The Nationals are looking to win three of four games against the Mets, the hottest team in baseball. To do so in Monday’s late afternoon finale of this four-game wraparound series, manager Davey Martinez is trotting all four of his outfielders into the starting lineup.

James Wood will serve as the designated hitter against Mets starter Griffin Canning. Alex Call takes over left field while Jacob Young and Dylan Crews remain in center and right, respectively.

Wood has now been in the Nats’ starting lineup for all 29 games to start the season. But this will only be the fourth time he’ll serve as the DH, which has been a part of the team’s plans to keep the big outfielder fresh and healthy after he dealt with left quad tendinitis during spring training.

“As we know in spring training, he had a little (quad) issue. So every now and then, I want to try to get him a DH day,” Martinez said of Wood during his pregame media session. “I think he's played in every game this year. But I talked to him, and he loves to play. But I think in order to keep him healthy and keep him going, DHing him one day and keeping him off his feet is good.”

Wood has slashed .257/.361/.543 with a .904 OPS, a team-leading eight home runs and 10 RBIs. And while he has -1 Defensive Runs Saved, per FanGraphs, in left field, that is already a major improvement from the -7 he posted last year.

After two dramatic come-from-behind victories over the weekend, the Nationals are now in position to win three out of four games against the Mets, who entered this series with the best record in the majors while riding a seven-game winning streak.

On a picture-perfect afternoon in the District, the offense will look to score enough runs early so late-inning rallies won’t be necessary. To do that, they’ll have to get to right-hander Griffin Canning, who enters his sixth start of the season with a 3-1 record, 3.12 ERA and 1.385 WHIP, before getting another crack at the New York bullpen that can’t seem to hold these bats in check.

Or perhaps Trevor Williams and the Nats’ improving bullpen can shut down this Mets lineup one more time, negating the need for an offensive explosion. Williams is 1-2 with a 5.11 ERA and 1.581 WHIP in six starts so far this year. The right-hander is 3-2 with a 3.83 ERA and 1.441 WHIP in eight career starts against his former team, but did not face them last year.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB Network (out-of-market only), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 74 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
DH James Wood
2B Luis García Jr.
1B Nathaniel Lowe
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Dylan Crews
3B José Tena
LF Alex Call
CF Jacob Young

As much as the spotlight shone on the position players whose late offensive exploits helped the Nationals turn a six-run deficit into a thrilling, one-run win over the Mets on Sunday, Davey Martinez went out of his way early in his postgame press conference to praise his starting pitcher who departed with his team trailing 7-1.

“Look, say what you want with the first inning with Mitchell,” Martinez said. “If he doesn’t do what he does, I don’t even know how we’re going to put that together. Him going out there and giving us five innings like that was awesome.”

Mitchell Parker dug the Nationals into a massive hole with a disastrous first inning. He also quietly set the stage for all the drama that came later by not letting that disastrous first inning turn into anything worse.

During the course of a 43-pitch opening frame, Parker issued four walks, surrendered three singles and two sacrifice flies while letting the Mets score five runs. It was by far the worst inning by a Nats starting pitcher this season, and it left the team facing a monstrous, uphill climb.

Parker, who entered the day with a sparkling 1.39 ERA, clearly looked off as he tried to locate his pitches. Pretty much everything he threw landed far too high, or sometimes far too inside on right-handed batters.

It’s never been a question of effort. No matter how many games under .500 they were the last three seasons, the Nationals always showed an ability to get themselves back in games that felt lost. They always seemed to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth, giving their perpetually optimistic manager reason to be “proud of the boys for battling.”

At some point, though, those moral victories had to turn into actual victories. Battling back wasn’t going to be good enough forever. The Nats needed to prove they could get over the hump and finish the job.

So when they found a way to do it this weekend, not just once but twice against a division rival that happened to dominate them a year ago, there was a different feeling of satisfaction inside the home clubhouse on South Capitol Street.

“We’ve always been able to fight,” catcher Riley Adams said. “We’ve always been able to scratch and claw like that. We have great guys in the clubhouse, and everyone’s pulling for each other in these moments. It’s cool to see it pay off.”

Oh, did it pay off this weekend. Two days after storming back in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Mets in Friday’s series opener, the Nationals did it again this afternoon. In even more impressive fashion. Down six runs in the seventh inning, they stormed back to tie and ultimately beat the National League East leaders, 8-7, in dramatic, walk-off fashion.

Riley Adams knows the drill at this point. With Keibert Ruiz healthy and productive, and with plenty of off-days built into the Nationals schedule throughout April, there simply aren’t going to be many playing opportunities for the team’s backup catcher.

Adams today starts for only the fourth time in 28 games to begin the season. Ruiz has started the other 24, the most games played by any catcher in the majors to date.

If you’re looking for someone to complain about the arrangement, you’re not going to get it.

“There’s no awkwardness whatsoever,” Adams said. “We both have jobs to do. We both want to win games. We both want to get our pitchers through games and put zeros on the scoreboard. To me, it doesn’t matter who’s catching. We’re a collective.”

Adams has been through this for more than three seasons now. From 2022-24, he played between 41-48 games, taking between 130-158 plate appearances.

It seems that runs will be at a premium throughout this four-game series, given how good the Mets pitching staff has been as a whole and how good the Nationals rotation has been to date. We saw it in Friday night’s opener, aside from the eighth and ninth innings. And we certainly saw it Saturday in New York’s 2-0 victory, in which Francisco Alvarez’s early home run represented the entirety of the offensive output in the game.

On paper, today’s game looks like another pitchers’ duel. Mitchell Parker has quietly been one of the best starters in the majors to date, with a 3-1 record, 1.39 ERA and (get this) a 1.6 bWAR that leads all major league pitchers. The left-hander has been consistent, he’s provided length and he has kept damage to an absolute minimum. It would be a huge boost for the Nationals if he can continue that trend today.

Tylor Megill, meanwhile, has been outstanding in his own right, the owner of a 1.09 ERA through five starts. That number is maybe a bit misleading, because the right-hander has allowed four unearned runs to go along with three earned runs so far. But he’s still been very good, striking out more than a batter per inning. The Nats have got to find a way to hit the ball in the air against him, especially their left-handed bats, in an attempt to take advantage of the strong wind that’s blowing out to right field today.

NEW YORK METS 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: Sunny, 65 degrees, wind 18 mph left field to right field

METS
SS Francisco Lindor
RF Juan Soto
1B Pete Alonso
3B Mark Vientos
DH Starling Marte
LF Brandon Nimmo
C Luis Torrens
2B Luisangel Acuña
CF Tyrone Taylor

On a day in which they got another quality (if abbreviated) start from Brad Lord and then a bunch of zeroes from members of their bullpen who haven’t put up many of those this season, the Nationals gave themselves a golden opportunity to beat the best team in baseball for the second time in 24 hours.

Surprisingly effective pitching is great, but it does still take some modicum of offense to win a ballgame, and the Nats had very little of that during a 2-0 loss to the Mets on a rainy, then windy, Saturday on South Capitol Street.

Despite holding New York’s potent lineup in check aside from one early homer off Lord, the Nationals missed their chance to follow up Friday night’s inspired win with another one before a crowd of 33,867 that weathered two early rain delays followed by strong wind gusts during a day game that turned into a night game.

“You look at what’s going on, you think we’re going to snap out of it and get a couple of hits,” manager Davey Martinez said. “It just didn’t happen today with guys on base. We got some hits, but not any big hits, timely hits.”

The Nats totaled seven hits (all singles) and two walks against Clay Holmes and a quintet of Mets relievers. They took only two at-bats with runners in scoring position, both in the bottom of the seventh.

Scan the stat page and you’ll find that Lucas Sims, Eduardo Salazar and Colin Poche rank among the Nationals’ leaders in appearances as the season’s first month winds down. Then consider none of the three has pitched in at least four days, and you realize just how much Davey Martinez was counting on all of them earlier this month before each struggled.

Poche (owner of a 15.00 ERA and 3.333 WHIP in 10 games) hasn’t pitched since Tuesday. Salazar (owner of an 8.31 ERA and 2.192 WHIP in 11 games) hasn’t pitched since Sunday. Sims (owner of a 15.26 ERA and 2.609 WHIP in 12 games) hasn’t pitched since Saturday, a full week.

Nothing’s physically wrong with any of them, Martinez insisted today. He just hasn’t found the right situation to call upon any of them during this stretch.

“They’re good,” the manager said. “We sat up last night for a while and said they’ve got to get back in the game. I don’t want them sitting for a week. We’ll get them back in there.”

The hidden message in there: While the Nationals began the season counting on Poche, Salazar and Sims to pitch meaningful innings, their performances have dropped them out of contention for anything resembling high-leverage spots, of which there have been many over the last week while the team won five of its last seven games.

How wild was Friday night’s 5-4, walk-off win for the Nationals? So wild that a controversial triple play was like the No. 4 storyline of the game. That’s wild.

The Nats happily took that win, their fifth in their last seven games. They’re back to two games under .500 at 12-14, actually only a game behind the Phillies for second place in the NL East. All things considered, that’s not a bad place to be during the final weekend of April.

They’ll look to continue their winning ways later this afternoon with the second game of four against the division-leading Mets (weather permitting). It’ll be Brad Lord on the mound for his fourth major league start. He has yet to complete five innings or exceed 65 pitches, but hopefully his arm is ready for that kind of workload by now, because the Nationals could certainly use some length to take a little pressure off the bullpen.

After a decent showing Friday night against Kodai Senga, the Nats' lineup gets another tough challenge in Clay Holmes, the former Yankees closer who is now starting in Flushing. Holmes has actually seen his strikeout rate go up despite the move from the bullpen to the rotation, with an eye-popping 11.9 per nine innings so far this year. His walk rate is also up, though, to 4.6 per nine innings. The Nationals need to be patient today, something they haven’t necessarily done all that well this season.

NEW YORK METS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 74 degrees, wind 15 mph left field to right field

When we look back on it days, weeks, months, even years from now, Friday night’s 5-4 win over the Mets may seem like just an ordinary divisional victory for the Nationals. But those who watched and lived it know it was so much more.

After a 3-0 lead vanished in the eighth inning, what had started as a positive night had suddenly turned a heartbreaking one with the Nats down by one run with only six outs to go.

But the Nationals prevailed with a ninth-inning rally, thanks in large part to the bottom of the order and the team’s young stars. It was all capped off by the first walk-off hit of James Wood’s young career.

So much happened last night, it couldn’t possibly be processed in one post. Let’s take some time to revisit some of the finer points of the Nats’ best win of the season to date …

Jake Irvin shows toughness in strong start
Although it is easy to forget, we should remember that the Nats almost lost their starting pitcher to injury two batters into the game.

The Nationals’ home schedule has been difficult on paper to date. All five opponents who have come to D.C., including the Mets for this weekend’s wraparound series, entered the year with high aspirations of playing in October. And all five, with the exception of the Orioles, started today above .500.

The combined record of the Phillies, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Orioles and Mets entering today was 71-53, good for a .573 winning percentage. The Nats’ record against those first four daunting opponents: 7-5, good for a .583 winning percentage.

This young Nationals squad has done what they said they would do from the start of spring training: Show their stuff against the top dogs in the league.

And just when they thought their eighth victory against a tough opponent was snatched away from them, this young Nationals group put together a ninth-inning rally to walk off the Mets 5-4 in a truly wild game in the District.

“A little tick for tack,” said manager Davey Martinez after one of the craziest wins in his career. “I'm proud of the boys. They fought. We talk about that all the time. We played hard for 27 outs and we fought. Man, I'll tell you right now, CJ (Abrams, who scored the winning run) was hauling ass. He really was. I don't know how else to explain it, but that was awesome to see.”

Cade Cavalli took the mound for his second rehab start Thursday night while starting the season on the 15-day injured list and pitched to some very encouraging results.

Moved up to Double-A Harrisburg, the right-hander completed five scoreless innings with two hits, one walk and four strikeouts on an efficient 69 pitches, 43 of which were strikes.

“Very good. He threw the ball exceptionally well,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said ahead of his team’s opener against the Mets. “I think his average velo was up to about 96 (mph). He threw the ball really well. Curveball was very good. He was trying to land it for strikes; he did that very well. So he's just building himself up. He's doing well.”

Cavalli’s first rehab start, as he continues to build his way back from March 2023 Tommy John surgery, came on April 19 with Single-A Fredericksburg. On that night, he completed four shutout innings with one hit, two walks, three strikeouts on 46 pitches, 29 strikes.

When asked where he would like to see Cavalli’s fastball velocity to be during these rehab starts, Martinez referenced the famous signs at last year’s spring training that hung in the bullpen and read, “I don’t care how fast you throw ball four.”

After taking two of three from the Orioles, the Nationals welcome another familiar foe – and a couple of former friends – to D.C. in the Mets. This four-game wraparound series provides another difficult home test for the local ballclub.

The Mets are the fifth visiting team the Nats will face that entered the season with October aspirations as they hold the best record in the major leagues. And of course, Juan Soto returns to Nationals Park for the first time wearing a Mets uniform after signing to his record-breaking contract over the offseason.

Gotta beat the best to be the best.

Jake Irvin will take the mound for his sixth start of the season in Friday’s series opener. The big right-hander is coming off back-to-back strong starts in which he shut out the Pirates over seven innings and then struck out nine Rockies over 6 ⅓ frames.

The last time Irvin faced the Mets in this ballpark, he shut them out over eight innings of one-hit ball with eight strikeouts on the Fourth of July.

Just a few years ago, Cole Henry probably envisioned his first two weeks in the major leagues including several starts for the Nationals, perhaps one or two gems in there to set him on his way as a long-term member of the rotation.

It doesn’t always work out as planned, of course, but that doesn’t have to mean it can’t still work out in a positive – if unexpected – way.

Henry’s first two weeks in the big leagues didn’t include any starts, but rather four relief appearances. He twice closed out lopsided losses. Then he closed out a lopsided win Tuesday night. And then on Thursday, the 25-year-old right-hander found himself pitching in a high-leverage spot for the first time.

The Nats still lost the game 2-1 to the Orioles. But Henry’s performance in the top of the eighth and ninth, posting two more zeros, represented a big moment for the rookie, who with each passing day is growing to appreciate this new role as a major league reliever.

“I’m learning every day,” he said. “It’s definitely something different. But I’m up for the challenge. I like being out there, and pitching in those high-leverage spots is really fun. Hopefully I can keep doing it.”

The Nationals lineup tonight, at least on paper, looked as imposing as it has in a while.

CJ Abrams was back after a nearly two-week stint on the injured list. James Wood was back in the No. 3 slot, where ideally he could drive in more runners than himself. The bottom three (Josh Bell, Dylan Crews, Luis García Jr.) featured big names who often hit much higher up in the order.

If only that translated into offensive success once the game actually started.

Imposing or not, the Nats were rendered helpless at the plate tonight by Cade Povich and the Orioles bullpen, which dominated over the course of a 2-1 loss that denied the home team a shot at a rare series sweep over its interleague rivals.

MacKenzie Gore did his part on the mound, tossing six innings of two-run ball, but still was tagged with the loss due to a lack of run support from a lineup that has struggled lately to string together productive nights.

CJ Abrams was all smiles, bouncing around the Nationals clubhouse this afternoon as he prepared to play his first big league game in nearly two weeks.

“It feels good to be back,” the 24-year-old shortstop said. “The boys have been battling, and I’m ready to get in there with them and win some games.”

Officially activated off the 10-day injured list this afternoon, Abrams returns after missing time with a right hip flexor strain, confident that ailment (which he briefly tried to play through before going on the IL) will no longer be a factor.

“No pain. Nothing at all,” he said. “Running, swinging, anything. Everything is 100 percent.”

Abrams played in two rehab games with Double-A Harrisburg, going 0-for-4 with two walks and a sacrifice fly. He played six innings at shortstop Tuesday night, then all nine innings there Wednesday afternoon, emerging from the stint feeling healthy and ready to return.

The Nationals and Orioles have faced each other annually since 2006, and in all that time the Nats have swept only two three-game series from their interleague rivals (2018 at Camden Yards, 2021 at Nationals Park). So if they can pull it off tonight, it’ll be a rare occurrence, indeed.

They’ve won the first two games of this series with some outstanding starting pitching from Mitchell Parker and Trevor Williams. And now they’ve got their ace on the mound in MacKenzie Gore, coming off a dominant 13-strikeout start in Colorado last weekend. Baltimore has really struggled against lefties this season, so there’s a real opportunity for Gore to keep things going in the right direction and put together another stellar start … if he can throw strikes and not let anything negative spiral out of control on him.

The Nationals have also won the last two nights thanks in large part to early offense, thanks to three first-inning homers totaling five runs. And for the first time in nearly two weeks, they’ve got CJ Abrams back in the lineup. Abrams was officially activated off the 10-day injured list this afternoon, with Trey Lipscomb (not Nasim Nuñez) optioned to Triple-A Rochester.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB Network (out-of-market only), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 75 degrees, wind 10 mph right field to left field

ORIOLES
CF Cedric Mullins
C Adley Rutschman
SS Gunnar Henderson
1B Ryan Mountcastle
3B Jordan Westburg
LF Heston Kjerstad
RF Ramón Laureano
DH Ryan O'Hearn
2B Jorge Mateo

James Wood’s reaction the first time he found out he’d be leading off for the Nationals?

“Uh, I don’t know,” he admitted. “But whatever the manager thinks gives us the best chance to win, I’m OK with.”

Wood has been more than OK batting first. He’s been downright unstoppable.

With another big night Wednesday in the Nats’ 4-3 win over the Orioles, the 22-year-old left fielder further established his credentials as a big bat who can provide instant offense for his team.

Wood opened the bottom of the first with a towering, 431-foot blast to the second deck in right-center field at Nationals Park. The exit velocity on that home run: 116.3 mph, making it the hardest-hit homer by a Nats player in this ballpark since such things began getting tracked in 2015.

If Tuesday night’s blowout over the Orioles was a rare cakewalk win for the Nationals, this one felt all along like a walk across a lengthy tightrope, with no net visible down below.

Even after scoring three quick runs in the bottom of the first, the Nats found themselves in a tight contest, their bullpen unable to protect a two-run lead, the game ultimately decided in the eighth and ninth innings.

It’s the kind of pressure situation that has haunted this team too often during its rebuild. But all that experience may be starting to pay off. Even after blowing their slim lead tonight, the Nationals still felt like they were going to emerge victorious.

“We’ve hung in there with some really good teams, some teams that are supposed to be postseason teams,” closer Kyle Finnegan said. “We’ve proven to ourselves and to other people we can play with anybody. I think it’s big for the young guys to recognize that if we focus on what we can control, when we look up at the end of the game, we’ll be in it.”

The Nats were more than just in it tonight. They were indeed victorious, securing a 4-3 win over Baltimore thanks to Luis García Jr.’s go-ahead sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth and another good-enough top of the ninth from Finnegan, who closed out his ninth save in as many opportunities.

CJ Abrams should be back at Nationals Park on Thursday. Then, it’s just a question of whether the team will activate their All-Star shortstop off the 10-day injured list in time for their series finale against the Orioles or will wait for Friday’s series opener against the Mets.

Abrams, who has a right hip flexor strain, played his second rehab game today for Double-A Harrisburg, completing all nine innings while taking four plate appearances. This after he played six innings in the field Tuesday night and took three plate appearances.

His total offensive stats over these two games: 0-for-4 with two walks, a strikeout and a sacrifice fly.

“I think they were a little scared to pitch to him,” right-hander Michael Soroka, who pitched Tuesday as part of his own rehab assignment with Harrisburg, said with a laugh.

Of far more consequence than Abrams’ production was his ability to play 15 innings in less than 24 hours without any apparent physical issues.