PHOENIX – A wildly successful road trip for the Nationals ended as it began: With a dud.

They may have won four straight thanks to some unprecedented offensive fireworks in every game, but sandwiched around those wins were a pair of losses featuring very little in the way of offense, including today’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Diamondbacks.

Less than 24 hours after producing the first 10-run first inning in club history to clinch the first four-game streak with at least nine runs scored in club history, the Nats were shut down by ace Corbin Burnes (before he departed with an elbow injury) and Arizona’s bullpen.

It was a tough way to wrap up an otherwise excellent week on the West Coast, but it shouldn’t overshadow what did take place in both Seattle and Phoenix, where this lineup finally showed off the best version of itself and offered hope for what may still be to come the rest of this season.

The Nationals still head home having won 10 of their last 14, creeping ever so close to the elusive .500 mark.

PHOENIX – At the end of a long Saturday night, at the end of a stretch of five straight late-night games on the West Coast, the last four of them Nationals victories, Davey Martinez was asked who had been available out of his bullpen to close out this one.

“Um, you saw the availability,” the manager said with a laugh. “That’s what we had.”

With Kyle Finnegan needing a night off, and with Jorge López designated for assignment earlier in the day, what they had was Jackson Rutledge, Jose A. Ferrer and Cole Henry. And after five runs crossed the plate with Rutledge on the mound in the sixth, and after Ferrer tossed a scoreless seventh in his third appearance in four nights, that left Henry to finish out an 11-7 win over the Diamondbacks.

It got a little dicey in the bottom of the eighth, with Henry allowing three straight batters to reach base. But the rookie escaped the jam unscathed, thanks in part to a fantastic defensive play by James Wood and Keibert Ruiz, and then he closed out the ninth with no drama in arguably the biggest relief appearance of his young career.

“It’s definitely been pretty fast. I feel like just yesterday I was throwing in blowouts,” he said. “It’s been cool to get in there in close games, the adrenaline pumping, everything’s on the line.”

PHOENIX – We have come to the final day of a West Coast trip that has been both eventful and successful. The Nationals have gone 4-1 against the Mariners and Diamondbacks, and they’ve done with the most impressive offensive run in club history: Four straight games scoring at least nine runs, capped off by Saturday night’s historic 10-run top of the first.

Given all that, the Nats could be excused if they take their foot off the gas pedal today. They’ve already won the series and the road trip. They’re physically exhausted after five straight late-night games and now have to make the quick turnaround to a 1:10 p.m. local time finale at Chase Field. And they’re facing Arizona ace Corbin Burnes. Then again, with this team you never really know what you’re going to get until the game starts, so perhaps there’s a fifth straight offensive explosion coming.

This much is certain: Mitchell Parker desperately needs a solid start, and he faces a tough challenge in a Diamondbacks lineup that has scored 14 runs the last two nights with nothing to show for it. Parker started off this trip way back on Tuesday night with a dud in Seattle in which he served up three homers in 4 2/3 innings. He hasn’t had a quality start since April 22 against the Orioles. He may not be pitching for his job quite yet, but he’s inching in that direction if he doesn’t right the ship.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Where: Chase Field
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
1B Nathaniel Lowe
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Josh Bell
CF Robert Hassell III
C Keibert Ruiz
3B José Tena
RF Daylen Lile

PHOENIX – It began innocently enough, with CJ Abrams getting hit by a wayward 0-2 pitch from Brandon Pfaadt, with James Wood singling to right and with Nathaniel Lowe doubling to left to give the Nationals a quick lead over the Diamondbacks.

And then it kept going. And going. And going. And going some more until the only thing the demoralized Chase Field crowd of 29,434 could do was give the loudest, most sarcastic standing ovation in history to the Arizona pitcher (Scott McGough, in relief of Pfaadt) who finally recorded the first out of tonight’s ballgame.

That out, by the way, was made by Lowe, who was making his second plate appearance of the top of the first, the Nationals’ 12th plate appearance of the game. They already led 9-0 at that point, en route to a 10-run top of the first and an 11-run lead by the top of the second.

And though the D-backs made a spirited attempt to pull off what would’ve been one of the most remarkable comebacks in major league history, the Nats ultimately did win 11-7 thanks to the greatest first inning in team history.

"I've been a part of some crooked numbers, but that was a good one," Lowe said. "It was nice to jump on a pretty solid major league starter and put up a first inning like that. You don't see it often, but we capitalized off it. And obviously, we like a win."

PHOENIX – The Nationals cut ties with another struggling veteran reliever, designating Jorge López for assignment prior to tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks and recalling Eduardo Salazar from Triple-A Rochester to take his place in a bullpen that has undergone a significant overhaul since Opening Day.

López was signed over the winter for $3 million to serve as the team’s primary setup man and backup closer when Kyle Finnegan wasn’t available. He had a handful of moments, which in part led to his surprising 6-0 record. But he was plagued by inconsistent performances, which led to an inflated 6.57 ERA and three official blown saves over 26 appearances.

The 32-year-old right-hander immediately comes off the 40-man roster, which now has an open slot. If another team claims him off waivers in the next 72 hours, that team would take on the remainder of his salary. If he clears waivers and is released, the Nats would be responsible for the full $3 million.

“Sometimes, places aren’t the right fit,” manager Davey Martinez said. “And I don’t think this was the right fit for him. And I’d rather, instead of dragging things on, go ahead and do something different.”

López becomes the third veteran reliever signed by the Nationals prior to this season to be dropped before June 1. Lefty Colin Poche, who made $1.4 million when he made the Opening Day roster off a minor league deal, was designated for assignment May 1 and opted to become a free agent four days later. Righty Lucas Sims, who like López was signed for $3 million, was released May 10 after posting a 13.86 ERA in 18 games.

PHOENIX – It’s the final day of May, and though it had some bumps along the way, this turned out to be a successful May for the Nationals. Regardless of the outcome of tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks, they already clinched a rare winning month with Friday night’s wild 9-7 victory. It’s only their second winning month since the teardown of July 2021, the previous one coming in August 2023 when they went 17-11.

The Nats enter this one on a three-game winning streak, having won nine of their last 12 overall to get to three games under .500 at 27-30. They would love to keep their offensive explosion going, though it might be too much to ask for a fourth straight nine-run output. Let’s see what they can do against Arizona right-hander Brandon Pfaadt, who enters with a 7-3 record and 3.90 ERA.

Michael Soroka gets the ball for the visitors, looking to build off his quality start last weekend against the Giants (three runs in six innings) even though he was charged with a tough loss in a 3-2 game. We’ll see who’s available in the bullpen tonight, though we already know one name who won’t be: Jorge López, who was just designated for assignment. Eduardo Salazar was recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take his place, leaving rookies Cole Henry, Brad Lord and Jackson Rutledge as Davey Martinez’s top right-handed setup men in front of closer Kyle Finnegan.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Where: Chase Field
Gametime: 10:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
1B Nathaniel Lowe
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Josh Bell
CF Robert Hassell III
C Keibert Ruiz
3B José Tena
RF Daylen Lile

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.

PHOENIX – Remember when the Nationals scored six total runs over four games? It happened less than a week ago.

You’re forgiven if you can’t recall such historical facts, because over the last 72 hours this same lineup has managed to turn itself into a powerhouse.

They did it during back-to-back wins in Seattle, the first leg of this West Coast trip. And now they did it in the opener of their weekend series here at Chase Field, riding two more homers from James Wood and Josh Bell and two more clutch hits from Robert Hassell III to a 9-7 victory over the Diamondbacks.

That’s three straight games the Nationals have scored nine runs, a feat achieved only seven times in club history and not since Aug. 17-19, 2019.

"We talked about it in spring: We know we can be an offensive threat," Bell said. "And right now, it seems like it's a different person every night ... aside from Woody. It seems like it's every night for him. It's definitely fun to be a part of it."

PHOENIX – Jacob Young, technically speaking, is eligible to come off the 10-day injured list today. The Nationals outfielder, of course, hasn’t been activated yet. And he won’t be activated for this weekend’s series against the Diamondbacks.

But Young appears to have cleared all hurdles in his recovery from a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder and tonight was scheduled to participate fully in all pregame drills, offering optimism he’ll be back on the active roster in short order.

“It’s going well,” he said. “I hit the last three days in a row, feeling much better. I can take a full swing again. I can do my normal work in the cage again. So I can get back to what I was doing before (the injury).”

Young, who hurt himself May 17 when he slammed into the wall at Camden Yards trying to make a leaping catch, hoped to avoid the IL stint altogether but couldn’t finish the follow-through on his swings without experiencing shoulder pain. The Nats finally conceded and placed him on the IL on May 23, backdating the transaction the maximum three days permitted.

Young has traveled with the team on this West Coast trip, participating in pregame drills but confined to the dugout during games, no easy task for the high-energy player.

PHOENIX – Hello from the Valley of the Sun, where the sun is shining bright today. Yes, it’s 105 degrees here. Of course, the roof at Chase Field will be closed tonight, so nothing to worry about.

The Nationals arrived very early in the morning after a late-night flight from Seattle following a wild 9-3, 10-inning win over the Mariners. They’ve taken two of three from the first quality opponent they’re facing on this trip. Now they’ll try to do at least the same against another quality opponent in the Diamondbacks.

It’s Jake Irvin on the mound, and the right-hander has already faced Arizona earlier this season, allowing four runs over only five innings. He’s been much better since, and so far in four starts this month he’s 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA, coming off eight shutout innings against the Giants last weekend.

The all-left-handed Nats lineup that produced nine runs back-to-back days in Seattle will try to keep that going tonight against right-hander Merrill Kelly. Kelly did not pitch in that April series in D.C. Over his last eight starts, he’s got a sparkling 2.39 ERA, but he did give up four runs in six innings to the Cardinals last time out.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Where: Chase Field
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

SEATTLE – Daylen Lile came up to bat in the top of the 10th on Thursday night feeling some combination of frustration and exasperation. The Nationals’ rookie right fielder was 0-for-3 in the game, having twice failed to get down a called sacrifice bunt in the sixth inning and then having scorched a 110-mph liner directly to the first baseman with two outs and a runner on third in the seventh.

Now, here was Lile again at the plate in a big spot. The Nats and Mariners were tied 2-2 heading to extra innings, with teammate Jose Tena serving as the automatic runner and immediately advancing to third on Collin Snider’s first pitch wild pitch.

Lile knew the assignment in that situation, with the go-ahead runner 90 feet away.

“Just think about the team,” the 22-year-old said. “See the ball up. Get something into the outfield and make sure I’m doing my job, so the guy behind me can do his job.”

And what did Lile think when he launched the next pitch he saw from Snider deep to right field?

SEATTLE – MacKenzie Gore did his job, churning out six scoreless innings and escaping an emotional bases-loaded jam to end his night. And James Wood did his job, delivering the clutch hit off a lefty that gave the Nationals a two-run lead to put Gore in line for the win.

For the Nats to emerge victorious at T-Mobile Park and pull off an impressive road series win over a good Mariners club, though, several others were going to have to do their job before night’s end.

By the time the Nationals gathered at the center of the diamond to celebrate at the end of the 10th inning, there were no shortage of teammates to congratulate, from Jose A. Ferrer to Daylen Lile to Nathaniel Lowe to Luis García Jr. to Josh Bell, whose titanic blast to right capped off a stunning seven-run rally that lifted the visitors to a 9-3 win that turned from a taut pitchers’ duel into a wild extra-inning rout.

It may have required some extra work late at night, not to mention the first seven-run rally in extra innings in club history, but the Nationals left Seattle with back-to-back wins over a first-place opponent and now head to Arizona having won eight of 11, thanks to some offensive fireworks at the end of a captivating ballgame.

"Starters are keeping us in games," Bell said. "And when our offense clicks, we can put five, six, seven runs across the board at any given moment."

SEATTLE – On a night when there was plenty for the Nationals to feel good about, the first three-hit game of Josh Bell’s season stood out from the pack Wednesday night.

Bell entered the night with a .151 batting average and .289 slugging percentage, a slow start even by his traditional standards. He delivered in the Nats’ 9-0 win over the Mariners, though, launching an opposite-field homer in the second, then singling and scoring in the fourth and singling again in the ninth. He even came within a few feet of another home run in the eighth, the ball caught just shy of the wall in center field.

“You can’t help but root for Josh Bell,” manager Davey Martinez said of the 32-year-old designated hitter. “The guys love him. We love him. And when he goes oppo like that, it’s huge. Hopefully he stays like that for a while.”

There’s the rub. Every time it has looked like Bell might be poised to break out of his season-long slump the last two months, he’s fallen back into the same funk.

Bell is a notoriously slow starter: His career .692 OPS in April is the lowest of any month. But he has also shown a propensity for getting hot right after that: His career OPS in May is a robust .820.

SEATTLE – Would you have imagined after Tuesday’s blowout loss the Nationals wound now find themselves in position to win this series behind their ace? Probably not. But Wednesday’s 9-0 thumping of the Mariners canceled out Tuesday’s 9-1 loss and sets up the rubber match tonight.

And it’s MacKenzie Gore on the mound looking to win the series for the Nats. The 26-year-old lefty is coming off an outstanding outing against the Giants (one run, two hits, nine strikeouts over six-plus innings) that was marred only by his departure with a nasty welt on his upper left leg from a line drive that struck him way back in the top of the second. Gore is perfectly fine now, and he’ll be trying to expand his lead over Detroit’s Tarik Skubal (currently one behind him) for the major league lead in strikeouts.

Emerson Hancock, the Mariners’ first-round pick in 2020, will oppose Gore. The tall right-hander is 2-2 with a 5.95 ERA in eight starts so far this season, 6-6 with a 5.14 ERA in 23 career starts. He’s not a big strikeout guy; he throws the ball over the plate and tries to induce weak contact. We know the Nats (who have never faced him before) sometimes struggle with these type of pitchers. It’s on them to figure him out and make adjustments along the way.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SEATTLE MARINERS
Where: T-Mobile Park
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 63 degrees, wind 9 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
1B Nathaniel Lowe
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Josh Bell
CF Robert Hassell III
3B José Tena
RF Daylen Lile

SEATTLE – The first five days of Robert Hassell III’s major league career included 17 at-bats, two hits (both coming in his debut), zero walks and some clear-cut pressing at the plate.

Not that anyone should have been surprised by that. How many rookies, no matter how highly touted, look totally comfortable in their first week in the bigs?

Davey Martinez knows this as well as anyone. The Nationals manager often reminds his young players that he began his career in an 0-for-11 slump. And as he reminded Hassell on Wednesday morning, the key is stay true to yourself, to try to remain the same player you were the previous week at Triple-A.

“You’re going to get overamped, and you want to try to do a lot,” Martinez told Hassell. “But this game is tough enough. Don’t make it harder on yourself. Just do the things you’re capable of doing.”

Several hours later, on the heels of the biggest night of his brief big league career, Hassell was complimenting his manager for the much-needed message.

SEATTLE – As lost as they looked at the plate Tuesday night against Logan Evans, the Nationals could not have looked more comfortable when they dug in this evening against George Kirby.

As labored as his recent starts against a number of opponents had felt, Trevor Williams could not have looked more in control tonight when he faced the same Seattle lineup that exploded for nine runs the previous night.

Baseball’s a funny game sometimes, and perhaps it has caused even more head-scratching for the 2025 Nationals than ever before. Because it’s hard to know which version of this team is going to show up on any given night. But when the good version does report for duty as it did tonight in a 9-0 pasting of the Mariners, it sure is fun to watch.

Behind four solo homers from Luis García Jr., Josh Bell, James Wood and Robert Hassell III (the first of his career) and six scoreless innings from Williams, the Nats cruised to an easy victory only 24 hours after they were dominated in the series opener.

"There's always going to be a tomorrow," García said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. "So you have to erase what happened the last day, come in here, work hard and get the win."

SEATTLE – Cade Cavalli is nothing more than a minor league pitcher these days, no longer injured, no longer rehabbing, just trying to earn his way back to the major leagues. The way he’s pitching, he’s starting to make a compelling case for a promotion to D.C.

Cavalli dominated over five innings today for Triple-A Rochester, shutting out Columbus on three hits and a walk while striking out 10. It was the latest, and best, outing for the Nationals’ 2020 first-round pick in his prolonged quest to return from Tommy John surgery more than two years ago.

“I saw the reports,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I heard he threw really well. Ten strikeouts in five innings, which is awesome. That’s great for us, as well.”

Cavalli, who made his one and only major league start in August 2022, had elbow ligament reconstruction surgery in March 2023 and has been trying to make it back ever since. He spent all of 2023 and 2024 on the big league injured list, plus the first 45 days of this season before the club deemed him healthy and optioned him to Triple-A (where he was already pitching on a rehab assignment).

Now that he’s on a regular throwing regimen, Cavalli seems to be finding a groove. Over his last three starts, he’s allowed two total runs across 14 innings, striking out 23 while issuing only three walks.

SEATTLE – Tuesday night’s series opener went about as badly as it could have gone from the Nationals’ perspective. Mitchell Parker put them in an early hole, the lineup never seriously threatened to come back and the bullpen expanded the deficit to the point it became a 9-1 rout by the Mariners.

So they’ll try all over again tonight and see if they can’t get back on track. As always, the pressure to score first is significant, and the stats confirm it. When they score first the season, the Nats are 18-7. When the opponent scores first, they’re 6-23. That’s an awfully extreme difference.

Can a lineup that managed one run (a James Wood solo homer) Tuesday night against Logan Evans do more tonight against George Kirby? Davey Martinez is trotting out the same lineup in hopes of better results.

Meanwhile, Trevor Williams desperately needs to put together a solid start himself, even if that means only five innings. The veteran right-hander enters with a 6.39 ERA and has surrendered at least four runs in each of his last five starts.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SEATTLE MARINERS
Where: T-Mobile Park
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 75 degrees, wind 10 mph out to center field

SEATTLE – The only change the Nationals have made to their rotation through the season’s first two months was related to injury. When Michael Soroka strained his right biceps muscle in his first start of the year, they turned to rookie Brad Lord to make six spot starts until Soroka was ready to return from the IL.

There have been zero moves made as a result of performance so far. But could the club be headed in that direction?

Mitchell Parker’s outing Tuesday night during a 9-1 loss to the Mariners brings that question back to the forefront. The left-hander was roughed up for three home runs in 4 2/3 innings, including back-to-back blasts by Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh in the bottom of the first. And this was merely the latest in a string of rough outings.

It feels like an eternity ago, but Parker opened the season 3-1 with a 1.39 ERA over his first five starts. He put fewer than one batter on base per inning during that stretch while surrendering only one home run.

Since then, it’s been a completely different story. Over his last six starts, Parker is 1-3 with an 8.46 ERA. He has put nearly two batters on base per inning during this stretch while surrendering five total home runs.

SEATTLE – It’s one thing to be aggressive at the plate. It’s quite another thing to have so little success being aggressive at the plate and making no obvious adjustment to reverse that trend.

The Nationals have often shown that unfortunate propensity in recent seasons, and tonight they took it to new (and increasingly agonizing) lengths. During a 9-1 trouncing at the hands of the Mariners, they made quick outs early against Logan Evans, then continued to make quick outs against Seattle’s rookie starter and never did anything to fix it.

By the time Eduard Bazardo completed what Evans started, the Nats ensured tonight would rank among the most futile offensive efforts in club history: They saw 98 total pitches, tied for the 11th fewest they've seen in a nine-inning game over the last 20-plus seasons.

"We're trying to work and see pitches. But when he's like that and you know he's attacking like that, you've got to go up there and be ready to hit," manager Davey Martinez said of Evans, who threw 65 of his 88 pitches for strikes. "You might get just one pitch like that down the middle, and then all of a sudden you're fighting. Tip my cap to him. He kept going out there and kept throwing strikes."

The Nationals nearly failed to draw a walk for the third consecutive game, a distinction they had achieved only once before in club history (September 2016). Josh Bell’s free pass in the top of the eighth finally snapped their streak of impatience at 26 innings.