Finally back home, the Nationals are feeling the effects of their 10-game road trip that took them to four different cities in 11 days.

Lane Thomas was scratched from manager Davey Martinez’s original lineup for tonight’s homestand opener against the Marlins after he still felt stiffness in his back. The right fielder was replaced by Alex Call in the seventh inning of yesterday’s loss to the Blue Jays after telling his manager he felt his back tighten up on him during the game, which Martinez said three days playing on artificial turf can do.

“We just scratched him,” Martinez said during his pregame media session. “He's still a little bit tight, so I don't want to take a chance. He's gonna get worked on and hopefully, he's available to pinch-hit.”

Everyone else in the lineup moved up the order, putting Joey Meneses in Thomas’ usual No. 2 spot behind leadoff man CJ Abrams. Against Marlins lefty Braxton Garrett, the Nats have Jake Alu in left field, Jacob Young in center and Alex Call in right.

Martinez wasn’t prepared to definitely announce his lineup during his pregame press conference, but he was prepared to announce Josiah Gray will start Sunday’s finale after the right-hander threw his routine bullpen session today.

After a successful 5-4 road trip, the Nationals have returned home to begin a nine-game homestand, starting with four games this weekend against the Marlins.

A team they have struggled to beat since the start of last season, the Nationals finally won a series against the Fish, taking two of three against their division rivals in Miami last weekend. While the Nats have been winning over the last two months (29-19 in their last 47 games), the Marlins have been falling down the standings by dipping below .500 for the first time since May with a loss to the Rays last night.

Joan Adon will get his second start against the Marlins in less than a week. He impressed Friday by completing six shutout innings with no walks and three hits while earning just his third major league win. The young right-hander will try to reverse his fortunes at home tonight: He has a 10.29 ERA over two starts at Nationals Park compared to a 2.25 ERA in his two road starts.

Braxton Garrett will also get his second chance at the Nationals in less than a week, as he was Adon’s opposition last week in Miami. The left-hander turned in a quality start with three runs over six innings, but that was enough to charge him with the loss. He tossed six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts here back in June.

There was a pregame roster move to report: The Nationals placed MacKenzie Gore on the bereavement list and recalled Joe La Sorsa to the active roster. Gore was possibly in line to start Sunday if the Nats decided to give Josiah Gray extra rest after his bullpen session tomorrow. If not Gore nor Gray for Sunday, they could use a bullpen game instead, especially with rosters expanding to 28 players tomorrow.

TORONTO – Some assorted news and notes coming out of the finale of the Nationals’ four-city, 10-game road trip …

* Carter Kieboom was called up from Triple-A Rochester the day the trip began, way back on Aug. 20 in Williamsport, Pa. He didn’t appear in that game but was in the lineup the following night at Yankee Stadium and homered on the first pitch he saw in the majors in nearly two years.

Kieboom would go on to start seven of the remaining nine games of the trip, sitting once in New York and once in Toronto. He would hit two more homers and finish 7-for-26 with a double, three homers, five RBIs and six strikeouts.

In five of those games, though, Kieboom was pulled either in the eighth or ninth inning for defense. Davey Martinez, wanting to give his team its best chance at closing out wins, has had Ildemaro Vargas finish games at third base, a move that notably paid off Tuesday night when Vargas made a tough play on a slow bouncer with the bases loaded.

Martinez is prioritizing defense, but he also has been protecting Kieboom, who missed all of 2022 following Tommy John surgery and then missed more time this season with shoulder trouble stemming from his rehab from the major elbow procedure. That will probably remain the case for the time being, which Kieboom understands, even though he insists his arm feels strong now.

TORONTO – They left Washington some 10 days ago, bound for the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pa. They’ll finally return home tonight, having played games in four cities across four states and two countries.

Along the way, the Nationals promoted their top pick from this year’s draft to Double-A, agreed to a new contract with their manager, worked toward a new deal with their general manager, saw a burgeoning young outfielder break his leg and learned their onetime ace has made the decision to retire because he couldn’t get his arm healthy again.

They also won more games than they lost, putting themselves on the verge of completing one of their best months of baseball in nearly four years.

The Nats lost to the Blue Jays today, 7-0, failing to pull off a sixth consecutive series victory. Patrick Corbin reverted back to the form that has been on display too much over the last three seasons, and a tired lineup was shut down by Chris Bassitt.

But as they pack up and finally prepare to head home after the longest road trip of the year, it’s impossible for the Nationals to view the overall situation around here as anything but positive.

TORONTO – When the Nationals put out their rotation plan for this weekend’s series against the Marlins, Josiah Gray’s name was listed for Sunday’s finale at Nationals Park. Asked about that, though, Davey Martinez admitted that may not remain the plan.

“I’m going to be honest with you: That could change,” the manager said today. “We’re going to treat it as if he’s going to start on Sunday. He’s going to go through his bullpen work. But I’m going to be out there and watch him through his bullpen. If I see any red flags or anything, then we might do something different.”

Gray just wrapped up a disappointing month, one in which he went 0-3 with an 8.44 ERA and failed to complete four innings in three of his five starts. It reached a low point Monday night against the Blue Jays when the right-hander was pulled after throwing 63 pitches in only two innings, allowing four runs on four hits and four walks.

After that game, Martinez suggested the Nationals might need to look at giving Gray a break, or at least some extra rest after this stretch has derailed what was a breakthrough, All-Star season for the 25-year-old.

For now, they’re still tentatively planning to send him to the mound Sunday afternoon to face the Marlins on five days’ rest. But that plan will remain tentative until Gray throws his Friday bullpen session in front of Martinez and pitching coach Jim Hickey.

TORONTO – It’s a dreary Wednesday here north of the border, so the roof at Rogers Centre will probably be closed for the first time this series as the Nationals and Blue Jays face off one more time. A win today for the Nats would incredibly make it six consecutive series won, eight of their last nine.

And if it’s a matinee series finale, that means Patrick Corbin is pitching, a product of the six-man rotation that has been used for several weeks now. Not that Corbin has been bothered by it. Quite the contrary, he’s been quite good this month, going 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA, the Nats winning three of his four starts. And the left-hander continues to pitch well against American League foes, going 4-0 with a 1.73 ERA against the Mariners, Rangers, Red Sox and Yankees this summer.

After getting a pair of big home runs Tuesday night from Carter Kieboom and Keibert Ruiz, the Nationals will try to keep the offense going today against Chris Bassitt, the former Athletics and Mets right-hander who enters 12-7 with a 4.00 ERA, having surrendered five homers over his last 24 2/3 innings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Where: Rogers Centre
Gametime: 3:07 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
1B Joey Meneses
DH Keibert Ruiz
3B Carter Kieboom
LF Jake Alu
3B Ildemaro Vargas
C Riley Adams
CF Jacob Young

TORONTO – Jacob Young veered slightly in and slightly to his right, calling off his left fielder to catch Daulton Varsho’s fairly routine fly ball to center for the second out of the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday night, looked up and saw Alejandro Kirk take off from third and came to a quick conclusion.

“There’s no one else on base,” he said. “So you can kind of let it fly.”

And let it fly he did. Standing 297 feet from the plate at the time he made the catch, Young fired a perfect strike to catcher Keibert Ruiz, who hauled it in and tagged the unsuspecting Kirk a split-second before his foot crossed the plate, all the while making sure not to block the runner’s path and risk getting called for obstruction.

Thus did the Nationals pull off a thrilling 8-2 double play to end the eighth with a two-run lead intact, the emotional high point of a 5-4 victory over the Blue Jays that also included a dramatic ninth-inning escape by closer Kyle Finnegan.

The ninth-inning jam made for the most harrowing moment of the night, but Young’s throw one inning prior was the moment everyone in the visitors’ clubhouse at Rogers Centre most wanted to talk about afterward.

TORONTO – While they’re certainly doing everything they can to try to keep winning as many games as they can, the Nationals are still using the final month-plus of this ever-encouraging season to evaluate young players who could (or already do) fit into the long-term plan around here.

When both sides of the equation come together like they did tonight in a tense, 5-4 victory over the Blue Jays, it’s a win-win for the organization.

"We're playing the best ball we've been playing all season," said closer Kyle Finnegan, who survived a harrowing bottom of the ninth. "For the young guys to be a part of it, and to see they can contribute to a playoff-type atmosphere, is great for them."

The Nationals not only bounced back from rare back-to-back losses and gave themselves a shot at a sixth consecutive series victory Wednesday afternoon. They did so thanks to the contributions of young players, two of them key pieces to the rebuild, one of them a surprising potential addition to the list after he seemingly had been written off, the other a recent call-up who made his presence known tonight with a big-time moment in the field.

MacKenzie Gore overcame a laborious first few innings to finish strong, allowing just one run over five innings to emerge with the win. Keibert Ruiz’s three-run homer proved the difference. Carter Kieboom’s two-run homer added another chapter to the third baseman’s growing comeback campaign. And Jacob Young’s 300-foot strike from center field to the plate completed a brilliant double play to end an eighth inning that was about to turn south on the Nats.

TORONTO – Jake Alu tries not to stress about it. He knows when he arrives at the ballpark on any given day, he could be playing any one of three different positions on the field. Or not be playing at all. At this point, there’s no sense overanalyzing it.

“I don’t really think about that too much,” he said. “It’s more like: Whatever I am that day, just go out there and get it done.”

That’s exactly the kind of attitude that has convinced the Nationals to use Alu as a true utilityman despite his extremely limited amount of big league experience. These kinds of jobs are usually reserved for veterans who already know how to succeed in the majors, not rookies with barely one month of service time.

Alu, though, has taken well to his unusual assignment. Tonight, he makes his eighth start of the season in left field, one night after he made his 12th start at second base, having also played in three games at third base.

“You’ve got to embrace it,” manager Davey Martinez said. “And he’s done it really well.”

TORONTO – The Nationals have won five series in a row. They had also won three series openers in a row before dropping Monday night’s game to the Blue Jays. And they haven’t lost three games in a row since early July, when they were swept in a four-game series by the Reds and then lost the following day to the Rangers before embarking on this current 27-17 run.

So this has surprisingly become unfamiliar territory for the Nats, looking to bounce back and recapture control of a series. They’ll attempt to do that tonight, looking to take an early lead on José Berríos and then get a quality start out of MacKenzie Gore.

Gore was not good in his last outing, surrendering a pair of homers (including a grand slam) to Aaron Judge at Yankee Stadium and departing after 80 pitches in four innings. He was hurt by his defense that night, but he didn’t pick up his teammates when he had the chance. And he expects more of himself.

Though they needed to use four relievers to cover six innings Monday, the Nationals bullpen should be in decent shape if Gore can go at least five innings, preferably six. Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey and Mason Thompson are all fresh, with Finnegan having not pitched since Saturday and Harvey having been off since Friday. 

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Where: Rogers Centre
Gametime: 7:07 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 69 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center field

TORONTO – Early this season, when the prospect of hitting a home run felt like the toughest challenge in the world, Joey Meneses tried to remember there were other ways to be a productive offensive player.

“We talked a lot the beginning of the year about him wanting to hit more home runs,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said. “But I told him: ‘Look, you’re driving in runs, and that’s really important. The home runs will come.’ Which they did. But more so than that, he’s become that clutch RBI guy for us.”

The homers did come in a brief spurt earlier this summer, with Meneses hitting nine of his 11 in a 26-game span from July 7-Aug. 8. But for the most part, the 31-year-old designated hitter has needed to turn to a different skill to feel like he’s fully contributing to the team’s cause: Driving runners in from scoring position.

Meneses continues to excel in that department, and he was up to his old tricks again Monday night, delivering an RBI single in the first and a two-run double in the fifth to account for all of the Nats’ runs during a 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays.

Those were the Nationals’ only two hits in 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position, a frustrating fact about a frustrating loss. But it was merely a continuation of the job Meneses has been doing all season, even when he’s not hitting for power.

TORONTO – It would be one thing if this dud of a start from Josiah Gray came out of nowhere, if it was a surprising blip on an otherwise clean radar and could be brushed off as simply a bad night.

Unfortunately, this felt more like the inevitable low point of a bad month for the Nationals’ young right-hander, who lasted only two innings while allowing four runs and digging his team into an early hole it could not escape during an eventual 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays.

Unable to find the strike zone with any consistency, and unable to pitch his way out of jams the way he did earlier this season, Gray wasn’t even given the opportunity to try to right his ship this time. Davey Martinez turned to his bullpen early in hopes of keeping the game close.

"I just didn't have it today," Gray said. "I feel for the guys in the bullpen. Having to cover six innings is never easy. I just feel for those guys. Obviously, want to continue to throw the ball out there and keep the team somewhat in the game. But I just didn't have it today."

The bullpen did keep the deficit within striking distance. The Nats lineup, though, couldn’t make the most of early scoring opportunities against Kevin Gausman, going 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and then getting shut down completely by the Toronto bullpen.

TORONTO – Drew Millas was on the trainer’s table in Rochester, getting ready for Thursday’s game, when Nationals director of player development De Jon Watson called with a quick question: “Do you have your passport with you?”

Millas affirmed he did, then Watson hung up, leaving the Triple-A catcher wondering what that was all about.

He would get the news a short while later: The Nats wanted Millas to meet them in Miami in case they needed to add him to the active roster, and then to continue with them to Toronto after that. Hence the passport question.

So tonight, the 25-year-old found himself in the visitors’ clubhouse at Rogers Centre, a No. 81 jersey waiting for him as he makes his major league debut. The Nationals officially purchased his contract, optioning outfielder Blake Rutherford to Rochester and transferring reliever Carl Edwards Jr. to the 60-day injured list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for the rookie catcher.

For Millas, who hit a robust .342 at Double-A Harrisburg to begin the season and earn a promotion to Triple-A, where he produced a .766 OPS, this is the culmination of a long and rewarding trek.

TORONTO – Hello from Rogers Centre, up here north of the border. The Nationals are making their first trip to Canada since 2018, having technically played road games against the Blue Jays in both 2020 and 2021 even though both series were played at alternate sites due to COVID travel restrictions (2020 at Nationals Park, 2021 in Dunedin, Fla.).

This is the final leg of a four-city trip for the Nats that began eight long days ago in Williamsport, Pa., then continued to New York and Miami. They’ve gone 5-2 so far, so even if they got swept here they’d still head home with a .500 record. Not that anyone wants that to be the outcome.

You would think the Nationals will need to score a few more runs than they did in Miami, because Toronto’s lineup is more potent. The Nats have Keibert Ruiz back in the lineup, batting cleanup and catching for the first time since Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. They’ve also got three catchers on the roster for the first time this season, officially promoting Drew Millas from Triple-A Rochester.

Josiah Gray gets the start, hoping for similar success to that he had at Yankee Stadium (one run, one hit) while being a bit more efficient (five walks). Gray will need to avoid hard contact, because the ball flies here at Rogers Centre.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Where: Rogers Centre
Gametime: 7:07 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 68 degrees, wind 3 mph out to left field

MIAMI – The Nationals just so happened to be heading back to Miami after the news broke. They were wrapping up their series against the Yankees in New York and about to board a flight to South Beach when it was reported that Stephen Strasburg was planning to retire.

Then ironically enough, the baseball gods had them at loanDepot Park the next, the site of what is now Strasburg’s last major league start.

And as Riley Adams prepared to take the field behind the plate against the Marlins, he recalled when he did the same thing on June 9, 2022, in this very ballpark to catch Strasburg.

“It was actually here that his start was,” Adams said. “So yeah, it's obviously a little bittersweet knowing that that was the last start. I've only known Stras for a little bit since I've been here. He certainly means a lot and hearing all the stories from the team in 2019 and the magical run, he played a huge part in that I think, too, growing up as a San Diego kid, you always knew Stras, you always knew how good he was. To see the career he's had, to see everything, it's really special. I kind of wish I wasn't the last guy to have caught him in a game. But I was happy at least I got to catch him in a start. But I certainly wish that wasn't the last one.”

Strasburg gave up seven runs on eight hits, a home run, two walks and a hit batter with five strikeouts over 4 ⅔ innings. The results of his 83 pitches, 53 strikes, wasn’t necessarily all that important. It was more the fact that, at the time, the often-injured ace seemed to come out of the game healthy.

MIAMI – A little over a month ago, the Nationals still had the longest streak without a three-game series sweep in major league history. Then, in a weekend series at home against the Giants, they finally pulled off their first sweep since June 14-16, 2021 against the Pirates.

They’ve repeated that feat twice more since, and entered today’s finale against the Marlins with a chance for their fourth sweep in a month after going more than two years without one.

Although they weren’t able to complete this one, suffering a 2-1 loss to the Marlins in front of 17,216 fans at loanDepot Park, the Nationals will still leave town with their eighth series win in their last 10 attempts.

"We had a couple of opportunities and we couldn't capitalize on them. So that's how it goes," said manager Davey Martinez after the game. "We're gonna come back tomorrow, we're playing well. Let's forget about this one, come back tomorrow and go 1-0 tomorrow.”

Trevor Williams turned in his second consecutive impressive start, giving the Nationals a strong chance at the sweep.

MIAMI – For the fourth straight game and fifth in the Nationals’ last six, Riley Adams will start behind the plate in Sunday’s finale against the Marlins.

As they go for a sweep of their division rival, the Nats continue to monitor Keibert Ruiz’s health after he took a foul tip off his face mask Wednesday in New York. Adams replaced him to catch the eighth inning, so this is actually his sixth straight game getting behind the dish in some capacity.

Ruiz was scratched from Thursday’s lineup because he felt lightheaded. He felt fine enough to be the designated hitter Friday night in Miami, but hasn’t been in the lineup since. Manager Davey Martinez said yesterday Ruiz spent most of Saturday morning at the dentist and was given some more time to recover.

“After talking to the medical staff last night, we just wanted to give him another day today and make sure that he's totally good so he could come back and get ready to go,” Martinez said during his pregame media session Sunday. “Riley Adams has been playing well. We just want to give him another day and make sure he's well and rested and ready to go tomorrow.”

The Nationals expect Ruiz, who has been in the clubhouse all weekend in his normal upbeat mood, to play in Monday’s opener in Toronto. The catcher is taking some new medication, which should take full effect in his system by tomorrow’s game against the Blue Jays.

MIAMI – Remember that time earlier this year when the Nationals were searching for their first series sweep in over two years to break the longest major league streak without one?

Well, here they are now in search of their fourth series sweep since the All-Star break. Oh, and have we mentioned the fact that the Nats are only four games behind these Marlins in the National League East and only seven games back from a Wild Card spot?

Trevor Williams will lead the charge as he looks to follow up one of his best starts of the season. He pitched six shutout innings of two-hit ball against the Phillies in Sunday’s Little League Classic. He’s 0-1 with a 6.97 ERA and 1.548 WHIP in two starts against the Marlins this year, including giving up three runs with five strikeouts over six innings in a start here in May.

Right-hander JT Chargois will start a bullpen game for the Fish. He’s 1-0 with a 3.56 ERA and 1.154 WHIP in 32 appearances this year. After pitching a scoreless ninth inning Friday, he has four shutout outings against the Nats in his career.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot Park
Gametime: 1:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

MIAMI – Jacob Young wasn’t in the minor leagues for too long before finally getting the call to the major leagues.

The 2021 seventh-round pick out of the University of Florida played 26 games at Single-A Fredericksburg the year he was drafted by the Nationals. He spent all of last year with the FredNats, slashing .262/.360/.331 with a .691 OPS, 118 runs, 52 stolen bases in 59 attempts and 152 total bases on his way to being named the Nationals’ 2022 Minor League Base Runner of the Year.

Young was one of two players in all of Minor League Baseball to steal at least 50 bases and score at least 100 runs in 2022. His 118 runs scored were tied for the most in all of the minor leagues, while his 52 stolen bases were the most among Nationals minor leaguers.

The 24-year-old started this season at High-A Wilmington, where he hit .307 and stole 22 bags in 56 games. That earned him a promotion to Double-A Harrisburg, where he hit .304 with an .805 OPS and 17 stolen bases in 52 games.

Even with top prospects James Wood and Robert Hassell III patrolling the Senators outfield with him, Young was still the standout prospect in Harrisburg.

MIAMI – The Nationals have been playing great ball lately. After last night’s 7-4 win over the Marlins – their first of the season against the Fish and first in Miami since last season – they were in line to win their fifth straight series this afternoon.

A sign of their good play recently is the amount of close games they’ve been in. Four of their last five wins have been by just a one-run margin. These Nats are as scrappy as ever after making it five of their last six.

The Nationals won another tight game in front of 13,966 fans at loanDepot Park, this time thanks to a ninth-inning rally for a 3-2 win.

“That was a good one," said manager Davey Martinez. "That's a well-played game."

The Nats tied it in the ninth after Lane Thomas hit a leadoff triple to right-center and Joey Meneses was hit by a pitch, with Jacob Young making his major league debut as a pinch-runner at first. But Dominic Smith’s hard-hit ball was fielded by Luis Arraez, who then threw out Thomas at home. An infield popout by Carter Kieboom put two outs on the board.