The Washington Nationals announced the following roster moves on Friday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements.

• Selected the contract of catcher Israel Pineda from Triple-A Rochester
• Recalled right-handed pitcher Jordan Weems from Triple-A Rochester
• Placed catcher Keibert Ruiz on the 10-day Injured List with a testicular contusion
• Designated left-handed pitcher Jake McGee for assignment

Pineda, 22, hit .258 with 20 doubles, two triples, 16 home runs, 71 RBI, 36 walks, three stolen bases and 49 runs scored in 99 games between High-A Wilmington, Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. He ranked among Nationals Minor Leaguers in RBI (2^nd, 71), home runs (5^th, 16), slugging percentage (5^th, .458), extra-base hits (6^th, 38) and OPS (8^th, .783) this season.

Washington’s No. 23 prospect by Baseball America and No. 26 per MLBPipeline.com, Pineda has recorded a .429 slugging percentage with 31 doubles, two triples and 30 home runs in 175 games since the start of the 2021 season.

Pineda signed with the Nationals on July 2, 2016 out of Maracay, Venezuela. With his debut, he will become the third member of Washington’s 2016 international class to appear in the Major Leagues, joining right-handed pitcher Joan Adon and infielder Luis García.

Weems, 29, returns for his third stint with the Nationals after tossing 10.0 scoreless innings and going 5-for-5 in save opportunities across his last eight games with Triple-A Rochester. He allowed just two hits (.067 opp. AVG) with 10 strikeouts and four walks over this stretch.

ST. LOUIS – Alex Call returned to his hotel room late Wednesday night and couldn’t help but think about it.

A short while earlier, Call had found himself right in the middle of the play that decided the Nationals’ game against the Cardinals. Having pinch-run for Riley Adams in the top of the eighth, he was now in left field during a harrowing bottom of the ninth that saw Kyle Finnegan turn a comfortable four-run lead into a one-run nailbiter with two outs. And when Tommy Edman smoked Finnegan’s 31st pitch of the inning on a straight line over Call’s head, the rookie outfielder realized he was the Nats’ last hope to win the game.

Call ran back towards the fence, and as the ball was beginning to come down past him, he leaped and stuck his glove out in an attempt to make what would’ve been the Nationals’ greatest game-ending catch since Steven Souza Jr. saved Jordan Zimmermann’s no-hitter on the final day of the 2014 regular season.

But though he got his glove on the ball, Call could not do anything more than deflect it to the ground, where it fell harmlessly as the tying and winning runs scored for the Cardinals.

Nobody was blaming Call for not making a highlight-reel catch afterward, but that doesn’t mean the 27-year-old was at peace with the outcome.

ST. LOUIS – When a familiar situation presented itself this afternoon at Busch Stadium, his team holding a late lead against the Cardinals, Davey Martinez opted to once again entrust that lead to Kyle Finnegan.

The only difference: This time, Finnegan got the ball for the bottom of the eighth, not the bottom of the ninth.

Actually, there was another difference: This time, Finnegan retired the side, then watched as his teammates blew the game wide open in the top of the ninth en route to a most impressive 11-6 victory for the Nationals less than 24 hours removed from a heart-wrenching loss in which Finnegan blew a four-run lead in the ninth.

There was no drama this time. (Well, the Cardinals did score two runs in the bottom of the ninth off Jake McGee and threaten to make this interesting before Carl Edwards Jr. cleaned up the mess.) Instead, there was a clean inning of setup work for Finnegan, and a whole lot of offense from the Nationals, who left town with heads held high after earning a four-game series split against the NL Central-leading Cardinals.

"I can't say enough about how these guys are playing," Martinez said. "I said these guys play hard for 27 outs. Today's the perfect example of them getting after it again, scoring a bunch of runs and playing good baseball."

ST LOUIS – The Nationals were one out away Wednesday night of victory, of securing at least a four-game split here at Busch Stadium and of clinching a winning road trip against two division leaders. And then … well, you know what happened in the bottom of the ninth.

They still have an opportunity today, however, to achieve all of the above and head home 4-3 against the Mets and Cardinals, which would be no small achievement. They’ll attempt to do so in an early matinee, with a 12:15 p.m. local first pitch on a bright, warm September afternoon here.

Josiah Gray gets the start, and he’ll need to be better than he was in New York, when he allowed six runs to the Mets. These final starts of Gray’s season are important. He really wants to finish on a high note and go into 2023 feeling good about his place near the top of the Nats rotation. To do that, he’s going to have to pitch well against some good lineups still on the schedule, including the Cardinals lineup he’ll face today.

The Nationals, who were completely shut down by left-hander Jordan Montgomery until the seventh inning Wednesday night, now go up against the wily old veteran right-hander, Adam Wainwright, who today pairs up with Yadier Molina for the 324th time as a major league battery, tying the all-time record. Notable switch to Davey Martinez’s lineup: Nelson Cruz has been bumped down to the No. 6 spot after struggling out of the cleanup position.

Update: The Nats have a late lineup change: Victor Robles was scratched with a stiff neck. Alex Call replaces him batting ninth and playing left field. Lane Thomas is now in center field.

ST LOUIS – Had the Nationals hung on to win Wednesday night, instead of watching as Kyle Finnegan blew a four-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, the story of that victory might well have focused on Erasmo Ramirez, who quietly strung together 2 2/3 perfect innings of relief to keep the game close and put his teammates in position to rally in the top of the eighth.

In a way, it’s actually fitting that Ramirez’s performance was lost in the shuffle at night’s end. Because it feels like his entire season has gone under the radar when it has deserved far more attention.

Entering today’s series finale against the Cardinals, Ramirez sports a sparkling 2.84 ERA and 1.082 WHIP. The only major league reliever with at least 70 innings pitched and a lower ERA is the Angels’ Jaime Barria (2.60). Only Barria (0.991) and the Orioles’ Keegan Akin (1.009) own a lower WHIP.

“He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do, and then some,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He’s been a quiet leader in the bullpen, as well. He’s helped out a lot of guys. But he’s a bulldog. He takes the ball every day; if need be, multiple innings. We asked him to start one day, he had no problems with that. So he does whatever we’ve asked him to do, and he’s been great.”

Indeed, Ramirez has pitched in just about every possible scenario he could this season. He was an emergency starter June 13 and July 17 against the Braves, each time churning out three innings before giving way to another reliever. He’s pitched as many as 3 1/3 innings in long relief, then entered to record two outs with runners in base in the seventh inning of a close game. He’s been credited with four wins and three holds, though he has yet to secure a save.

ST. LOUIS – When he took the mound for the bottom of the seventh Monday afternoon, Mason Thompson was focused solely on completing that inning. When he proceeded to retire the side on eight pitches, his mind turned to the possibility of returning for the bottom of the eighth. And when he proceeded to get through that inning on 13 pitches, he realized he might just get the opportunity to go back out there for the bottom of the ninth.

And when he proceeded to retire the side again on 11 pitches, Thompson not only found himself in the center of the diamond for a game-ending celebration, but having also recorded the first save of his big league career because he completed three innings of relief to seal his team’s win, even if it was by more than three runs.

“It definitely wasn’t something that I woke up and expected to do today, but it was pretty awesome,” the 24-year-old right-hander said. “I knew after that second one, maybe I’d get a chance to run out there for a third. I was glad that they were able to let me do that. It was pretty awesome.”

Three-inning saves, a staple of the 1970s and ’80s, aren’t particularly common these days. Thompson became only the seventh Nationals reliever to do it in club history, and the list is pretty eccentric: Steven Shell (2008), Tom Gorzelanny (2012), Ross Detwiler (2014), A.J. Cole (2015), Kyle McGowin (2019) and Javy Guerra (2019).

Thompson, though, may be the type of pitcher who has the opportunity to do this more than once. Club officials seem to believe his future is as a multi-inning reliever.

ST. LOUIS – His first at-bat produced in the first triple of his career. His second produced one of the hardest exit velocities of his career. His third produced an infield single in which he could show off his elite speed. His fourth produced the first three-hit game of his career.

And when he singled again in his fifth and final at-bat Monday at Busch Stadium, CJ Abrams had himself the first four-hit game of his career, capping off a fantastic afternoon at the plate by the Nationals’ rookie shortstop.

“Every time I’m at the plate, I’m getting more and more comfortable,” he said.

There’s no disputing that. After a sluggish start to his time in D.C., Abrams is beginning to look like the highly skilled hitter and defender the Nats believed they were getting from the Padres all along in last month’s Juan Soto trade.

With only six hits in his first 44 at-bats, Abrams at times looked overwhelmed by big league pitching. Through it all, manager Davey Martinez insisted it was only a matter of time before the 21-year-old started to apply what he was being coached and saw the results to match.

NEW YORK – Having caught the first two games of the Nationals’ weekend series against the Mets, with a day game for the finale of a three-city, 10-game trip that includes no off-days, Keibert Ruiz seemed to be a safe bet to find himself on the bench Sunday at Citi Field.

The young catcher knew that’s what Davey Martinez’s intention would be when devising lineups for the series. So he took a proactive approach and walked into the manager’s office after Saturday night’s game and said he wanted to start the following afternoon.

Martinez, knowing Ruiz had taken a foul ball off his mask during the game, said he needed an honest answer if he was feeling well enough to do it. But when Ruiz insisted he was, Martinez didn’t hesitate to rewrite his lineup card and give the 24-year-old the opportunity to play again.

“I’ve had Willson Contreras (in Chicago), who caught every day. I watched (Yadier) Molina catch every day, (Ivan Rodriguez) catch every day,” Martinez said. “I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt, see how he reacts today and we’ll go from there. I did tell him: ‘You will get a day off here in the next couple days.’ But I love the fact that he wanted to play today.”

Martinez loved it even more when Ruiz proceeded to collect three hits and call another strong game behind the plate in the Nationals’ 7-1 win over the Mets.

NEW YORK – More observations and reactions from Friday night’s 7-3 loss to the Mets …

* Victor Robles had another Victor Robles kind of game. Which is to say he was involved in a number of notable plays, some of them producing positive results, some of them producing negative ones.

Positive: Robles led off the top of the third with a triple to right-center, only his second of the season and only the 10th of his career. He then wound up scoring moments later when Mets catcher Tomas Nido tried to pick him off third on a dropped third strike to Lane Thomas, only to throw the ball away ad allow both Robles to score and Thomas to reach first base on a strikeout.

“A very risky play,” Robles said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “But he took the risk, and I took advantage of it.”

Negative: Robles broke in too quickly on Brandon Nimmo’s two-out line drive to center in the bottom of the sixth, the ball sailing over his head for an RBI triple that extended New York’s lead.

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Not too long ago, Jackson Rutledge was the Nationals’ No. 1 overall prospect. A lot of promise surrounded the big first-round pick out of San Jacinto Junior College in Texas.

He made 10 starts in his first professional season, pitching to a 2-0 record, 3.13 ERA and 0.991 WHIP between rookie ball and Single-A during 2019.

Then, of course, he, like all minor leaguers, missed out during the pandemic-canceled 2020 season.

Coming into last year, Rutledge was joined by 2020 first-round pick Cade Cavalli as the Nationals’ top two prospects.

But while Cavalli quickly rose through the ranks, ultimately reaching Triple-A, Rutledge was hampered by injuries and left behind in A ball.

In years past, today’s result between the 44-86 Nationals and 49-82 Athletics would have been actually important. The finale of a three-game set between teams who have two of the worst records in the major leagues and split the first two matchups would have had draft-order implications for the following year.

But alas, the implementation of the MLB Draft lottery gives the three teams with the worst records an equal chance at next year’s No. 1 overall pick, rendering this just another getaway-day game between two bottom-feeders.

Whatever the stakes, the end result was an exciting 7-5 walk-off victory for the Nationals in 10 innings.

Who else but Joey "Four Bags" Meneses to deliver the game-winning blow?

With two runners on base in a 5-4 game in the 10th, the Nats' new slugging right fielder and No. 2 hitter stepped to the plate to hit a three-run homer for an extra-inning win.

It’s a new month, the last one of the season, which means major league rosters expand from 26 to 28 players.

The Nationals’ additions were no surprise: They officially recalled catcher Tres Barrera and right-hander Mason Thompson from Triple-A Rochester.

Barrera returns for his second stint with the Nationals this season. Over his previous time with the Nats, he hit .182 with a double, four RBIs and two walks in 14 games. 

In 55 games for Triple-A Rochester this season, Barrera hit .254 with seven doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 25 RBIs and 20 walks. He recorded a hit in all three of his starts as Rochester’s catcher since being optioned on Aug. 22.

The 27-year-old joins Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams as the three catchers now on the Nats roster. Manager Davey Martinez will look to use some of their flexibility to get each of them an appropriate amount of playing time, with all of them able to serve as the designated hitter and Adams also able to spell Luke Voit at first base.

The Washington Nationals recalled catcher Tres Barrera and right-handed pitcher Mason Thompson from Triple-A Rochester on Thursday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Barrera, 27, returns for his second stint with the Nationals this season. He batted .182 with a double, four RBI and two walks in 14 games with Washington. In 55 games for Triple-A Rochester this season, he hit .254 with seven doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 25 RBI and 20 walks. Barrera had a hit in all three of his starts behind the plate for Rochester since being optioned on August 22.

Thompson, 24, returns for his fourth stint with the Nationals this season. He is 0-0 with a 1.13 ERA and seven strikeouts in 8.0 innings over nine games. Thompson was 0-4 with a 3.52 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 15.1 innings for Triple-A Rochester this season. He made his first start for Rochester on Aug. 27 allowing one run on three hits in 2.0 innings.

Throughout this long season, from the interminably long stint on the injured list with a neck strain to his struggles on the mound once he did return, Davey Martinez insisted Aníbal Sánchez just needed time. Give the right-hander time, the manager said, and he would prove he can still pitch at this level.

So the Nationals gave Sánchez all the time he needed, from that three-month IL stint to his first five starts that resulted in five losses and a 7.56 ERA. And wouldn’t you know what happened after that? The 38-year-old indeed is proving he can still pitch at this level, capped off by his best performance in two years this evening.

With seven innings of one-run ball, Sánchez shut down the Athletics to earn his first win since September 2020 and lead the Nats to a 5-1 victory that also included some bright moments for a few of their much younger building blocks.

This represented the first time Sánchez reached the seventh inning in a big league game since Aug. 23, 2020 in a win over the Marlins. The previous time he had done it? Game 1 of the 2019 NLCS in St. Louis, when he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

"I knew he still had it in him," Martinez said. "I saw him this winter throwing. He was passionate about coming back, and his heart was in it. He was hurt, and now he's just out there fully healthy and pitching well."

Cade Cavalli officially was placed on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with right shoulder inflammation, an ailment the Nationals rookie insisted he intends to return from before season’s end.

“I’m not going to be shutting it down completely,” he said. “We’ve got something to work forward to. There’s still some season left. That’s where my head’s at. I want to go compete again this year for this club. I’m very positive, and I think it’s really good.”

Cavalli said he woke up Saturday morning feeling “some abnormal soreness” following his major league debut the previous night. He attempted to play catch that afternoon as planned, but after about 10 throws with no improvement in his condition he informed the training staff what was going on. He underwent an MRI on Sunday which revealed inflammation of his shoulder capsule, but no damage to his rotator cuff or labrum.

Manager Davey Martinez said the 24-year-old right-hander will be shut down for two weeks, after which the club will decide how to proceed. Cavalli is cleared to do everything but throw during this period of time, and he went through rigorous workouts focused on his legs and his back the last two days.

Even in a best-case scenario, there doesn’t seem to be much time for Cavalli to make it back to start before the season ends five weeks from today. But Martinez wants him to stay busy and proceed with a mindset that he will pitch by then, and Cavalli himself is adamant that’s what he intends to do, not shut down until 2023.

It’s the final day of August, a month that began with the biggest trade in Nationals history and will conclude with another dismal record. The Nats enter tonight’s game 8-18 this month. It’s not as bad as their 6-19 mark from July, but it’s barely better than that.

You know who would love to get a win tonight? Aníbal Sánchez. The 38-year-old is 0-5 with a 5.72 ERA in eight starts, but he’s actually pitched much better of late. Over his last three starts (all no-decisions), he’s got a 2.51 ERA while holding opponents to a .180 batting average. You’d think a matchup against an Athletics lineup that is among the worst in baseball would be advantageous, but that didn’t prove to be the case for Erick Fedde on Tuesday.

The Nats get their first-ever look at James Kaprielian, Oakland’s 28-year-old right-hander who was originally a first-round pick of the Yankees and then got roughed up by them in his last start to the tune of eight runs in 2 2/3 innings. Kaprielian has a command problem; he’s walked 10 batters over his last 7 2/3 innings. Patience from a sometimes overanxious Nationals lineup will be key tonight.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly clear, 81 degrees, wind 9 mph left field to right field

NATIONALS
2B Luis García
RF Joey Meneses
1B Luke Voit
DH Nelson Cruz
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Lane Thomas
SS CJ Abrams
3B Ildemaro Vargas
LF Josh Palacios

Tuesday’s news about Cade Cavalli, who is going on the injured list and could be done for the season with right shoulder inflammation, was incredibly discouraging for the Nationals.

Now here’s an even more discouraging thought: What if Cavalli’s injury prompts the team to shut down MacKenzie Gore and Josiah Gray before season’s end as well?

That’s certainly on the table, when you consider what Davey Martinez said when asked if the Cavalli situation might make the club more cautious about handling its two other young starters the rest of the way.

“Yeah, we’re going to look at all that stuff,” he said, later adding: “We’re going to spend the next few weeks just watching these guys, watching them progress, and see where we’re at.”

There are concerns about all three of them, for varying reasons.

Bad news struck the Nationals clubhouse this afternoon ahead of the opener against the Athletics. Making matters worse, it involves one of their top prospects.

Cade Cavalli, just four days removed from his major league debut, will be shut down for two weeks with right shoulder inflammation, manager Davey Martinez announced to begin his pregame press conference.

Cavalli was charged with seven runs on six hits, two walks and three hit batters while striking out seven and throwing 99 pitches (57 strikes) in his highly anticipated debut Friday against the Reds. When the 24-year-old returned to Nats Park the next day to begin his between-starts program, he reported tightness in his right shoulder. The Nationals stopped him from throwing and ordered an MRI the next day.

“I'm gonna start off by saying that we are going to shut Cade down for two weeks,” Martinez said. “He threw in the game. Came back the next day, was going through his routine, he's playing catch. After about 10 throws, he said he felt tight in the shoulder area. So we shut him down. He came in, we got him an MRI right away.”

The MRI came back mostly clean. There was no damage to the shoulder itself, but there was some inflammation.

CJ Abrams has never struggled to hit. Not as a teenager, when he was named Georgia High School Player of the Year. Not as a first-time professional, when he hit .401 in 32 games with the Padres’ rookie ball team in Arizona. Not last season at Double-A, where he had a .363 on-base percentage in 42 games before suffering a leg injury. And not this season at Triple-A, where he posted an .840 OPS in 38 games.

Twelve games into his Nationals career, though, Abrams’ offensive struggles are hard to ignore. He’s just 6-for-44 so far, good for a .136 batting average. He has zero extra base hits. He has yet to draw a walk. He has yet to score a run. He has struck out 12 times.

Extremely small sample, yes. But if you’ve been watching and wondering where the highly touted prospect’s offensive game is, you’re not alone.

“At times, you can see he gets a little frustrated,” manager Davey Martinez said. “And I have to reiterate: ‘Hey, you’re doing fine.’ ”

As he’s done with countless other young players struggling to get going at the plate, Martinez makes sure to mention how he hit .139 in 53 games as a rookie with the Cubs in 1986. He went on to have a long and productive career, finishing with a .276/.341/.389 slash line and 1,599 hits across 16 major league seasons.