MILWAUKEE – For obvious reasons, this week has been challenging for the Nationals. Two mainstays for the organization – general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez – are no longer here.

It’s been an adjustment period for the players, many of whom were drafted or acquired by Rizzo and only knew Martinez as their big league skipper. But it’s also been a challenge for the coaching staff, particularly interim manager Miguel Cairo, who moved over from the bench coach role to take over the head man’s job after the dismissal of his close friend.

Cairo’s first series at the helm of the Nationals resulted in losing two out of three to the Cardinals in St. Louis. Now as he gets ready for his second series as skipper, he’s settling more into his new role, one that he’s somewhat familiar with after managing 34 games on an interim basis with the White Sox in 2022.

“We got to take it one day at a time,” Cairo said during his pregame media session ahead of tonight’s opener against the Brewers. “The guys are playing hard. I got to continue being myself. And put the players in the best situation possible for them to succeed. That's my main goal. And with the pitching staff, the same way. Put them in the spot where they can have a good outing and be successful.”

One of his first challenges comes tonight against a Brewers team that is 13 games over .500 and owns the best record in the major leagues since May 25 (28-12). And Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy is not making it easy on his counterpart by sending out left-hander DL Hall as an opener before handing the ball to right-hander Quinn Priester.

What kind of challenge did that present Cairo as he formed his lineup tonight?

“I made the lineup, and I leave it as it is,” he said. “We have really good hitters. Guys that can hit righty or lefties. And I think we got a pretty good, balanced lineup for today. Then whatever they (do), lefty or righty, I think we're in pretty good shape.”

Cairo didn’t touch the usual top two hitters in lefties CJ Abrams and James Wood. He did, however, bump up switch-hitter Josh Bell (owner of a .310/.385/.452 slash line over his last 25 games) to the third spot to put a right-handed bat between the first two hitters and lefty Nathaniel Lowe. The bottom part of the lineup then alternates between right-handed and left-handed hitters.

And his message to his offense doesn’t change despite the opener. He wants their approach to remain the same.

“I think it's the same,” Cairo said. “They're going to go out there and do their job. Getting good at-bats, that's most important. Stay in the strike zone. Don't chase. That's our message for the hitting department: Let's hit strikes. That's what's most important.”

That coincides with his overall message to the team as they get set for their final three games before the All-Star break. This first half hasn’t been anything folks in Washington wanted or expected. But finishing it on a positive note can set up good momentum for the second half.

“We gotta finish this three-game series against Milwaukee strong,” Cairo said. “They've been playing hard with energy. We won one out of three over there. But that doesn't mean anything. They played hard. And we just got to come out and take care of today. That's the most important (thing).Take care of today to go 1-0 and keep going.

“We've been playing really good. Things haven't been going our way, but we just got to keep going.”