The Nationals have returned from a 3-3 road trip for a tough homestand. In fact, they have a tough stretch to finish August, with each of their next 13 games coming against a team currently in a playoff position.

This homestand against two divisional rivals starts with a four-game set against the Phillies, who own a five-game lead over the Mets in the National League East. Luckily, the Nats will be getting some reinforcements by activating Dylan Crews off the 60-day injured list as he returns from his oblique injury. In a corresponding move, the Nats surprisingly designated first baseman Nathaniel Lowe for assignment. So we’ll have to wait and see how interim manager Miguel Cairo constructs his lineups with five young outfielders moving forward.

Brad Lord certainly has been one of the bright spots for this team in the second half. Since rejoining the rotation full-time, the right-hander is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA over four starts, with the Nats winning three of those games. He did make a start against the Phillies when he was briefly a part of the rotation back in May, tossing five innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts and one walk. He earned the win in that game, too.

Former Nats draft pick Jesús Luzardo starts for the Phils. The lefty is 11-5 with a 4.20 ERA and 1.346 WHIP in 24 starts. He started the second game of the season here at Nats Park and struck out 11 over five frames of two-run ball in a Philly rout.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of scattered thunderstorms, 80 degrees, wind 5 mph from right to left field

SAN FRANCISCO – When Cole Henry loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth Saturday afternoon, Miguel Cairo could have stuck with his rookie setup man and given him a chance to pitch his way out of the jam. The Nationals led by three runs. There was at least some margin for error.

Cairo, though, didn’t hesitate to walk straight to the mound and hold his left arm out, signaling toward the bullpen in right-center. He wanted the lefty. He wanted Jose A. Ferrer, even if he was now asking his newly anointed closer to produce a five-out save before ever recording a simple three-out one.

“I was just like: I’ve got to worry about today. I cannot worry about tomorrow,” the interim manager said. “That was the best matchup. Their good hitters were coming up. I’ll just take my chances with him.”

Ferrer proceeded to reward his manager’s faith in him and make his first save since replacing Kyle Finnegan a memorable one. He allowed one of the three inherited runners to score via Wilmer Flores’ sacrifice fly. But he struck out Matt Chapman with a 99 mph fastball to end the eighth. Then he pitched out of another jam in the ninth, inducing a game-ending double play out of Patrick Bailey to lock up the Nats’ 4-2 win.

It had been nine days since the Nationals dealt Finnegan to the Tigers at the trade deadline, eight days since Cairo coyly refused to name his new closer, noting the world would find out once he was in a situation to use him.

SAN FRANCISCO – James Wood set the tone with a desperately needed leadoff homer. Paul DeJong and Josh Bell added on with a pair of homers themselves to extend the lead. Brad Lord and the new-look back end of the bullpen then took care of the rest, pitching the Nationals to their first truly conventional win since the trade deadline.

Behind three early solo homers, headlined by Wood’s first blast in a month, the Nats toppled the Giants 4-2 this afternoon, getting another strong start by Lord and a gutsy, five-out save from new closer Jose A. Ferrer.

The Nationals’ only other win since the July 31 deadline was a 2-1 walk-off victory over the Athletics. This one came via a more normal path, with early offense and a quality start putting them in position entering the late innings. But it still required nine outs from a completely remade bullpen, and we finally saw today what exactly that now looks like.

It included left-hander Konnor Pilkington retiring the side in the bottom of the seventh. It included Cole Henry getting the bottom of the eighth but getting pulled after loading the bases with one out. And so it concluded with Jose A. Ferrer recording a five-out save, escaping the eighth-inning jam with only one inherited runner crossing the plate before escaping a two-on jam in the ninth thanks to a game-ending double play off the bat of Patrick Bailey.

"I'm really excited about this opportunity," Ferrer, who earned his first save since assuming the closer's job following Kyle Finnegan's trade to Detroit, said via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. "I just want to thank them for putting me in this position, to be closer of the team. It's a huge responsibility, because you come in to close the game. Your teammates played really hard the whole game. You just want to come out, get those three outs and take the win."

SAN FRANCISCO – It’s a beautiful day by the bay. Will it be beautiful for a Nationals lineup that has been ice-cold at the plate?

The Nats have been shut out in back-to-back games, and even when you add Wednesday’s win over the Athletics to the mix, they’ve still scored only two runs on 11 hits and two walks over their last 27 innings. That simply won’t cut it. And now they face a quick turnaround to a day game against an opposing left-hander. That’s pretty much been a recipe for disaster this season: The team OPS in day games against lefties: .563, tied with the Rangers for worst in the majors. (Against righties, it at least goes up to .676.)

Today’s lineup is once again missing Luis García Jr., whose back tightened up Friday during batting practice. Hopefully we’ll get an update on his status shortly. It’ll be up to the rest of the group – most notably James Wood and CJ Abrams – to get something going against the Giants’ Carson Whisenhunt, a 24-year-old making his third career start.

Brad Lord gets the ball for the Nationals, looking to continue what he’s done since rejoining the rotation. In three starts, the rookie right-hander has a 3.21 ERA, issuing only three walks over 14 innings. And after throwing 92 pitches last time out, he should be good to reach the 100 mark if needed today, meaning he’s fully stretched out as a starter now.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: Oracle Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 69 degrees, wind 12 mph out to center field

The fear when the Nationals traded away their three most reliable relievers before Thursday’s deadline was what would remain in the bullpen for the final two months of an already-lost 2025 season. Interim general manager Mike DeBartolo was willing to take that chance, recognizing Kyle Finnegan, Andrew Chafin and Luis Garcia weren’t going to be a part of the team’s 2026 roster, so he might as well get what he could for the three veterans now.

Those fears, though, were fully realized this weekend when the remnants of the Nats bullpen met the full extent of the Brewers lineup. It wasn’t pretty.

Today’s 14-3 thumping was merely the final blow in a series of blowouts. In getting swept by the team with the National League’s best record, the Nationals were outscored 38-14.

And the Nats weren’t just swept by the Brewers this weekend. They were swept in the season series, outscored 60-23 in six games that more than proved the chasm that currently exists between these two teams.

"That's what a winning team looks like," interim manager Miguel Cairo said of a Milwaukee club that's now 67-44. "They beat us, simple as that."

The Nationals thought they were going to be trying to avoid not only a series sweep but a season sweep at the hands of the Brewers this afternoon by facing rookie phenom Jacob Misiorowski. Turns out they won’t be facing Misiorowski, who was just placed on the 15-day injured list with a left tibia contusion (he was struck in the leg by a comebacker in his last outing). But before you get too excited, the replacement for The Miz is Logan Henderson, another rookie right-hander who in his first four career starts earlier this season went 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA, 29 strikeouts and only six walks. (Amazing what a difference organizational pitching depth can make, huh?)

So, the Nats still have their work cut out for them to produce offense today. They were held to two hits by Brandon Woodruff and the Brewers bullpen during Saturday’s 8-2 loss. That’s obviously not going to cut it today.

On the bright side, Brad Lord gets the ball for the home team, and that’s something to look forward to. The rookie right-hander has looked really good in his first two starts since returning from the bullpen a few weeks ago, allowing two runs over 9 1/3 innings (and throwing only 109 pitches in the process). He’ll be trying to build up to about 70-75 pitches today, so that could allow him to provide some length as well for a Nationals staff that could use it.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS 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 sunny, 81 degrees, wind 7 mph in from right field

BREWERS
2B Brice Turang
C William Contreras
1B Andrew Vaughn
DH Christian Yelich
LF Isaac Collins
CF Blake Perkins
3B Anthony Seigler
RF Brandon Lockridge
SS Joey Ortiz

HOUSTON – To beat the Astros on a night in which Framber Valdez’s curveball was untouchable, the Nationals were going to need an equally effective outing from starter-turned-reliever-turned-starter Brad Lord, just enough offense from a lineup missing James Wood to give themselves a lead and then zeros from their bullpen to close things out.

When they found a way to get all of that and walk out of Daikin Park with a 2-1 victory, it might well have represented the most impressive victory of the still-nascent Miguel Cairo Era.

Behind 5 1/3 standout innings from Lord, clutch hits from Nathaniel Lowe and Riley Adams and 3 2/3 scoreless innings from the bullpen, the Nationals emerged on top in a pitchers’ duel and won for the fifth time in their last seven games. To have done that against one of the toughest opponents on their recent schedule, against their ace nonetheless, made it particularly notable.

"It's exciting, because you have to play a clean game," Lowe said. "And especially against a first-place team, you have to play a clean game anyway. We did that today."

Adams’ solo homer in the seventh off reliever Bryan King proved the difference, an opposite-field blast for his third homer in his last 11 games, equaling the total from his first 31 games.

HOUSTON – Hello from Daikin Park in downtown Houston. No, it’s no longer Minute Maid Park. The memories of October 2019 from this place, however, remain, regardless of the stadium’s name.

The Nationals kick off the second leg of their road trip tonight with the opener of a three-game series against the Astros. They just took two of three from the Twins in Minnesota, this after taking two of three from the Reds in D.C. Could they actually pull off three straight series victories? This one should be a stiffer challenge than the last two, especially with Astros ace Framber Valdez on the mound tonight.

Given that tough matchup against one of the best lefties in the league, Miguel Cairo has a very different looking lineup for this one. Most notably, James Wood is not playing for only the second time in his major league career. Wood has been in a significant slump (7-for-64, eight walks, 32 strikeouts over his last 17 games) so you can understand why Cairo may believe it’s a good time to give the young star a physical and mental breather.

Brad Lord, meanwhile, makes his second start since rejoining the rotation. After tossing four innings of one-run ball against Cincinnati, the rookie right-hander should be good to build up to a heavier workload. He threw 50 pitches in that game, so perhaps 65 or so tonight if all goes well?

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: Daikin Park
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

Rarely do the Nationals make you wait to find out if it’s going to be a good night at the plate or a bad night at the plate. You usually know right away in the first or second inning if they’ve got an opposing starter figured out. If they do, great. If they don’t, it’s probably going to be a long night.

So consider what the Nats did tonight against Chase Burns an important step in the right direction. The Reds’ rookie phenom made them look silly for four innings with an upper-90s fastball and a low-90s slider that produced 10 strikeouts. And then they began to make some adjustments along the way and took him down in the fifth and sixth.

That later-than-usual offensive surge, combined with an impressive, all-hands-on-deck pitching performance from Brad Lord and a makeshift bullpen put the Nationals in position to celebrate a well-earned 6-1 victory over Cincinnati.

It’s only the Nats’ third series win in their last 14 attempts. And they’ll have a chance Wednesday afternoon to do something they haven’t done since mid-May in Baltimore: sweep a three-game series.

"It's always fun to win a series before the series is over, that's for sure," center fielder Jacob Young said. "The chance to sweep is awesome. But it feels great to win a series early like that and have a chance to sweep tomorrow and kind of get the second half going."

The Nationals actually won a series opener Monday night, outlasting the Reds 10-8, thanks to their best offensive performance in a while. Which means they’ve now got two chances to win one game and win the series. That’s easier said than done, of course.

To pull it off tonight, the Nats will need to piece together nine innings from a pitching staff that’s not in great shape. Miguel Cairo had to burn up everybody in his bullpen the last two days after MacKenzie Gore failed to get out of the third inning and Jake Irvin failed to get out of the fourth inning. This would normally be the time to ask for length out of tonight’s starter, but Brad Lord is making his first start May 6. He’s been an effective reliever, but he hasn’t thrown more than 38 pitches in any appearance since then, so don’t count on more than three or maybe four innings from him tonight.

With that in mind, the Nats made a roster move today. They called up left-hander Konnor Pilkington from Triple-A Rochester, giving them a reliever who can provide some length behind Lord if needed. Mason Thompson was optioned to Rochester and Dylan Crews was transferred to the 60-day injured list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster (but that doesn’t change Crews’ eligibility to return once he’s deemed ready).

The Nationals would love to bust out for 10 runs again, but they’ll have to do it against one of the most dynamic young starting pitchers in the game. Chase Burns, the No. 2 pick in last summer’s draft, makes his fifth career start for the Reds. The right-hander throws an upper-90s fastball and a low-90s slider, so that’s what the Nats have in store tonight at the plate.

CINCINNATI REDS 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: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 7 mph in from right field

Before the Nationals broke for the All-Star break, they made a small adjustment to their starting rotation that left a lingering question mark heading into the second half. And before their second-half opener against the Padres, interim manager Miguel Cairo provided an answer.

Brad Lord will be stretched out as a starter again to fill the fifth spot in the rotation, taking the opening left by Shinnosuke Ogasawara who was optioned to Triple-A Rochester following his second big league start Saturday against the Brewers.

“It feels good. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to start again,” Lord said in the Nationals' dugout ahead of this six-game homestand. “I'm looking forward to building up and just seeing what I can do.”

The 25-year-old right-hander is in line to start Tuesday against the Reds, following Jake Irivin who will start Monday’s series opener against Cincinnati.

“It's going to be Lord. So Lord, we're going to stretch (him out),” Cairo said. “We're going to start Lord on the fifth day. It's gonna be a progression, how many pitches, how many innings. But we're gonna stretch him out.”

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The wildest game of the Nationals’ season was knotted at 9 in the bottom of the sixth Friday night at Angel Stadium. Nobody who had taken the mound for either team had enjoyed any substantive level of success, and now here came Brad Lord out of the bullpen to face Mike Trout with nobody out and a runner in scoring position.

It was arguably the biggest head-to-head matchup Lord has faced yet in his rookie season. The trick for the young right-hander: Don’t think of it that way.

“Coming into any close game like that, you feel the pressure of: ‘I’ve got to shut them down, throw up a zero,’” he said. “I just try to treat it like any other outing. Execute the game plan, and go right after these guys.”

And then he did exactly that. Lord retired Trout on a sharp grounder to second, with Luis García Jr. making a nifty play on the ball hit to his left. He got Taylor Ward to ground out to short, a drawn-in CJ Abrams able to hold the go-ahead runner at third. Then he got Jo Adell to ground out as well and end the inning.

And then he went right back out there in the bottom of the seventh and recorded two more outs before finally departing having thrown 36 total pitches across 1 2/3 scoreless innings. And thanks to his teammates’ best offensive night in four years, Lord emerged from it all the winning pitcher in the Nats’ 15-9 thumping of the Angels.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Nationals may not have played a sloppier game all season. Tonight’s series opener against the Angels included defensive mistakes, baserunning gaffes and poor starting pitching.

So how was it the Nats were the ones celebrating at the center of the diamond at the end of a wacky, 15-9 victory at Angel Stadium? Because on a night in which they did so many things wrong, they also enjoyed their best offensive performance in four years and got just enough quality work from the back of their bullpen to pull off an escape act.

They easily established new season highs in runs (15) and hits (19). They scored in seven of their nine offensive innings, including six straight from the fourth through the ninth. All nine starters delivered at least one hit and at least one RBI. All nine reached base multiple times, with seven players delivering multiple hits.

"We outslugged them," manager Davey Martinez said with a laugh when asked about the rare combination of explosive offense and sloppy defense and baserunning. "Look, we came out victorious. We didn't play all that good the first six innings. It was a little sloppy. But we hung in there, and we hit the ball."

The 15 runs are the most the Nationals have scored in a game since they plated 18 against the Marlins on July 19, 2021, a month that did not end well for a franchise that decided to tear down the remnants of its championship roster and embark on a rebuild that continues four years later.

PHOENIX – When he got out of a seventh-inning jam Friday night, thanks to a tricky 4-3 double play turned by Luis García Jr., Brad Lord returned to the Nationals dugout and made eye contact with his manager.

The account of who said what exactly at that point varied between the two participants.

“After he got out of the seventh, he came in and said: ‘I’m good for one more,’” Davey Martinez recalled. “And I said: ‘OK, you’ve got it.’”

Lord’s version: “He was like: ‘Stay ready, you’re still going back out.’”

Whoever instigated the decision to send Lord back to the mound for a second inning of high-leverage relief, it worked. With another zero in the bottom of the eighth, the rookie right-hander helped bridge the gap and get the ball to closer Kyle Finnegan on a night in which several of the Nats’ usual setup men (Jorge López, Cole Henry, Jose A. Ferrer) appeared to be unavailable.

ATLANTA – The Nationals bullpen has been the most inconsistent and disappointing group to start the season. Entering yesterday’s finale against the Braves, Nats relievers owned the second-worst ERA in the majors.

The group is still trying to mesh together. A few relievers have landed on the injured list and two that started the season on the roster are no longer here, with an outside addition joining a couple of weeks ago.

But while the established veterans continue to get a majority of the high-leverage innings, there is a new young core forming in the Nationals bullpen.

Cole Henry, Jackson Rutledge, Brad Lord and Zach Brzykcy are starting to get more chances to prove themselves as reliable options to pass the ball to the back end of the ‘pen. And they are enjoying the opportunity together after coming up through the Nats system at the same time.

“I think it's been really cool just to have all these guys that we came up together,” Henry said on Wednesday at Truist Park. “We're pretty good friends with each other, and it's just been awesome to have those guys with me all every step of the way. We were actually just talking about it yesterday, how cool it is that a few years back we were all down in Florida together and just got drafted or signed. Just dreaming about the day that we would be here. And now it's here. It just seems surreal.

ATLANTA – The Nationals have thought that in order to snap their six-game losing streak they needed better at-bats from their lineup. Specifically, they needed to accept their walks, get the ball in the strike zone and score first.

Well, the Nationals were able to do all three of those things in the second of this four-game set against the Braves. But wouldn’t you know it, that wasn’t enough as the Nats took a 5-2 loss for their seventh straight defeat, marking their longest losing streak since July 7-16, 2022 (nine).

This night immediately started on a positive note as CJ Abrams smacked Spencer Schwellenbach’s first pitch of the game over the right field wall for a leadoff home run. And just like that, for only the fifth time in their last 17 games, the Nationals scored the first run of the contest.

“I wanted to start things off," Abrams said. "Stay aggressive on the fastball. It was a little out of the zone, but I put a good swing on it and it went out.”

Abrams’ 10th leadoff homer is second in Nationals history (2005-present) only to Trea Turner’s 14. Funny that both shortstops originally started their careers in the Padres system.

The Nationals optioned Eduardo Salazar to Triple-A Rochester this morning, demoting the struggling reliever in order to clear a spot on the active roster for Michael Soroka in advance of his return from the injured list this afternoon.

With Soroka starting the series finale against the Guardians after missing the last five weeks with a right biceps strain, the Nats had to settle on a corresponding roster move among several possibilities. They could have optioned Brad Lord, who held Soroka’s spot in the rotation and performed well, but they chose instead to move the rookie right-hander back to the bullpen. They could have cut ties with another struggling reliever, Lucas Sims, but he’s got a $3 million guaranteed contract and is out of options.

In the end, the club made the simplest move available at this point and demoted Salazar to the minors. The right-hander made the Opening Day roster on the strength of a solid 2024 season and a strong spring training, but the 27-year-old struggled mightily from the get-go.

In 17 appearances, Salazar produced a 9.77 ERA and 2.234 WHIP. He gave up runs in 10 of those outings, including his last five. He also allowed eight of 10 inherited runners to score.

The final straw came during the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader. Entrusted with the top of the eighth and the Nationals trailing 6-1, Salazar issued a leadoff walk to Carlos Santana and eventually allowed him to score on two wild pitches. He then served a home run to Daniel Schneemann, blowing the game open.

The Nationals overcame a bullpen meltdown this afternoon, brushing off a six-run top of the seventh to storm back and beat the Guardians.

It was an impressive display of gumption from a young team that has proven more than once this season it can pull off such rousing comebacks. But it’s far from a plan for consistent success, and tonight’s blowout loss was a stark reminder of that.

After another strong start from Brad Lord ended with one ill-timed mistake, the Nats bullpen proceeded to give up six runs over the final three innings, creating a deficit the lineup never threatened to overcome in an eventual 9-1 loss.

With a doubleheader split, the Nationals remain three games under .500 at 17-20, now looking to win this condensed interleague series Wednesday at the early matinee time of 12:05 p.m.

Bullpen struggles aside, the more consequential story this evening involved the rookie making his sixth major league start, with no guarantee he’ll get to make a seventh.

Game 1 just ended, but it’s already time for Game 2 of this single-admission doubleheader. The Nationals survived another wild one, overcoming another bullpen meltdown to emerge with a 10-9 win over the Guardians. They’re now 17-19 on the season, with a shot at sweeping the doubleheader tonight.

Brad Lord takes the mound for what could be a very important start. The rookie right-hander may be headed back to the bullpen – or perhaps even to Triple-A Rochester – if and when Michael Soroka is activated off the 15-day injured list Wednesday as expected. But on the heels of an excellent start in Philadelphia, is there a chance Lord could keep his rotation job with another strong showing tonight?

The Nats would like a nice offensive showing against Ben Lively, the veteran right-hander who starts for Cleveland tonight. They faced him last summer at Progressive Field and were held to two runs over 5 2/3 innings. Those runs were driven in by Joey Meneses and Jesse Winker, so somebody else is going to have to get the job done tonight. Josh Bell is back, however, after missing three straight games with a sore groin.

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 980 AM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 68 degrees, wind 12 mph out to center field

GUARDIANS
LF Steven Kwan
CF Angel Martínez
DH José Ramírez
1B Carlos Santana
2B Gabriel Arias
RF Nolan Jones
3B Will Wilson
SS Brayan Rocchio
C Austin Hedges

CINCINNATI – The Nationals haven’t decided the plan for Michael Soroka yet, but they have decided to give Brad Lord at least one more start in the interim.

Lord is listed as Tuesday night’s starter against the Guardians, staying on turn behind Jake Irvin, who will pitch Monday night’s series opener at Nationals Park. The team has Wednesday’s starter listed as “TBA,” with Soroka a possible candidate to return from a five-week stint on the injured list.

Lord replaced Soroka in the rotation when the latter suffered a right biceps strain during his March 31 season debut in Toronto. The rookie, who opened the year in the bullpen, has slowly been building his arm up since then and Thursday night in Philadelphia reached the sixth inning for the first time in the majors.

Lord has allowed only two runs in each of his last three starts and overall has a 4.43 ERA in eight appearances (five of them starts). He’ll now get a chance to make his sixth start, after which the team will need to decide whether to keep him in the rotation, send him back to the bullpen or option him to Triple-A Rochester to keep him on a starter’s schedule in case the team needs him again in the near future.

Soroka was dominant Friday in his third minor league rehab start, striking out 11 batters over five innings of one-run ball, throwing 94 pitches. The 27-year-old, who was signed for $9 million over the winter, appears ready to go, but the Nationals aren’t making any declarations about the plan for him until they see him throw again Monday when the team returns home.