MILWAUKEE – Watch the play, and it looks like Michael Chavis not only makes a fantastic diving stab to his left of Rowdy Tellez’s scorching grounder down the first base line, but then makes the split-second decision to throw to the plate and ultimately retire William Contreras for the double play that sealed the Nationals’ 2-1, 11-inning victory over the Brewers late Sunday afternoon.

Listen, though, to Chavis’ detailed breakdown of the unconventional, 3-2 double play, and you realize it was anything but a spur-of-the-moment decision by the fill-in first baseman.

“That’s one of the cases where the preparation really pays off,” he said.

The scenario: The Brewers had runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the 11th, needing to plate one run to extend the game, two runs to win it. The left-handed-hitting Tellez was at the plate. The left-handed-throwing Robert Garcia was on the mound. And the right-handed-fielding Chavis was at first base, having entered the game two innings earlier to pinch-run for Dominic Smith and then subsequently taken over his position in the field.

As Tellez made his way toward the batter’s box, Chavis did what any good defensive player does and asked himself what he would do if the ball was hit to him. Except he broke it down in even more detail than that, considering how his play might be different depending on where precisely the ball was hit.

MILWAUKEE – There's no question at the end of this weekend which of the two ballclubs that competed at American Family Field is headed for the postseason and which is headed home for October. The Brewers looked the part of a first-place team. The Nationals looked the part of a last-place team.

And yet every one of these games was there for the Nats to take. They just couldn’t find a way to take any of them in key, late moments. Until they finally did what they needed to do in the most critical moments this afternoon to pull out one victory at last.

Unable to convert on countless scoring opportunities throughout the game, the Nationals finally came through in the top of the 11th and escaped with a 2-1 victory over Milwaukee. In the process, they snapped a five-game losing streak and avoided falling to 20 games under .500 with only 12 left to play this season.

"Just a great win," manager Davey Martinez said. "The guys battled. We battled yesterday, and we're in a lot of these games. To finish a series like this, against a really good team, it feels gratifying."

This was shaping up to be an incredibly frustrating afternoon. The Nationals led 1-0 in the sixth, then gave up the tying run. They were in prime position to re-take the lead in the eighth, then blew that opportunity. They stranded a runner on second in the top of the ninth. They stranded a runner on third in the top of the 10th. They finished 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

MILWAUKEE – The Nationals made one change to their bullpen before today’s series finale against the Brewers and appear to be contemplating a change to their rotation in the coming days.

Needing a fresh arm after Trevor Williams’ two-inning start Saturday night taxed the bullpen, the Nats recalled Cory Abbott from Triple-A and optioned Amos Willingham back to Rochester.

“We just needed somebody with length,” manager Davey Martinez said. “It’s a stinky part of the job. I really like Willingham, wanted to see him more. But our bullpen’s been beat up, so we wanted to have two guys down there who can give us length in case something happens.”

Willingham was the first reliever summoned after Williams was knocked out early and wound up throwing 43 pitches over one-plus innings. The rookie right-hander wouldn’t have been available again for several days, so the team made the move to bring up Abbott, who tossed five hitless innings for Rochester five days ago and is available for long relief today if needed.

Though there’s still a chance Willingham could return to the big leagues before season’s end, this likely ends the 24-year-old’s rookie campaign, one that saw him start the year at Double-A Harrisburg and work his way up the organizational ladder.

MILWAUKEE – The Nationals have lost 15 of their last 19 games. A win over the Marlins way back on Aug. 26 left them only eight games under .500, and talk of a 75-win season was legitimate. A loss today, however, would drop them to 20 games under .500, and all of a sudden a 70-win season is no longer a sure thing.

They can help their cause this afternoon with a victory over the Brewers to avoid a series sweep, but it’s a tall task against Brandon Woodruff. The right-hander missed the majority of the season with a shoulder injury, but he’s been dynamite since returning last month. In nine total starts, he’s 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA, and he hasn’t allowed a run in either of his last two outings. Good luck to the Nats lineup today.

And good luck to Patrick Corbin, who is going to have to provide some length after Trevor Williams lasted only two innings and Davey Martinez had to ask a whole lot out of his bullpen Saturday night. Corbin was solid in Pittsburgh to begin this road trip, allowing two runs over 6 2/3 innings while striking out eight. But that came on the heels of back-to-back ugly showings against the Blue Jays and Mets, so who knows which version of the left-hander will show up today.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Where: American Family Field
Gametime: 2:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
DH Joey Meneses
1B Dominic Smith
3B Ildemaro Vargas
2B Luis García
C Drew Millas
LF Jake Alu
CF Jacob Young

MILWAUKEE – That the Nationals found themselves in this position tonight – tie game in the eighth inning – after the kind of start they got from Trevor Williams, was quite the surprise.

Truth be told, this game never should’ve been there for the taking, not after Williams needed an astounding 70 pitches to complete two innings and left his bullpen to pick up from there.

And yet, there it was, right there for the taking thanks to a yeoman’s effort from that bullpen and a lineup that scratched and clawed its way back from an early deficit to tie it up in the eighth.

Which perhaps only made the events that followed sting even more.

Kyle Finnegan, pitching for the first time in a week, loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, was one pitch away from getting out of the jam, then gave up the grand slam to Mark Canha that flipped this game right back to the Brewers, who wound up winning 9-5.

MILWAUKEE – The Nationals’ decision to demote Luis García to Triple-A in early August was grounded in a desire for the struggling second baseman to develop better pregame routines that would hopefully translate into better in-game results.

And when they made the decision to call Garcia back up from Rochester last week, the Nats seemed to be indicating he had taken that message to heart and was ready to see how it translated to the big leagues again.

Eight games in, though, Garcia’s results still don’t match the process. If anything, he’s producing less now than he did in his previous big-league stint.

Since his Sept. 8 recall, Garcia is a mere 2-for-22 at the plate. He has zero extra-base hits. He has drawn one walk while striking out five times.

“Since he’s been here, he’s worked super hard on everything,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He’s got a really good routine going. He’s doing everything we’ve asked him to do. The hits aren’t coming right now, but I’m happy that he’s going out there and really trying to compete and doing things we want. The hits will come.”

MILWAUKEE – The roof is closed at American Family Field – don’t you dare call it Miller Park! – because there’s a chance of rain this evening, so tonight’s game between the Nationals and Brewers will have a little different look and feel than Friday night’s series opener. Maybe that’s a good thing, because the Nats want to forget that game as much as they can.

The Nationals lineup faces another tall task tonight in Corbin Burnes, the Cy Young-winning right-hander who enters with a 3.47 ERA and 1.056 WHIP yet surprisingly hasn’t earned a win since July 20. In nine starts since, Burnes is 0-3 with a 3.43 ERA, done in not by his own performance but by his teammates’ lack of run support. That includes a July 31 game at Nationals Park when he gave up two runs over six innings, with the Nats ultimately winning 5-3.

On the other side, it’s another Trevor Williams start, and he’ll try once again to keep the ball in the yard. The right-hander has surrendered a league-leading 34 homers this season, 12 of those coming in his last six starts alone. Williams’ 5.44 ERA ranks 71st out of 77 major league starters with at least 130 innings pitched. If he struggles again tonight, you do wonder if he’ll get another chance to start before season’s end.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Where: American Family Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS

MILWAUKEE – Carter Kieboom was probably still thinking about his final at-bat of the night, the one that led off the top of the ninth, the one that saw him get ahead in the count 3-0 and then take what he thought was ball four from Devin Williams, only for Brian O’Nora to call it a strike and ultimately lead to a strikeout that changed the tenor of that inning.

It made for a frustrating conclusion to Friday evening for Kieboom, who appeared to have some words for O’Nora as he walked back toward the Nationals dugout. It should not, however, completely detract from everything else he did during the course of the game, his best game at the plate in a while.

“He thought that one pitch was a ball,” manager Davey Martinez said following a frustrating, 5-3 loss to the Brewers. “I haven’t looked at it yet. But he swung the bat really well today.”

Final at-bat aside, Kieboom indeed swung the bat much better Friday than he had in recent weeks. He doubled home a run in the first inning. He drew a walk in the fourth. He singled in the sixth. All told, Kieboom reached base as many times as he had in his previous seven games, totaling 22 plate appearances.

It’s a far cry from Kieboom’s first week back in the majors, during which he homered three times in his first 23 plate appearances and seemed to be telling the Nats he deserved another crack at the starting third baseman’s job he had squandered several times in past years before missing 2022 following Tommy John surgery.

MILWAUKEE – The way they jumped all over Wade Miley in the top of the first suggested this might be a good night for the Nationals’ recently slumping hitters.

And the way Jake Irvin kept posting zeros against the first-place Brewers suggested the rookie was headed for another fine night on the mound.

How, then, did all of that turn into a 5-3 loss at American Family Field?

It happened because the Nats lineup did virtually nothing at the plate after that impressive opening statement. And it happened because Irvin’s pitch count and inability to avoid giving Milwaukee free baserunners came back to haunt him during a killer sequence in the bottom of the fifth that flipped the entire game.

That four-run outburst by the Brewers did in Irvin, spoiling what was shaping up to be a big-time outing by the young right-hander. And because his teammates couldn’t do anything to support him or the relievers who followed to make up the slim deficit, the Nationals were left to suffer yet another loss during a September to forget.

MILWAUKEE – Tanner Rainey’s surgically repaired elbow feels strong. He’s made 12 appearances over the last month on a minor league rehab assignment, including back-to-back scoreless innings for Triple-A Rochester in recent days. He’s now more than 13 months removed from Tommy John surgery.

So why haven’t the Nationals activated the reliever off the 60-day injured list and brought him back to the big leagues yet?

“I talked to Tanner, and he’s still working on some things, mechanically,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He’s still going to stay down there, still going to pitch, work on some things.”

When Rainey began his rehab assignment in early August, the thinking was that he’d rejoin the major league bullpen sometime in early-to-mid September. And since the right-hander has crossed just about every pertinent item off his rehab checklist, it would seem the time has come.

But while the results have looked good, Rainey still doesn’t feel like he’s all the way back from the ligament replacement surgery he had in August 2022. His elbow feels great, he insists. But his velocity hasn’t yet returned to the upper 90s he used to throw, and he’s had trouble repeating his mechanics from outing to outing.

MILWAUKEE – A four-game series against the Pirates seemed like it would be just what the Nationals needed. Alas, it wasn’t. After winning Monday’s opener at PNC Park, the Nats dropped three straight, including Thursday’s 2-0 shutout played in record time. So now they have to hope to get back on track against a far more difficult opponent in the National League Central-leading Brewers.

Milwaukee enters with the NL’s best pitching staff (3.82 ERA, 1.185 WHIP). Washington enters having averaged only 3.5 runs on 7.2 hits and 2.6 walks over its last 17 games, during which time the team, unsurprisingly, has gone 4-13.

Somehow, this lineup is going to have to figure out how to string together some quality plate appearances and drive in some runs. That group will do so tonight against veteran left-hander Wade Miley, who is doing the best work of his career deep into his 30s. Over the last three seasons, he’s 21-13 with a 3.32 ERA.

Jake Irvin has surprisingly blossomed into the Nationals’ most consistently effective starter, and he’ll need to keep that up tonight against the Brewers. Over his last 15 starts, the rookie right-hander has a 3.59 ERA. The problem: He hasn’t been rewarded for his efforts, with only a 2-2 record and 11 no-decisions during that lengthy span.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Where: American Family Field
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 70 degrees, wind 9 mph in from right field

PITTSBURGH – Everyone involved ended up being OK, so they could laugh about it afterwards. But in the moment, it looked serious and scary.

During Jackson Rutledge’s ragged major league debut on Wednesday, the 24-year-old was most concerned about the 10 hits and seven runs he allowed. Little did he know he needed to be wary of friendly fire, too.

In the bottom of the fourth inning after drawing a one-out walk, Ji Hwan Bae took off to steal second base. Drew Millas, catching his good friend Rutledge’s debut, caught the pitch from the right-hander and popped up to attempt to throw Bae out.

Unfortunately, the ball never reached CJ Abrams covering the bag.

Instead, it ricocheted off the 6-foot-8 pitcher’s head as he attempted to duck out of the way and landed in right field, allowing Bae to advance to third.

PITTSBURGH – Josiah Gray’s last start came 11 days ago on Sept. 3 against the Marlins. He gave up three runs while throwing 86 pitches in just four innings at Nationals Park.

The Nationals decided to give their young starter a little bit of a reset while trying to get out of a bad funk he had been in since the start of August. Over his previous six starts, Gray pitched to an 8.49 ERA, which raised his season ERA from 3.27 to 4.13.

The extra rest and adjustments made in the meantime worked for Gray as he had his best outing since July. But a lack of run support – a familiar foe for Gray – couldn’t back up the strong start in a 2-0 loss to the Pirates in front of an announced crowd of 10,728. At 1 hour and 50 minutes, it was the shortest nine-inning game in Nationals history and tied for the fastest nine-inning game in the major leagues this season.

“Early strikes, first-pitch strikes, finish them off with my whole array of pitches," Gray said after the game. "Just getting ahead early worked a lot today and just believing in my stuff. Using the whole part of the plate. So it was a good day.”

“He was good," said manager Davey Martinez. "He attacked the strike zone. His direction was way better today. Overall, he threw the ball really well.”

PITTSBURGH – The Nationals made an early morning roster move before today’s finale against the Pirates: They returned from rehabilitation assignment and reinstated Thaddeus Ward from the 15-day injured list and optioned Joe La Sorsa to Triple-A Rochester.

Ward went on the IL on July 3 with right shoulder inflammation after appearing in 22 games out of the bullpen in his rookie season, posting a 7.12 ERA with 26 strikeouts. Over two months later, the 26-year-old Rule 5 draft pick was clearly happy to be back in a major league clubhouse.

“Oh yeah, I missed that,” Ward said while receiving a big hug from Ildemaro Vargas before speaking with the media. “It's good to be back. I'm happy I'm back healthy, stronger. I cleaned some things up and I’m excited about what's gonna happen here.”

Ward made six starts while on rehab assignment, posting a 3.52 ERA (nine runs in 23 innings) with 19 strikeouts and six walks between the Florida Complex League, High-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg. He last pitched on Sept. 8 at Altoona (Pirates), tossing five innings with two earned runs, three strikeouts and one walk.

“One of the things I needed to work on in terms of mechanically was kind of shortening up my arm path a little bit,” he said. “I had a tendency to stab down, and that's just not very good. Nobody likes that. So working on cleaning that up, making sure I'm not stabbing and just kind of being smooth through the arm motion. So it's one of the things I cleaned up and I've thrown a lot more strikes, getting ahead more often, kind of figuring out, well not figuring out, but kind of rediscovering who I am as a pitcher.”

PITTSBURGH – The Nationals have a chance to split this four-game series with the Pirates in this afternoon’s finale.

After Patrick Corbin pitched 6 ⅔ strong innings on Monday en route to victory, Joan Adon and Jackson Rutledge combined to pitch 7 ⅔ innings over the last two games, both losses.

So the Nats will turn to Josiah Gray to provide some length on the mound. The right-hander will make his first start in 11 days after the team gave him extra rest to reset after a tough stretch. In his last start on Sept. 3, Gray gave up three runs while throwing 86 pitches in just four innings against the Marlins. That was the latest in a stretch since the beginning of August in which he has pitched to an 8.49 ERA over his last six starts.

We’ll see how he does this afternoon against the Pirates, who he held to one run over six innings with six strikeouts back in April.

Mitch Keller is the first Pirates starter this week that we knew was scheduled to start beforehand, instead of finding out only a couple of hours before first pitch like the previous three games. The right-hander is 11-9 with a 4.23 ERA and 1.282 WHIP in 29 starts. He was one of two Pirates representatives in the All-Star Game, making this a pitching matchup of All-Stars.

PITTSBURGH – Jackson Rutledge seemed antsy when he walked into the Nationals clubhouse at PNC Park this afternoon. A major league debut can do that to a young pitcher.

The former first-round pick arrived in Pittsburgh just before last night’s game against the Pirates. He then spent the rest of the night and all day today anticipating his major league debut.

The nerves and adrenaline probably lingered up until his first pitch, as he was seen walking around the clubhouse pregame greeting his teammates and receiving congratulations. But it was also as if he couldn’t sit still in anticipation.

“Definitely a lot of pacing," Rutledge said of how he spent the day waiting for his debut. "Walking around the hotel just wanting my clock to start, wanting my routine to get going. Once I got here, things kind of went pretty smooth. Got to say hi to all the people, all my teammates and just do the usual routine. From there, it was just like it is any other outing.”

Hopefully, this isn't like any other subsequent outing because that nervous energy carried over into the game as Rutledge was clearly amped up for his first big league start. Erratic and unable to settle down, the seven runs he would allow proved too much for the Nationals to overcome despite a late rally in a 7-6 loss to the Pirates in front of an announced crowd of 9,883.

PITTSBURGH – The excitement continues for the Nationals at PNC Park as they prepare for Jackson Rutledge’s major league debut. The Nats officially recalled the big right-hander from Triple-A Rochester ahead of tonight’s third game of this series against the Pirates.

Rutledge, 24, was the Nationals’ first-round pick at No. 17 overall in the 2019 MLB Draft. Formerly the top prospect in the system, Rutledge is now ranked as the Nats' No. 7 prospect per Baseball America and No. 13 per MLB Pipeline.

In 23 starts this year between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester, Rutledge is 8-4 with a 3.71 ERA and 1.269 WHIP over 119 innings.

“One, I always forget how big he is. He's a big kid,” manager Davey Martinez said with a laugh of his 6-foot-8, 251-pound starter. “But I'm proud of him. He worked really hard to get up here. He did some really good things down in the minor leagues. He started putting them together this year really well, so he's gonna get an opportunity to go out and start today for us. He's got a mix of four good pitches. The big thing with him, I didn't talk too much about anything, but just hey, attacking the strike zone, as I do with all these young kids. Just go try to get strike one on every hitter and just have fun. I'm really looking forward to seeing him pitch.”

Fellow rookie Drew Millas will be behind the plate to catch Rutledge while making just his sixth major league appearance and third start. The two are familiar with each other from coming up in the minor league system together.

PITTSBURGH – It’s been an exciting day for the Nationals so far after they officially announced a multi-year contract extension with longtime general manager Mike Rizzo this morning. The excitement continues tonight with the debut of a top prospect.

Jackson Rutledge will make his major league debut tonight as the starting pitcher for the Nationals. The 2019 first-round pick, who dealt with various injuries to begin his professional career, is 8-4 with a 3.71 ERA and 1.269 WHIP in 119 innings over 23 starts this year between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester, his first time reaching the upper levels of the minor league system.

A former top prospect and currently the Nationals’ No. 7 prospect per Baseball America and No. 13 per MLB Pipeline, the big right-hander will be the 10th player and sixth pitcher to make his major league debut with the Nats this season. He follows Thaddeus Ward, Hobie Harris, Jake Irvin, Jake Alu, Amos Willingham, Jose A. Ferrer, Blake Rutherford, Jacob Young and Drew Millas.

The Nationals have optioned Mason Thompson to Triple-A Rochester to make room for Rutledge on the active roster.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: PNC Park
Gametime: 6:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 70 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center field

PITTSBURGH – The Nationals had not listed their starting pitcher for Wednesday’s game against the Pirates through the first two games of this series. And even though we had a pretty good assumption of who it would be, we now officially know who will take the mound at PNC Park tonight.

Jackson Rutledge will join the Nats to make his major league debut Wednesday, manager Davey Martinez announced after last night’s 5-1 loss.

“Rutledge is gonna start for us tomorrow,” Martinez said Tuesday. “So yeah, we'll get him going. Another young prospect of ours, we get him up here. Biggest thing for him is just go out there, try to have some fun and attack the strike zone.”

Rutledge was scratched from his scheduled start with Triple-A Rochester on Friday with no reason given. Back in D.C. that night, MacKenize Gore gave up four runs on three home runs in four innings against the Dodgers and was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left finger blister the following day, opening up a rotation spot for tonight and likely ending his season. The timing of Rutledge’s scratch was not a coincidence. At least not in how it relates to Gore.

"I think that it’s a coincidence that Rutch is going to take the mound today," said general manager Mike Rizzo during a Zoom meeting with reporters addressing his new multi-year contract extension with the Nats on Wednesday. "I'm happy about that. I'm happy about his progression and his development. I think he's earned the opportunity to pitch in the big leagues. It's gonna be fun to see him pitch a couple of times in the big leagues before this season ends.”

It took a few more weeks than initially hoped, but the Nationals and Mike Rizzo have finally agreed to a new deal that will keep the longtime general manager in charge of baseball operations into the next stage of the franchise’s rebuild.

The Nats formally announced a multi-year extension with Rizzo this morning, three weeks after they announced a comparable contract with manager Davey Martinez.

Though Rizzo’s deal wasn’t done at the time, he and the club had been in negotiations and believed they were on track to finalizing terms, according to a source familiar with the discussions. Those negotiations wound up taking longer than anticipated, with Martinez's two-year contract finalized first, a rarity in the sport.

"I was always confident it was going to happen," Rizzo said in a video conference with reporters. "It was just something that we never got around to getting the final deal done. As far as the timeline goes, I thought it was important to get Davey done, because the chemistry in the clubhouse, and a lame-duck manager with three months, is not the way you want to go through this thing. ... That had to be done, and I'm glad I got that done, sooner rather than later. I was always confident about my deal."

Rizzo, 62, will be back in his familiar role in 2024, but several other prominent and longtime confidants of his will not. Johnny DiPuglia, who led the team’s international scouting operation since 2009, resigned earlier this month. Kris Kline, who has run the team’s amateur scouting operation since 2009, has been re-assigned to a role as a special assistant to Rizzo who will focus more on professional scouting, a source familiar with the decision confirmed.