NEW YORK – We’ve reached the final two weeks of the season, and the Nationals’ final road trip. Every team remaining on the schedule has a winning record, everyone still technically in the pennant race. And these first three games come against a Mets team very much in the race, tied with the Braves for the National League’s final Wild Card berth.

The Mets have been on a sustained role, but they’re without MVP candidate Francisco Lindor, who is out with a back injury. This is still a tough lineup for Jake Irvin to face (including old pal Jesse Winker batting second and starting in right field) but he’s had some success against that group this season. On July 4, Irvin tossed eight innings of one-hit ball in the best start of his career. (Five days later, he gave up six runs to the same Mets team here at Citi Field.)

Sean Manaea is on the mound for New York, so we’ll see Davey Martinez’s right-handed-heavy lineup tonight. We’re still waiting to see if CJ Abrams is good to go after missing the last three days with a left shoulder impingement. Manaea faced the Nats on July 2 and allowed two runs over seven innings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 73 degrees, wind 8 mph right field to left field

NATIONALS
RF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
1B Juan Yepez
DH Andrés Chaparro
2B José Tena
3B Ildemaro Vargas
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

The easy part of the Nationals’ 2024 schedule comes to a close today. After this final game against the Marlins, the remaining four opponents over the season’s final two weeks are all over .500, with three of them entering today in a playoff position.

With a win this afternoon, the Nats will improve to 11-2 against the Fish, a good sign that the script has finally flipped between these two teams as they head in different directions moving forward.

MacKenzie Gore will look to get back on track after a rough outing his last time out against the Braves. The young lefty is 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 19 strikeouts in two starts against Miami this season.

Adam Oller will make his sixth start for the Marlins in today’s finale. The right-hander is 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA and 1.388 WHIP. He was charged with six runs, seven hits and three walks in five innings against the Pirates in his last outing. The 29-year-old has never faced the Nationals in his three-year career.

CJ Abrams is missing from the lineup for a third consecutive game. The 23-year-old originally was left out of Friday's lineup with a sore left shoulder.

DETROIT - Having lost five of six and six of their past eight games and facing the team with the best record in baseball since Aug. 11, the Orioles will try to find a way tonight.

Find a way to get some offense and start winning again. 

The O's are now 83-65 overall and ended Friday night three games back of the Yankees, who are playing this afternoon. 

The O's were one-hit last night and they got just two baserunners: one on an eighth inning walk and one on Gunnar Henderson's two-out triple in the ninth that broke up Detroit's combined no-hit bid.

With the 1-0 loss, the Orioles were shut out for the seventh time and second in the the last five games. 

It’s a spectacular Saturday afternoon in the nation’s capital. Maybe the matchup between the Nationals and Marlins isn’t anything to get excited about, but there are surely worse places to be on such a lovely day than the ballpark, right?

The Nats look to make it two in a row (and 10 out of 12) against Miami, and they’ll hope Patrick Corbin does his part to help make that possible. The left-hander makes his 30th start of the season, his 168th start as a National. He’s probably got two more after this one, and maybe after everything he’s been through he can finish this all off with some quality performances.

The Marlins send Valente Bellozo to the mound, and the rookie right-hander was really good when he faced the Nats last week in Miami. He tossed six scoreless innings on 85 pitches, outdueling MacKenzie Gore (who had a no-hit bid going that night). The Nationals will need to put together some better at-bats today, with the top of the lineup preferably scoring early as it did each of the last two nights.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 84 degrees, wind 10 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
RF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
DH Juan Yepez
2B Luis García Jr.
3B José Tena
C Keibert Ruiz
1B Joey Gallo
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nuñez

DETROIT - Looking for wins and now two games back in the American League East race, the Orioles play at Comerica Park tonight. They open a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers, Major League Baseball's winningest club since Aug. 11.

The O's lineup tonight shows Gunnar Henderson leading off, Cedric Mullins batting third and Adley Rutschman hitting fourth. Eloy Jiménez is the DH and Jacskon Holliday is batting ninth at second base. 

Yes, the Tigers (75-72) are a hot team and they are pushing for wins too. They begin play tonight 3.5 games behind the Twins for the final American League wild-card playoff spot.

Detroit has won four of five and 13 of 19 games. The Tigers lead MLB in going 20-9 since Aug. 11.

Best MLB records since that date:

Thursday was not a good night for the Nationals, who did so many things wrong during the course of a 6-3 loss to the Marlins that really should have been a win based on the way the game began and based on the way Mitchell Parker pitched.

But it’s a new day, so they’ll try to bounce back tonight and win game two of the four-game series, with another rookie left-hander on the mound who has enjoyed success against this opponent before.

Way back on June 15, DJ Herz made only his third career start. It was against the Marlins, here in D.C. And he proceeded to toss six innings of scoreless ball, striking out 13 of the 19 batters he faced that afternoon. It was a brilliant performance that suddenly showed the world just how good Herz can be when he’s locked in. He was similarly locked in last weekend against the Pirates, tossing five hitless innings on 87 pitches before he was pulled. You never really know with certainly what you’re going to get from him on any given night, but if ever the stars were aligned for a dominant performance …

The Nationals need better offensive production tonight against Edward Cabrera than they got Thursday against Darren McCaughan, who gave up three quick runs in the first inning and then nothing else the rest of the way. It’s been a while since the Nats last saw Cabrera, April 27 to be precise. They got to the right-hander for six runs in only 4 1/3 innings that afternoon, though it’s worth noting the big hits in that game came from Jesse Winker, Nick Senzel and Trey Lipscomb, none of whom are going to be here tonight.

Update: CJ Abrams was scratched from the lineup after jamming his left shoulder making a diving play at shortstop Thursday night. Everyone moves up a slot in the lineup, with Nasim Nuñez now batting ninth and starting at shortstop.

The Nationals spent the last two nights facing a Braves team desperate for every win it can get as it tries to beat out the Mets for the final wild card berth in the National League. For the next four nights, they’ll face a Marlins team with absolutely nothing to play for. So, the intensity level may be ramped down a bit here over the weekend.

The Nats have absolutely owned Miami this season, winning their first eight head-to-head matchups before finally losing for the first time last week. They’ve got a chance to really put the finishing touches on a dominant performance with at least three more wins this weekend, which would also go a long toward their goal of improving upon last year’s 71-91 record. (They need to go 7-10 the rest of the way to do that.)

Mitchell Parker gets the start, and two of the rookies strongest starts this season have come against the Marlins. The lefty has allowed two runs in 10 innings against them, though he hasn’t faced them since June 16.

The Nationals lineup faces an unknown in Darren McGaughan, a 28-year-old right-hander making only his third career start. A waiver claim from the Guardians earlier this summer, McGaughan owns a 5.14 ERA in 106 career Triple-A starts. He’s not a flamethrower: His fastball averages only 89 mph, and he throws more sweepers than anything else.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 79 degrees, wind 8 mph in from right field

BOSTON – The Orioles finish their series in Boston with Austin Slater in right field and Emmanuel Rivera at third base.

Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting eighth.

Dean Kremer is coming off his six scoreless innings against the Rays, when he allowed only two hits. He’s registered four quality starts in his last five outings.

Kremer hasn’t faced the Red Sox this season. He’s made eight career starts against them and posted a 6.45 ERA and 1.540 WHIP. He’s 0-3 with a 10.47 ERA 2.082 WHIP in four starts at Fenway Park.

Rafael Devers is 7-for-18 with a double and two home runs lifetime against Kremer.

Tuesday night’s game was ugly. I mean, real ugly. At least for the Nationals. MacKenzie Gore was roughed up for the first time in weeks. José Tena committed another error. The bullpen wasn’t particularly good. And the lineup was held to three hits despite only having to face Braves starter Reynaldo López for one inning before he departed with shoulder tightness. (López, by the way, was placed on the 15-day injured list this afternoon.)

So they’ll try to wipe the slate clean and start all over again tonight, hoping for a better result in the season final between these two National League East foes. The Nats have already clinched the season series, so at worst they’ll finish 7-6 against Atlanta. They’d prefer 8-5.

Like Gore, Jake Irvin enters this one having pitched exceptionally well against the Braves this season. Over 17 1/3 innings across three starts, he has allowed only two runs. We saw Atlanta’s hitters take a more aggressive approach against Gore and have a lot of success with that; it’ll be interesting to see if they do the same with Irvin.

Max Fried starts for the Braves, and he was outstanding in his lone appearance against the Nats this season. The lefty, a pending free agent, tossed eight scoreless innings May 28 at Truist Park, outlasting Irvin to take the win that day.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 80 degrees, wind 7 mph in from right field

BOSTON – Coby Mayo is starting at third base tonight at Fenway Park and Jackson Holliday returns to the lineup at second base.

Cedric Mullins is batting second again.

James McCann is catching, with Adley Rutschman serving as designated hitter.

Albert Suárez needs to bounce back from his last start, when he allowed six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings against the White Sox. He surrendered three home runs to tie his career high, and Chicago snapped a 12-game losing streak.

Suárez shut out the Red Sox over six innings on Aug. 18.

We’ve reached the final three weeks of the season, which means the Nationals are looking at a week of home games, then a week of road games, then one last week of home games before heading out for the winter. There are a bunch of contenders on the schedule, though, including two more games with the Braves, who come to town tonight.

Atlanta is right in the thick of the race for the final wild card berth with the Mets (who the Nats face next week at Citi Field), trailing by one game entering tonight’s opener. If the Braves make it, they’ll do so on the strength of their pitching (which has been excellent) and not their hitting (which has not, in large part due to injuries).

Among their best starters, of course, is Reynaldo López, who gets the ball tonight. The former Nationals prospect has a 2.04 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning in 23 starts, and he’s pitched well against the Nats twice already this season (three runs over 12 innings). A lineup that didn’t do much Sunday against Pirates flamethrower Jared Jones faces another stiff test tonight.

Don’t overlook what MacKenzie Gore has done against the Braves, though. The young lefty has made three head-to-head starts this season, and he allowed one earned run in each of them. He’s on a roll here down the stretch as well, with three straight outings of two runs or less allowed in six innings, with an outstanding 19-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio to boot.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 80 degrees, wind 6 mph in from left field

BOSTON – Major League Baseball announced today that catcher James McCann is the Orioles’ nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, which is presented annually to the player who “best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”

The Orioles will recognize McCann in a special on-field ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 21.

The following comes from the club’s press release:

“Since joining the Orioles prior to the 2023 season, McCann has emerged as a cornerstone of community support in Baltimore, earning him a nomination for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award. His unwavering dedication to community service is a family affair, with McCann, his wife Jessica, and their twin boys actively contributing to their communities year-round. The McCann family donated 50 pairs of shoes to Church of the City’s Wrap Around Closet in Nashville, Tenn. supporting children in foster care.

“Earlier this season, the Orioles announced their adoption of Harlem Park Elementary Middle School, aiming to foster a lasting relationship and support students from pre-k all the way through their entry into the workforce. McCann eagerly embraced this partnership, actively engaging with Harlem Park students and staff at Friday home game batting practices, proudly donning a Harlem Park-branded t-shirt. His involvement extended to the classroom as well, where he visited PE classes to teach baseball skills and inspire students to pursue their dreams with perseverance. To further support Harlem Park, McCann and Jessica provided Harlem Park students with essential items such as backpacks, clothing, and shoes for the new school year, underscoring their dedication to fostering the growth and success of Baltimore’s youth.

The Orioles go for the series win this afternoon, the last game on the homestand, with Nick Maton at third base and Austin Slater in right field.

Anthony Santander is the designated hitter.

Corbin Burnes has posted a 4.97 ERA and 1.342 WHIP in nine starts in the second half. He had a 7.36 ERA and 1.597 WHIP in five starts last month.

Burnes went five innings against the White Sox in his last outing and allowed one earned run and two total for his career-high 13^th win.

Burnes has faced the Rays twice this season at Tropicana Field and allowed three earned runs and five total in 13 innings.

PITTSBURGH – What a Saturday day and night that turned out to be at the ballpark. The Nationals swept their doubleheader against the Pirates, putting together a no-hit bid in the opener and then storming back to score four runs with two outs in the ninth to win the nightcap. It took just about everything out of them to pull that off, especially a bullpen that was pushed to the limit with four guys (Kyle Finnegan, Derek Law, Jacob Barnes, Robert Garcia) each appearing in both games.

So with that in mind, there’s no question what Patrick Corbin’s objective is today: Pitch deep into the game. It doesn’t matter how many runs he gives up, Corbin is going to top 100 pitches for certain, preferably completing at least or even seven innings in the process. And if the Nats find themselves in a position to win at that point, it’ll be up to Davey Martinez to figure out how he wants to manage the late innings.

Some run support would be nice, but the Nationals lineup faces a stiff challenge today. No, they’re not facing Paul Skenes, but don’t sleep on their other rookie right-hander. Jared Jones hasn’t received the same hype as Skenes, but he throws nearly as hard and he’s enjoyed success in his first big league season, striking out more than a batter per inning. Jones did miss more than two months with an injury, but he still reached the seventh inning last time out against the Cubs, so fatigue doesn’t appear to be a concern.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: PNC Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 66 degrees, wind 10 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
DH Andrés Chaparro 
2B Luis García Jr.
C Keibert Ruiz
3B José Tena
RF Dylan Crews
1B Joey Gallo
CF Jacob Young

PITTSBURGH – The Nationals got the job done in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader against the Pirates. DJ Herz tossed five no-hit innings before departing with his pitch count at 87. Dylan Crews homered, doubled and drove in two runs. The bullpen hung on, with Kyle Finnegan barely surviving another harrowing ninth inning to close out a 5-3 victory.

Now it’s onto the nightcap, with the Nats hoping for a rare doubleheader sweep behind another rookie left-hander on the mound. Mitchell Parker makes his 26th big league start, and his 25th was perhaps his strangest yet. He struck out eight and walked only one but gave up four runs over six innings, done in by some terrible defense that included an errant pickoff throw of his own. There’s only so much Parker can control, but if he can simply make the few plays he has to make in the field, he’ll help his cause a lot.

Davey Martinez has a couple of lineup changes from the opener. Jacob Young gets a rare night off, out of the lineup for the first time since July 31. That opens up center field to Dylan Crews for the first time in his brief major league career. Drew Millas will catch Parker, but Keibert Ruiz is still in there, serving as designated hitter against Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: PNC Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 65 degrees, wind 13 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
1B Andrés Chaparro
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Keibert Ruiz
3B José Tena
CF Dylan Crews
RF Joey Gallo
C Drew Millas

PITTSBURGH – There are only three weeks left in the Nationals' season. Trevor Williams is determined to make sure he pitches for them again before everyone heads home for the winter.

The right-hander, out since late May with a flexor strain in his elbow, believes he’s on track to do just that. He’s faced live hitters twice in the last week-plus, and he’s now ready to go on what figures to be a brief minor league rehab assignment that would allow him to rejoin the big league rotation to make perhaps a couple of starts at the end of the month.

“It feels good,” Williams said this morning. “We’re where we need to be. I’ll go on a rehab assignment and get back out here as fast as possible, as long as we’re feeling good.”

Williams faced live hitters here at PNC Park on Thursday, and he has emerged from that session with no issues. He’s now set to start for Double-A Harrisburg on Tuesday in what will be his first competitive game since May 30.

Williams is scheduled to throw four innings and perhaps build up to 65-70 pitches. Manager Davey Martinez has said the 32-year-old probably needs to get up to 80 pitches before he’s activated off the 60-day injured list, so he may need to make one more rehab start before returning.

PITTSBURGH – And we’re back. After Friday’s rainout – FYI, it didn’t even start raining until about 9 p.m. – the Nationals and Pirates reconvene for what’s going to be a very long Saturday afternoon and evening. It’s a day-night doubleheader, the first game starting at 1:35 p.m., the nightcap starting at 6:40 p.m. as initially planned.

Both of Friday night’s scheduled starters will be on the mound for today’s opener. So it’s DJ Herz, again looking not only to get his outing off to a good start but also to have a strong finish, pitching for the Nats. The rookie left-hander might need to be pushed a bit harder in this one, because Davey Martinez has to make sure he’s still got enough relievers available for the nightcap.

(For what it’s worth, the teams don’t get to call up an extra player for the doubleheader, because rosters are already expanded for September. So it’s a 14-man pitching staff, no changes.)

At the plate, the Nationals will try to get something going against right-hander Luis Ortiz, who didn’t give up a run in either of his previous two outings. Martinez was hopeful Friday night that the return of CJ Abrams to the top of the lineup would help jump-start the offense, believing Abrams could fare well against Ortiz’s fastball. We’ll see how that goes.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: PNC Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 65 degrees, wind 10 mph out to center field

PITTSBURGH – There wasn’t much for the Nationals to get excited about out of Thursday night’s game, a 9-4 loss to the Pirates in the opener of a four-game series. They didn’t get good starting pitching. They didn’t get good relief pitching. They got a couple of big hits in the top of the first, then nothing else the rest of the way.

So the Nats will hope to hit the reset button tonight and get back on track. If the weather cooperates. There is a line of storms approaching from the west, and it’s scheduled to arrive at some point this evening, potentially lasting into Saturday morning. No idea yet if it will prevent this game from starting on time, being disrupted or even being played at all. Stay turned.

Whenever they play, it’ll be DJ Herz on the mound for the Nationals. The rookie left-hander had a string of solid outings disrupted last weekend when the Cubs got to him for four runs in 4 2/3 innings, all of those coming in the top of the fifth. Herz has typically done better in the early innings than the late innings; something to keep an eye on tonight.

Right-hander Luis Ortiz starts for Pittsburgh, and he has been outstanding of late. Ortiz has tossed six scoreless innings each of his last two starts and gave up only one hit to the Guardians last Saturday.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: PNC Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Storms arriving, 80 degrees, wind 7 mph out to left field

PITTSBURGH – It would be hard to find a more striking difference in ballpark vistas than the one the Nationals just saw in Miami and the one they’ll see the next four days at PNC Park. And the weather here looks great, as well, aside from a chance of rain Friday night into Saturday morning.

The Nats arrive in Pittsburgh after splitting their two-game series with the Marlins, a series that absolutely was there for the taking if they had simply converted in the ninth or 10th innings when they had the chance. Oh well, maybe it was too much to expect a season sweep of a division opponent.

The Nationals haven’t seen the Pirates since way back in early April, the first homestand of the season. A lot has changed for both teams since then, perhaps most notably the promotions of the top two picks in last summer’s draft, the former LSU teammates. Dylan Crews will get plenty of action this weekend, but unfortunately Paul Skenes will not. The Pirates, looking to keep Skenes in the rotation through season’s end, are going to a six-man rotation, so he won’t start again until Monday.

So tonight it’s Jake Irvin for the Nats and Bailey Falter for the Pirates. Irvin needs to bounce back from his bizarre start against the Cubs, when he was torched for seven runs in the top of the second but didn’t give up anything else the rest of his outing. This is an important month for Irvin, who is trying to make sure his outstanding first half doesn’t become an afterthought. He’s facing a Pittsburgh lineup that was no-hit by Shota Imanaga and two Cubs relievers Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.

Falter faced the Nats four times over the last two seasons as a member of the Phillies, and was quite successful, going 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA. The left-hander has been pretty mediocre for the Pirates this year, and he enters this one having allowed four or more runs in three of his last four starts.

MIAMI – After a nice, clean game last night, the Nationals now have a chance to sweep the Marlins in this quick two-game series before heading up to Pittsburgh. A win would also keep their winning streak against Miami alive.

Like Patrick Corbin on Tuesday, MacKenzie Gore is looking to build off two strong starts. He completed six innings of one-run ball against the Braves in Atlanta and then he held the Yankees to two runs over six innings last week. Gore was excellent against the Marlins in his one other start against them this year, holding them to one run with 10 strikeouts over seven frames.

The Marlins are sending out another rookie right-hander in Valente Bellozo. The 24-year-old is 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA and 1.344 WHIP in eight major league starts since debuting in June. Although he has shown flashes of promise (holding the Royals, Reds and Phillies scoreless over a combined 17 ⅔ innings), he also has struggled at times in giving up five or more earned runs in three of his starts, including in each of his last two.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
RF Dylan Crews
3B José Tena
DH Andrés Chaparro
LF James Wood
2B Luis García Jr.
1B Joey Gallo
SS CJ Abrams
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Jacob Young