’s resided on the injured list.

“Doing much better,” the Nationals center fielder said as he headed out for a pregame workout.

Out since May 7 with back spasms, Robles hadn’t been doing much activity on a baseball field through his first two weeks on the IL. That’s finally starting to change, and today offered an opportunity to increase his workload.

“He’s actually doing a little bit of running, some agility stuff,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He’s been hitting off the tee, doing some flips. So he’s definitely progressing a little bit. He feels a lot better, which is a great sign.”

If things go well today, Martinez said Robles may start hitting soft-toss on the field before Tuesday’s game. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s that close to returning to the active roster, though. This type of injury requires patience and the understanding it impacts all aspects of his game.

LOS ANGELES – You don’t often find the Kansas City-Los Angeles trip on a major league club’s schedule, but that’s what the Nationals are experiencing this week. They just took two of three from a rebuilding Royals team. Now they’ve got three games against one of the sport’s true powerhouses.

Davey Martinez’s bullpen should be in good shape tonight after all of the prominent guys were held out of both Friday and Sunday’s games. Now, the rest of the team just has to figure out a way to put themselves in position to need those top relievers late, which is no small task.

It starts with Trevor Williams, who has done a very good job of giving his team a chance just about every time he’s pitched. Williams, though, faces a tough Dodgers lineup tonight, even if that group doesn’t look quite as star-studded as it has in recent years. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are still some kind of 1-2 punch.

The Nationals have all the regulars back in their lineup after several of them got Sunday off. Martinez has made a few changes in the order, most notably Joey Meneses bumped down to the cleanup spot behind Jeimer Candelario, and CJ Abrams moving up to the eighth position with Alex Call now batting ninth. Those guys will be taking their hacks against rookie right-hander Bobby Miller, who impressed in his major league debut last week. Miller was the Dodgers’ first-round pick in 2020, a mere seven spots behind Cade Cavalli, for what that’s worth.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Where: Dodger Stadium
Gametime: 9:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 64 degrees, wind 7 mph out to center field