Evan Lee could tell something wasn’t right Friday afternoon as he unleashed a string of eight consecutive balls, two of them wild pitches. He just didn’t know it was serious enough to motion to the Nationals dugout for a trainer.

“Just discomfort,” the left-hander said this morning. “And it kind of spiraled out of control.”

That it did. Tasked with pitching multiple innings in the opener of a doubleheader against the Phillies, Lee wound up throwing 33 pitches but only 11 strikes to eight batters. Only one run scored, but the bigger damage was to the left-hander’s arm, which he would eventually learn has a flexor strain.

He only learned that after manager Davey Martinez decided to make a mound visit, bringing director of athletic training Paul Lessard with him. Martinez didn’t know for sure Lee was injured, but he knew something was off.

“Just watching him and watching how he’s doing, I was trying to figure out what was going on,” the manager said. “Because he doesn’t miss the strike zone like that. When I went out there, he was very much like nothing was wrong. And I said: ‘Well, something’s got to be wrong. We want to get you checked out.’ And I’m glad we did.”

After an emotional Saturday at the ballpark, the Nationals have a quick turnaround to today’s series finale, with a rare 12:05 p.m. start time. It’s at long last the end of a 14-games-in-13-days stretch that has been brutal in so many ways, with eight straight losses at the moment. They have to find a way to get through today, then finally enjoy a day off before heading up to Baltimore on Tuesday.

It’s Jackson Tetreault making his second career start this afternoon, looking for better results than he had in his debut earlier in the week when he allowed seven runs in four innings to the Braves. The young right-hander does have some backup help today in the form of Cory Abbott, who was called up from Triple-A Rochester on Friday but has yet to pitch, so he’s good for several innings in relief of Tetreault if needed. The “A” bullpen of Carl Edwards Jr., Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey should all be available, as well, after being held out of Saturday’s extra-inning loss.

What would help more than anything, though, would be a big day at the plate against Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin. Juan Soto and Nelson Cruz simply have to start producing the way they’re supposed to produce. There’s no getting around that. We’ll see if it happens on another unseasonably cool summer afternoon with the wind blowing in.

Reminder: Today’s game is only available on the Peacock streaming service. It’ll be Jason Benetti (who once called Triple-A games for the Nationals in Syracuse) with the play-by-play, joined by Kevin Frandsen and Ruben Amaro Jr. on the broadcast.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 12:05 p.m. EDT
TV: Peacock
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 72 degrees, wind 16 mph left field to right field

The tears already had been welling up in his eyes before Ryan Zimmerman stepped to the microphone to deliver his speech to an adoring crowd at Nationals Park this afternoon. From the in-person tributes from 10 former teammates, to the taped tributes from a host of others, to a surprise video narrated by family members including his mother Cheryl, to the official unveiling of his name and No. 11 all alone on the façade of the third deck along the first-base line, Zimmerman had already run through the full gamut of emotions.

“This is by far the most nervous I’ve ever felt on this field,” he said as he began his remarks.

There would be plenty more tears and moments where Zimmerman needed to compose himself during a lengthy, but heartfelt, speech in which he made a point to thank everyone who made his career possible, from his childhood in Virginia Beach to his college days in Charlottesville to his big league debut in Atlanta to his final game in D.C. last fall.

“We all pretend to be this person when you’re little,” he said during a press conference prior to the ceremony. “But nobody ever believes it’s going to happen.”

He may never have believed it, but let’s be honest: From the moment he was drafted in June 2005, plenty of others around the Nationals did. For better or worse, he was preordained for greatness as the first star of the franchise. That he actually lived up to the billing is all the more impressive.

It’s going to be a special day at Nationals Park. If you’re coming to the game, get here early. If you’re not coming to the game, MASN will carry the entire Ryan Zimmerman jersey retirement ceremony, beginning at 3 p.m.

We’ll have plenty on that ceremony as the day plays out. As for the game … well, the Nationals are trying to snap a seven-game losing streak overall, an 11-game losing streak to the Phillies and a 12-game losing streak to National League East opponents. So, they could really use a curly W today.

They’ll have Josiah Gray on the mound for the first time in 10 days after his last start was scratched due to a long rain delay. He probably gives them their best chance for a long start all week, and they could certainly use one this afternoon, given the fact both Carl Edwards Jr. and Kyle Finnegan pitched both ends of Friday’s doubleheader, and Tanner Rainey warmed up in the opener and then pitched in the nightcap.

After facing a couple lefties on Friday, the Nationals will go up against veteran right-hander Aaron Nola, who enters with a league-leading 0.894 WHIP and 9.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. So the challenge is real for a Nats lineup that has been awfully inconsistent.

Update: The Nationals placed left-hander Evan Lee on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain, one day after he departed a game following a string of eight straight balls (two of them wild pitches). Davey Martinez considered that diagnosis "about as good as it could've been" and said he should be back within a few weeks. Andres Machado, who had been optioned to Triple-A Rochester on Friday, was immediately recalled to take Lee's spot in the bullpen.

A weekend of nostalgia commenced Friday night when Ryan Zimmerman was joined by four ex-teammates (Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche, Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa) atop the visitors’ dugout for a Q&A with Nationals fans who hung on the group’s every word and probably wished that event could just keep going on the rest of the evening instead of the actual game that began at 7:05 p.m.

It’s tough to be a Nats fan in 2022, and it’s probably going to continue to be tough to be a fan of this team for a while longer. So it may take more of this kind of nostalgia to bring a smile to everyone’s face.

Before today’s game, the Nationals will officially retire Zimmerman’s No. 11 jersey, the first such player in club history to receive that honor, though certainly not the last. You’ve got to assume No. 31 will stand alongside it a few more years down the road, perhaps No. 37 and/or No. 22 as well, depending on how things go.

It’s one of the few major milestones this franchise hasn’t experienced since arriving in town 17 years ago. There have been no-hitters and division clinchers, an All-Star Game and a World Series. Now there’s a retired number to unveil on the façade of the upper deck along the first base line.

And nobody else in team history would’ve sufficed to be the first.

This weekend is about Ryan Zimmerman, no doubt. As the Nationals get ready to retire his No. 11 tomorrow, all eyes are on Mr. National, the first player in the team's history to be so honored.

Former teammates Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche, Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa lined the top of the visitor’s dugout for a pregame Q&A session hosted by MASN’s own Bob Carpenter in front of a gathering of season ticket holders before Zimmerman himself showed up for the later portion.

The real celebration is tomorrow, but it was a nice way to kick off the special weekend.

Then there was a baseball game to be played, with the Nationals looking to avoid the doubleheader sweep at the hands of the Phillies and snap a six-game losing streak in the process. They weren’t able to do so, losing 8-7 in 10 innings in front of 24,785 people in attendance for an unbelievably whacky nightcap.

Let’s fast-forward to the extra frame. Kyle Schwarber was the automatic runner at second base for the Phillies. Steve Cishek walked Rhys Hoskins to put a second runner on base. A 3-1 groundout by Nick Castellanos moved the runners into scoring position for J.T. Realmuto.

The Nationals’ pitching woes have been front and center all week, and for good reason. Between injuries, a long rain delay and a bunch of ineffective starts, it has been a massive daily chore for Davey Martinez to simply squeeze nine innings from his staff, let along nine quality innings.

But let’s not discount the lineup’s role during the Nats’ current losing streak, which extended to six games this afternoon with a 5-3 loss to the Phillies in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.

The Nationals have scored an average of 2.7 runs during these last six games, making the games when the pitching staff has at least given them a chance unwinnable.

Such was the case on a scorching Friday afternoon on South Capitol Street, when fill-in starter Joan Adon was far from great but churned out five innings and gave his teammates an opportunity to emerge victorious, if only they could produce at the plate.

They could not. The Nats got an RBI double from Lane Thomas in the third, a two-run homer from Josh Bell in the sixth, and nothing more against Phillies starter Ranger Suárez and three relievers (including former closer Brad Hand, who pitched the ninth for the save).

If you thought this week was long already, Friday’s games aren’t even over yet. Let’s play two!

After this afternoon’s 5-3 loss to the Phillies, in which Joan Adon covered five innings on 97 pitches and Evan Lee covered one inning on 31 pitches, the Nationals will need a total team effort to snap this six-game losing streak. The pitching hasn’t been great and the offense came into today averaging 2.6 runs per game this week.

Paolo Espino gets the assignment for the nightcap, trying to provide the home team with as much length as possible as well as the Nats' first quality start since June 5. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA and 1.022 WHIP in 21 appearances this season. He’s making his second straight start after giving up just one run and four hits with two strikes over 3 ⅔ innings against the Brewers. He threw 53 pitches on Sunday, so he’ll be pushed beyond that tonight.

The Phillies are calling up 25-year-old Bailey Falter from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to start tonight. In six major league appearances this season, the left-hander is 0-2 with a 4.20 ERA and 1.467 WHIP. In his two starts, he is 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA and 1.565 WHIP. Falter has been fantastic at Triple-A, however, pitching to a 1.54 ERA and 0.686 WHIP in five starts with Lehigh Valley.

Tonight officially kicks off Ryan Zimmerman Weekend here at Nationals Park. Gates open for all fans around 6 p.m. There are on-field and social media Q&A sessions with former players at 6 p.m. and an on-field Q&A session with Zimmerman at 6:20 p.m. Plus, the first 25,000 fans age 21+ will receive a Ryan Zimmerman Employee No. 11 T-shirt.

Needing a fresh arm to help get them through today’s day-night doubleheader, the Nationals recalled right-hander Cory Abbott from Triple-A and optioned reliever Andres Machado to Rochester.

Abbott was today’s scheduled starter for Rochester in Scranton, so he’s available for length should the Nats need it either in relief of Game 1 starter Joan Adon or nightcap starter Paolo Espino.

“The biggest thing was bringing up a guy who could give us multiple innings if need be,” manager Davey Martinez said.

Abbott, 26, has big-league experience, pitching seven games last season for the Cubs, allowing 13 earned runs on 20 hits and 11 walks over 17 1/3 innings. The Giants acquired him in April, then the Nationals claimed him off waivers in May and sent him to Triple-A to pitch as both a starter and reliever.

In six games spanning 13 innings for Rochester, Abbott allowed 13 runs on 17 hits, walking nine but striking out 18.

It’s going to be a long, hot day of baseball at Nationals Park, where the Nats and Phillies are scheduled to play a doubleheader. First game at 1:05 p.m., then the nightcap at 7:05 p.m.

Obviously, the Nationals need some length from their starter after a brutal week for the rotation. Joan Adon gets the ball, only 10 days after he was sent down to Triple-A Rochester with a 1-10 record and 6.95 ERA. This will likely be a one-and-done start for the rookie, who is the designated 27th man for the doubleheader, but he can help his cause with a solid outing this afternoon against a tough Phillies lineup.

After struggling against ace Zack Wheeler on Friday night, the Nats get a chance against left-hander Ranger Suárez today. That means Lane Thomas is back at the top of the lineup, in front of César Hernández and Juan Soto. Riley Adams gets the nod behind the plate, with Keibert Ruiz scheduled to catch the nightcap.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 94 degrees, wind 14 mph out to right field

NATIONALS
LF Lane Thomas
2B César Hernández
RF Juan Soto
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Josh Bell
3B Maikel Franco
SS Luis García
C Riley Adams
CF Victor Robles

The longest, toughest homestand that would never end continues today with a day-night doubleheader, a byproduct of the opening week of games that was lost when Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association couldn’t finalize their new collective bargaining agreement in time to start the season as scheduled.

The Nationals actually won the first two games of this 11-game homestand, beating the Brewers behind some offensive firepower. But since then they’ve lost five in a row, including Thursday night’s blowout loss to the Phillies.

So that leaves four more games over the next three days, with two on tap today. First up is Joan Adon vs. Ranger Suárez at 1:05 p.m. Then comes Paolo Espino vs. Bailey Falter at 7:05 p.m.

What kind of shape is the Nationals pitching staff in at this point? It’s not great. That’s what happens when your starters combine for only 19 2/3 innings during this five-game losing streak. Yes, on average they’ve been getting fewer than four innings from their starters during this stretch.

Given all that, manager Davey Martinez suggested after Thursday night’s loss the team might need to bring in another fresh arm before today’s game. Adon will serve as the 27th man for the doubleheader, so any other roster additions would have to be accompanied by roster reductions.

That the Nationals are losing games at this rate, though disappointing and frustrating, is not necessarily surprising. This week – with eight games in seven days against the red-hot Braves and Phillies – always loomed as a potential landmine for an overmatched home ballclub.

What is so striking about recent events here is not that the Nats are losing so much, but that they’re losing by so much. Tonight’s 10-1 trouncing at the hands of the Phillies should be an outlier, a rare lopsided game. Instead, it is the absolute norm for this team.

Over their last 17 games, a stretch that began May 30 in New York, the Nationals have trailed at some point by five or more runs a staggering 11 times. They’ve trailed by seven or more runs seven times. And with tonight added to the list, they’ve now trailed by nine or more runs four times.

They’re not just playing bad baseball. They’re playing uncompetitive baseball, facing deficits too large to contemplate overcoming before even reaching the fifth inning many nights.

"You usually try to stay mentally tough and locked in, no matter what the circumstance, if you fall behind early," second baseman Cesár Hernández said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "We have had a few games, but we have the talent to fight and get back in the games. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to lately. But the talent is on the field."

Needing to get through the final leg of a brutal 14-games-in-13-days stretch, the Nationals have decided to recall Joan Adon from Triple-A Rochester and start the right-hander in the opener of Friday’s doubleheader against the Phillies.

Paolo Espino will start the nightcap, making left-hander Evan Lee available to pitch out of the bullpen whenever needed.

The choice of Adon may come as a surprise to those who just saw the Nationals demote the rookie eight days ago after he went 1-10 with a 6.95 ERA in 12 starts to begin the season, but the club was in a dire enough situation to necessitate his recall.

With 18 scheduled innings on tap Friday, the Nats were reluctant to use a pair of starters (Espino and Lee) who haven’t been extended yet to throw more than five innings at best. Adon, who reached the sixth inning in three of his starts, is good to throw at least 90 pitches, taking some pressure off the bullpen for the doubleheader.

“Adon’s been stretched out, so we’re going to pitch him in Game 1,” said manager Davey Martinez, adding that Adon will be the designated 27th man for the doubleheader, suggesting he’ll be sent back to Rochester after the game.

The National League East has not been kind to the Nationals so far in 2022. At this point, they’ve gone an atrocious 5-20 against division foes this season, including nine straight losses to the Mets, Marlins and Braves. And tonight they face a red-hot Phillies club for the first time in the opener of a rare five-game series on South Capitol Street.

Having just been beaten up by the Braves, the Nats must now try to find a way to contain an explosive Phillies lineup that ranks second in the NL in homers and third in OPS. It’s imperative that Patrick Corbin keep the ball in the yard tonight, and he has actually been better at that this year, with only nine homers surrendered in 13 starts (after giving up a club record 37 in 31 starts last year).

Above all else, Corbin needs to provide innings. Like Erick Fedde on Wednesday night, Corbin will be throwing 100-110 pitches no matter what. It’s only a question of how many innings he can stretch those pitches into in advance of Friday’s day-night doubleheader.

Juan Soto returns to the lineup tonight after missing the last two games with bruised right knee.

Zack Wheeler, who since signing with the Phillies in 2020 has developed into one of the most consistently effective starters in the league, gets the ball tonight. The Nationals actually had some success against him last season, though, beating him three times in six starts while scoring 18 runs in 36 2/3 innings.

As soon as it was placed on the schedule, this was always a possibility. You just have to hope that everything goes well leading up to it.

Once Major League Baseball released the updated 2022 schedule after the first week of the regular season was canceled due to the lockout, the Nationals must have circled this weekend on their calendar.

One of the two games against the Phillies that was originally scheduled for early April was rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader on Friday, the back end of an 11-game homestand over 10 days. Not to mention it’s Ryan Zimmerman Weekend at Nationals Park.

So yeah, a long weekend.

On the field, the Nationals need help for and from their pitching staff to get through these next five games.

This week hasn’t been pleasant to the Nationals. After starting this homestand with two big wins over the Brewers, it’s been all downhill since.

Looking to avoid their third sweep in as many weeks, the Nationals dropped another dud in the form of an 8-2 loss to the Braves in front of 21,153 fans at Nationals Park.

The Nats had nothing going against Braves starter Spencer Strider. The rookie brought his good stuff to his fourth straight start, putting away hitters with his triple-digit fastball and sharp slider.

Strider’s fastball averaged 98.8 mph and topped out at 100.9 mph, with the Nats swinging late on it all night. Then the slider was a great putaway pitch as it was thrown for strikes 43 percent of the time.

“He was good. He hit 100-101 (mph)," manager Davey Martinez said after the game. "But more so his breaking ball was good and he threw it for strikes. When a guy's like that, he's tough locating his fastball. He was tough."

The Nationals have already had a rough start to the week with Stephen Strasburg’s injury news, a worn out bullpen and three straight losses at home, including the first two games of this three-game set against the Braves. The last thing they need is for their best player to miss time due to a freak injury in the dugout.

But that’s exactly what they have as Juan Soto is not in the starting lineup for the second straight game after slipping in the dugout and banging his right knee on the corner of a bench in the eighth inning of Monday night’s game.

Soto was seen in the Nationals clubhouse before batting practice walking around with a slight limp in his step. He was going to test it out in the cage before making a decision on whether or not he would play, even though he told manager Davey Martinez he’s feeling better.

“He says he feels better, but we'll see,” Martinez said during his pregame session with the media before a starting lineup was announced.

What do the Nationals want to see Soto do before putting him back in the field?

Well, this week has not started off well for the Nationals. After starting this 11-games-in-10-days homestand with two impressive wins against the Brewers over the weekend, the Nats have dropped three straight by a combined score of 23-10, including the first two games of this series against the division rival Braves. Not to mention all of the injury and roster news from the past 48 hours …

As they look to avoid a three-game sweep, the Nats will turn to Erick Fedde to be the stopper, something he actually has done a handful of times this season. The Nationals have won seven of the 12 games Fedde has started this season, with the right-hander going 4-4 with a 4.87 ERA. Of those seven wins, five of them were the only victories the Nationals secured in those respective series (against the Mets, Pirates, Rockies, Astros and Dodgers). And his most recent start against the Brewers stopped a three-game losing streak after the Nationals were swept out of Miami last week.

He’ll try to do it again tonight.

The Braves will send one of the National League’s best rookies in Spencer Strider to the mound for just his fourth start in his 15th appearance this season. The 23-year-old right-hander is 2-2 with a 1.122 WHIP and 2.35 ERA, which is third-best among qualified major league rookies. Strider’s three starts have come in his last three outings, over which he allowed four earned runs in 14 innings while striking out 20 and issuing just eight walks. He gave up one run on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings of relief against the Nats on April 11 in Atlanta.

Juan Soto is not in the lineup for the second straight game. The star right fielder slipped in the dugout and banged his right knee on the corner of a bench in the eighth inning of Monday night’s game. Manager Davey Martinez told reporters yesterday Soto’s X-ray came back clean, but today said the knee is still sore. Martinez also said during his pregame media session that Soto could be available off the bench.

Reed Garrett got the call around midnight on Tuesday, having only just arrived in Scranton, Pa., with his Triple-A Rochester teammates a few hours earlier. The Nationals were calling him and fellow reliever Francisco Perez up, and because there weren’t any good flight options, his best bet was to rent a car and make the four-hour drive to Washington.

So it was that Garrett found himself behind the wheel, with Perez riding shotgun, on the road to D.C., then eventually into Tuesday night’s game against the Braves. It may have sounded like a stressful trip to some, but for the 29-year-old right-hander, it sure beat the travels he endured the last two seasons.

“Reflecting on it, it’s been a wild journey,” he said. “But it’s all been worth it.”

The journey began in Henrico, Va., where Garrett was born. It included life growing up in the Richmond area rooting for the Braves, though he believes the first major league game he ever attended was at RFK Stadium to see the Nationals.

A 16th round pick of the Rangers in 2014 out of Virginia Military Institute, Garrett would be selected by the Tigers in the 2019 Rule 5 draft and make his major league debut that season, only to be sent back to Texas after 13 disappointing appearances.

Jackson Tetreault found himself standing on the mound at Nationals Park at 7:06 p.m., a 26-year-old, seventh-round pick in the 2017 draft realizing a lifelong dream, starting a big league game. And when the right-hander proceeded to strike out Braves leadoff man Ronald Acuña Jr. on a high, 97-mph fastball, the impossible seemed possible, if only for a fleeting moment.

That moment indeed was fleeting, because the Acuña strikeout was followed by a no-doubt Dansby Swanson homer to left, which was followed by another run an inning later, which was followed by five more runs (including two more homers) the inning after that, leaving the Nats in a big hole they wouldn’t escape en route to a 10-4 loss.

"Early on, I just made sure I looked around, took it all in, said hi to the family, all that," Tetreault said. "But after that, it was good. Obviously not the result I was looking for, but I'm not going to shy away. I'm eager to get back out there and throw again. Just happy to get the first one under my belt. An awesome experience."

That Tetreault, who isn’t listed among the organization’s top prospects, found himself in this situation was more a reflection of the drastic pitching predicament the Nationals found themselves in than of his particular resume. After Stephen Strasburg went on the 15-day injured list with a stress reaction in his ribs and Josiah Gray had to be scratched from Monday night’s start after warming up just before a lengthy rain delay, the Nats simply needed somebody to start this game capable of throwing 90 or more pitches.

And with their higher-ranked prospects all off-schedule, the call was placed to Tetreault, who last started for Triple-A Rochester on Thursday and thus was good to go.