The Nationals’ weekend series against the Brewers could not have gone any worse. Perhaps the arrival of the homeless Athletics this week will help turn things around. The A’s – who are playing in Sacramento for three seasons but are officially not allowed to be called by any city name for reasons unclear – come to town playing decent baseball, having gone 14-13 since July 1. And they’ve got one of the hottest hitters in baseball in rookie Nick Kurtz (1.420 OPS over his last 25 games).

So this is no cakewalk for MacKenzie Gore, who needs a bounceback performance after three straight shaky starts that included either six runs allowed or six batters walked. The left-hander has seen his ERA jump to 3.80, and his strikeout rate is down as well. Now that the tension of the trade deadline is behind him, the lefty needs to get himself locked in and finish out the season strong before it falls apart on him.

The Nationals have a couple of new arms in the bullpen tonight: They officially called up right-hander Clayton Beeter and left-hander PJ Poulin, optioning both Ryan Loutos and Zach Brzykcy to Triple-A Rochester. Don’t be surprised if one or both of the new guys is used in a high-leverage spot tonight if the situation arises.

ATHLETICS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 7 mph out to left field

ATHLETICS
C Shea Langeliers
1B Nick Kurtz
DH Brent Rooker
CF JJ Bleday
RF Colby Thomas
SS Darell Hernaiz
LF Tyler Soderstrom
3B Gio Urshela
2B Max Schuemann

RHP Luis Severino

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Josh Bell
1B Nathaniel Lowe
3B Brady House
RF Daylen Lile
C Drew Millas
CF Jacob Young

LHP MacKenzie Gore