CINCINNATI – Nationals manager Davey Martinez was impressed with Evan Lee’s major league debut Wednesday against the Mets. The 24-year-old’s 3 ⅔ innings on 67 pitches was strong enough for the skipper to suggest the left-hander would get another chance to pitch in the big leagues.

Whether that’s in the form of another start or an appearance out of the bullpen remains to be seen. Martinez wants to see how these four-games in Cincinnati play out before making a commitment to Lee making a second start.

Martinez did confirm, however, that Lee is staying with the Nationals for the time being, instead of being sent back down to the minors after a spot start.

“Yeah, he's here. We told him to be ready for the five days” Martinez said of Lee during his pregame media session with the media. “We'll see what transpires in those other days. We also, for me, we got one left-hander in the bullpen. So on his bullpen day, we might keep him back and maybe put him in the bullpen for that day.”

That bullpen day typically comes on the third day of a five-day rotation, meaning Lee could be available out of the bullpen for Saturday’s afternoon game against the Reds with Erick Fedde on the mound. Josh Rogers, the only lefty currently in the ‘pen, had to pitch in two of the three games in New York, including mop up duty in the eighth inning Wednesday after Jordan Weems couldn’t close out the inning.

NEW YORK – Mike Rizzo was discussing the Nationals’ ragged opening two months to this season about an hour before first pitch of today’s series finale at Citi Field and on multiple occasions singled out his team’s poor fundamentals for making life even more difficult than it already is on a struggling pitching staff and lineup.

“We’re a team that the margin for error is small,” the longtime general manager said. “We can’t be giving extra outs on defense, and running into outs on the basepaths. To me, walks and errors have been the Achilles’ heel of the start.”

By day’s end, Rizzo had seen that very scenario play out and contribute to yet another loss. The Nats’ 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Mets, completing a three-game sweep, perhaps was inevitable regardless because the lineup was shut out for the second straight day and has now gone 21 consecutive innings without scoring a run. But it’s also not inaccurate to say four of the five runs they surrendered were a direct result of shaky defense and two of the five walks their pitching staff issued.

"The walks and the defense: Two bad combinations," manager Davey Martinez said. "We've got to play better on defense,and we've got to limit the walks. I've always said the hitting comes and goes. That's part of the game. But you've got to do three constants: Play defense, run the bases well and pitch well. And today, two of the three things we didn't do well."

This team, as Rizzo noted, simply can’t afford to make fundamental mistakes because it simply doesn’t have enough consistent offensive firepower or an accomplished enough pitching staff to make up for it. Perhaps it could’ve been overlooked today, but only if they had produced at the plate to offset the other stuff.

NEW YORK – The Nationals waited the last two months for Luis García to prove to them he was ready to be called back up to the big leagues. But sometimes other developments force the issue, and when Alcides Escobar injured his right hamstring during Tuesday night’s loss to the Mets, the organization knew it was time to promote their 22-year-old infielder.

García was officially recalled from Triple-A Rochester this morning, with Escobar placed on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain that’s not serious enough to sideline him long-term but was significant enough to sideline him for a little while.

“He said he was still sore. And the position he plays, it’s tough to play when your hamstring is bothering you,” manager Davey Martinez said prior to today’s series finale against the Mets. “We decided the best thing to do is just let it heal, let it get right. Hopefully it only takes 10 days, 12 days, but we’ll see where he’s at.”

The Nationals could’ve called up a short-term replacement for Escobar, such as utility infielder Lucius Fox. But García has long been considered a potential long-term part of the organization’s rebuilding plan, and his performance over the last two months at Triple-A – most notably a .314/.368/.531 offensive slash line – convinced the team’s decision makers the time was right to promote him.

“It made sense, because we have a shortstop on the (IL),” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “We thought he was very close, and when Escobar went down it made it a fairly simple decision to make.”

NEW YORK – The Nationals haven’t been good at many things this season, but they have been good at avoiding sweeps. Six times already they’ve found themselves needing to win a series finale to avoid getting swept, and in four of those instances they’ve found a way to win (including their last three such instances).

So that’s the challenge facing the Nats today here at Citi Field, with an extra twist added in: They’re sending a kid to the mound to make his major league debut. Evan Lee, a 24-year-old left-hander, has been called up from Double-A Harrisburg and will start against the Mets, hoping to do what Erick Fedde and Patrick Corbin could not do the previous two nights and hold down this potent lineup.

Davey Martinez is purposely setting the bar low for Lee, saying Tuesday night he’s only looking for three or four innings from his starter. The bullpen isn’t in terrible shape, all things considered, with Josh Rogers the most likely option to pitch multiple innings at some point and perhaps even Paolo Espino available for some work after tossing three scoreless innings during Monday’s blowout. Tanner Rainey, Kyle Finnegan and Victor Arano all have yet to pitch in this series, as well.

The Nationals could certainly help Lee out and provide some run support. They’re facing Carlos Carrasco for the third time this season, and they haven’t had much success against the right-hander to date: three runs scored in 12 1/3 innings. They’re probably going to need to do better than that today if they want to again avoid a series sweep and at least get out of town feeling better about themselves.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 1:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB Network (outside D.C. and N.Y. markets), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 67 degrees, wind 10 mph out to left field

NEW YORK – Indignity for the Nationals came in multiple forms tonight.

It came in another lousy start for Patrick Corbin, who recorded only one more out (13) than hits allowed (12).

It came in another feeble offensive showing against a moderately accomplished opposing starter: the Mets’ Trevor Williams, who shut them out over five innings before his bullpen finished the job.

It came in the sight of Maikel Franco getting called out when Dee Strange-Gordon’s scorched liner struck him on the back as he led off first base.

And it came in the loss of Alcides Escobar to what appeared to be a serious hamstring injury suffered making a fine play in the bottom of the fourth, leaving the Nats thinking they might need to search for another shortstop before learning later Escobar appears to be fine.

NEW YORK – Desperate for some fresh arms out of the bullpen after Monday night’s 13-6 trouncing at the hands of the Mets, the Nationals promoted Jordan Weems and Francisco Perez from Triple-A Rochester, moves that cost Andres Machado and Austin Voth their jobs.

Voth was designated for assignment, potentially ending the right-hander’s nine-year relationship with the organization. A fifth-round pick in the 2013 draft, he made his major league debut in 2018 and enjoyed his best run of success in 2019 but progressively struggled more and more since.

In 19 appearances this season, Voth compiled a gaudy 10.13 ERA and 2.143 WHIP. Over 92 total appearances since making his debut, he had a 5.70 ERA and 1.453 WHIP.

“I was more frustrated, because I sat down with him daily to try to figure it out,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We looked at all kinds of stuff, all kinds of numbers. We tried some things with him, and he was open to them. You saw some signs that maybe this was going to work, and unfortunately it didn’t. It’s tough. I really believe he was going to get through it, and it just didn’t happen.”

Voth, who was out of options, can either be claimed off waivers by another club or be traded. If he goes unclaimed, he’ll have the ability to decide whether to report to Rochester or sign a minor league contract with another organization.

NEW YORK – Monday night’s series opener was a miserable one for the Nationals, who got down 12-3 after four innings and never had a chance during what wound up a 13-6 loss to the Mets. If that was merely a one-off, with no lingering effects, it would be one thing. But the fear is that that lopsided loss will have a carryover effect, because of what it did to the Nats pitching staff.

When Erick Fedde was knocked out after only 1 1/3 innings, then Andres Machado and Austin Voth lasted only 1 1/3 inning each in relief, then Paolo Espino had to go three innings in mop-up duty before Josh Rogers pitched the final frame, the Nationals left themselves in a precarious pitching position for the rest of the series.

With that in mind, the club made a couple of roster moves today to bring in a couple of fresh arms. Right-hander Jordan Weems and left-hander Francisco Perez were called up from Triple-A Rochester and will be available out of the bullpen tonight. Each has some prior big league experience. To create roster space for them, the Nationals optioned Machado back to Rochester only three days after he was recalled and designated the long-struggling Voth for assignment, potentially ending his time in the organization.

The best thing the Nats could do to help avoid more problems tonight, though, is get a quality start out of Patrick Corbin. Corbin finally earned his first win of the season when he allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings to the Rockies. He shut out the Mets over five innings earlier this month and held them to two runs in four innings on opening day.

The Nationals also will try to keep their quietly improving lineup producing tonight against Trevor Williams. Williams has faced them twice in relief this season, allowing two unearned runs in 4 2/3 innings. He’s making only his third overall start, having yet to exceed 65 pitches in total. Nelson Cruz, who had to leave Monday night's game after getting hit by a pitch on his left ankle, is not in the lineup but could be available off the bench.

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

· Selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Jordan Weems
· Recalled left-handed pitcher Francisco Perez from Triple-A Rochester
· Optioned right-handed pitcher Andres Machado to Triple-A Rochester
· Designated right-handed pitcher Austin Voth for assignment

Weems, 29, went 2-1 with six saves and a 3.38 ERA in 19 games for Triple-A Rochester. He struck out 32 batters and walked just five in 24.0 innings pitched. His six saves ranked second among Nationals Minor Leaguers. In 11 outings dating to April 30, Weems struck out 23 batters while walking just two in 14.1 innings pitched.

Weems has appeared in 16 Major League games across two seasons with the Oakland Athletics (2020-21) and Arizona Diamondbacks (2021). He made his Major League debut with Oakland in 2020, pitching to a 3.21 ERA (5 ER/14.0 IP) with 18 strikeouts in nine games.

Perez, 24, joins the Nationals for his third Major League stint this season. He has pitched to a 2.51 ERA with 21 strikeouts, four walks and a .189 opponents’ batting average in 15 games for Triple-A Rochester this season.

NEW YORK – The Nationals sent Erick Fedde to the mound at Citi Field tonight, first and foremost, in an attempt to win their series opener against the Mets. They also sent Fedde out there, second and furthermore, in an attempt to get enough innings from their starter to help set the stage for the rest of the series, knowing they need somebody to make a spot start Wednesday afternoon.

If Fedde – and Patrick Corbin on Tuesday – could provide enough depth to keep the bullpen from being overworked, manager Davey Martinez could then use long men Paolo Espino and Josh Rogers in tandem on Wednesday, negating the need to summon an inexperienced minor league starter for one game.

It took less than two innings tonight for that hopeful plan to go up in flames.

Fedde was rocked by the Mets for six runs and eight hits in only 1 1/3 innings, setting the Nationals on a runaway path toward a lopsided 13-5 loss and leaving the organization in an unenviable position as it now tries to figure out who’s going to pitch the next several days.

"It's brutal," the right-hander said. "It lets the whole team down. If anything, if you're able to at least go six (innings) and give up a bunch of runs, you put the team in a better position going forward. But today was just really unacceptable in a sense. I feel bad for the guys in the bullpen. I put them behind the 8-ball probably for the next week or so."

NEW YORK – Watching Kyle Finnegan labor through the top of the eighth Sunday afternoon at Nationals Park, Davey Martinez felt like something didn’t look right with the Nats reliever.

The results certainly weren’t up to Finnegan’s standards: He retired only one of the five batters he faced, allowing three singles and a double, letting two Rockies runners score and trim a 6-3 lead down to 6-5. Ultimately, Martinez felt he had no choice but to summon Tanner Rainey to clean up the mess in the eighth and then also pitch the ninth for the first multi-inning save of his career.

What, though, was going on with Finnegan? After studying some video Sunday night and earlier today, the Nationals noticed his legs were spread wider than normal as he came set to throw each pitch. A seemingly minor discrepancy actually caused a significant drop in performance.

As Martinez and the club’s coaching and analytics staff realized, the spin rate on Finnegan’s fastball was down 10 percent Sunday from his season average. Suddenly, that upper-90s pitch was more hittable than it’s been all year.

“We talked a little bit. I noticed that his legs were a little bit wider on his setup,” Martinez said before tonight’s series opener against the Mets. “We talked to him about it. He was going to come in today, we were going to look at some numbers. His spin rate was down because of it, which I kind of figured. But we’re going to correct it.”

NEW YORK – The Nationals have won four of their last five. As such, they’ve improved to 18-31 on the season. Which means if they win tonight’s series opener against the Mets, they’ll be 19-31. And we all know what that means.

OK, so it probably wouldn’t mean what it meant three years ago when the Nats got swept in this very ballpark to fall to 19-31. If anything, this time it would represent a significant improvement over the way things had been going. Not that anyone here would be celebrating it if it does happen.

The challenge the next three weeks is tough, facing a Mets club that has been comfortably leading the division most of the season to date, despite injuries to Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. They’ll send left-hander David Peterson, owner of a 2.14 ERA in five games, to the mound tonight to face a Nats lineup that doesn’t have a ton of regular season experience against him. (Though they’ve faced him several times in spring training.)

Erick Fedde starts for the Nationals, and he quietly has turned into the most consistently effective member of their rotation. Over his last six starts, Fedde has a 2.23 ERA, allowing two or fewer earned runs in five of those outings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB Network (outside D.C. and N.Y. markets), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 80 degrees, wind 11 mph out to left field

No team in the National League has hit fewer home runs than the Nationals, who entered today’s series finale with only 30 of them through the season’s first 48 games and lengthy individual power droughts by some of their biggest power hitters.

Through it all, manager Davey Martinez has been positive the homers will come, as hitters get their timing down, elevate the ball and take advantage of warmer summer weather.

And then on this warm, 80-degree Memorial Day Sunday afternoon on South Capitol Street, Martinez and the Nats began to see signs of it finally happening, most importantly from their most important hitter.

Juan Soto’s first homer since May 12, a span of 16 games, put the Nationals up early. And then Lane Thomas’ homer in the sixth provided some insurance they wound up needing to secure a 6-5 victory over the Rockies and a rare series win.

It got a bit hairy late, with Andres Machado allowing two runs in the seventh and Kyle Finnegan allowing two runs in the eighth before Tanner Rainey locked things down. But at the end of the day, the Nats took three of four from Colorado and four of five overall to end this homestand with their first series victory since late April in San Francisco, their first home series victory of the year.

Saturday night’s decision to designate struggling right-hander Aaron Sanchez for assignment was prompted by the Nationals’ need to clear a 40-man roster spot in order to account for the fill-in starter they’ll need Wednesday in New York.

Manager Davey Martinez said the club will have someone not currently in the rotation start Wednesday’s series finale against the Mets, an outing that became necessary due to Friday night’s rainout and Saturday’s subsequent day-night doubleheader against the Rockies.

Martinez insisted the decision hasn’t been made yet and likely won’t until Tuesday, but acknowledged it played a role in Saturday night’s DFA decision with Sanchez.

“We felt like we’re going to need a spot here next week,” the manager said prior to today’s series finale against Colorado. “We felt like right now was a good time to start thinking about what we’re going to do for Wednesday. I can tell you right now, we have a lot of different options and things we’re thinking about. We won’t have a decision until probably Tuesday.”

The schedule does limit the team’s options to some extent. The organization’s top two pitching prospects, Cade Cavalli and Cole Henry, each had dominant starts Saturday night, with Cavalli tossing seven scoreless innings for Triple-A Rochester and Henry pitching four perfect innings for Double-A Harrisburg. Neither would be ready to come back and pitch Wednesday, though, removing them from the equation for now.

It’s been a while since the Nationals last won a series. You have to go back to April 29-May 1 in San Francisco to find the last time they took two of three against an opponent. So a win today, which would make three in four games against the Rockies, would be quite a welcome development for a ballclub that could certainly use some positive vibes.

Josiah Gray gets the ball for the Nats, and he needs to get himself back on track after a ragged start earlier in the week against the Dodgers in which he gave up seven runs in three innings, with three homers surrendered. The home run has become a problem again for Gray, who has served up nine of them over his last four starts after allowing only three in his first five outings. Unsurprisingly, his ERA has risen to 5.44.

A Nationals lineup that beat up on Colorado left-hander Austin Gomber in the opener of Saturday’s doubleheader will face another lefty today in Kyle Freeland, who has been pretty good of late. In five starts this month, Freeland had a 3.54 ERA and only two homers allowed in 28 innings.

COLORADO ROCKIES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 80 degrees, wind 4 mph out to center field

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

Due to very severe weather predicted to move into the area this evening, MLB has approved the postponement of tonight’s game. 

The game will now be played on Saturday, May 28 at 12:05 PM as part of a split doubleheader.  Saturday’s originally scheduled game will begin at 6:05 PM.

Tickets and parking passes for tonight’s game will be honored at the 12:05 PM game tomorrow.

Despite initial hopes of being able to play tonight before an expected storm arrived, the Nationals’ game against the Rockies was postponed once it became clear the rain would likely hit earlier than anticipated.

The announcement didn’t come until about 25 minutes before the scheduled 7:05 p.m. first pitch, with many in the crowd for Juan Soto Shuffle Bobblehead Night having already settled into their seats and no rain in the immediate vicinity yet. Both teams’ starters – the Nats’ Aaron Sanchez, the Rockies’ Austin Gomber – were already getting loose in the outfield as the game was officially postponed.

The clubs will play a split, separate-admission doubleheader Saturday, with the makeup game starting at 12:05 p.m. and the original 4:05 p.m. game now moved to 6:05 p.m.

Fans who held tickets and parking passes for tonight’s game can use them for admission to Saturday’s 12:05 p.m. game or call the Nationals ticket office to exchange them for a future available date. Fans who hold tickets and parking passes for Saturday’s 4:05 p.m. game can use them for the rescheduled 6:05 p.m. nightcap.

The evening forecast looked dicey all day, with a first round of storms sweeping through the Washington area around noon and another round expected to arrive sometime in the 8-9 p.m. range tonight. There was consideration given to postponing the game earlier, but Major League Baseball did not give the official approval until about 6:40 p.m.

Stephen Strasburg will head back to Fredericksburg for his second rehab appearance, starting Sunday’s game for the Nationals’ low Single-A affiliate five days after taking the mound in a competitive game for the first time in nearly a year.

Strasburg, who allowed three runs while throwing 61 pitches in 2 2/3 innings Tuesday night for the FredNats, is slated to ramp up to 4-5 innings or 60-70 pitches, according to Nationals manager Davey Martinez. Because minor league teams now play six-game series every Tuesday-Sunday, he’ll be facing the same Salem Red Sox lineup he pitched against earlier this week.

The 33-year-old right-hander, recovering from last summer’s thoracic outlet surgery, is entering the final stages of a long rehab program. Martinez has said he’d like for him to reach six innings and 90 pitches before coming off the injured list and making his much anticipated season debut, perhaps sometime in the next 2-3 weeks.

Further evidence that Strasburg is getting closer to pitching for the Nationals: After pitching Sunday afternoon, he’ll drive back to D.C. and join his teammates on their charter flight to New York. While the Nats face the Mets during a three-game series at Citi Field, he’ll go through his typical between-starts routine.

“Our plans are, if everything goes well, to take him with us to New York so he can throw another bullpen with us,” Martinez said. “And then we’ll determine what happens next.”

There’s a ballgame scheduled tonight at Nationals Park. Whether it’s played on time, with or without interruption, or played at all, remains to be seen. The storms that have been rolling through town all day are certainly a threat, but at this point there’s been no proclamation about the status of the game between the Nationals and Rockies.

If they play, the Nats are seeking to do something they haven’t yet done in 2022: Win three games in a row. Yep, they’ve won back-to-back games several times, but they have not managed to win back-to-back-to-back games. So there’s your motivation this evening.

The Nationals will need to keep the offense rolling after scoring seven runs in Thursday’s series opener. They’ll need to do so against a Rockies starter they struggled against a few weeks ago: Austin Gomber, who held them to two runs in 6 2/3 innings May 4 at Coors Field. That game included a home run by Lane Thomas, so unsurprisingly Tomas is in tonight’s lineup.

One night later, Aaron Sanchez started for the Nats and gave up seven runs in 4 1/3 innings. He’s back on the mound tonight, looking for better results and hoping to pick up where he left off last weekend in Milwaukee when he allowed only two runs in five innings thanks in large part to three double plays induced.

COLORADO ROCKIES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Storms, 72 degrees, wind 9 mph out to left field

The Nationals lineup did its part, jumping out to an early lead with a first-inning barrage of hits. Patrick Corbin did his part, producing a rare quality start and departing in the seventh inning with his team ahead.

All that stood between Corbin and his long-anticipated first win of the season was a Nats bullpen that needed some reconfiguring on this night.

With Kyle Finnegan presumably unavailable after pitching back-to-back days, manager Davey Martinez made the aggressive move to put closer Tanner Rainey on the mound to face the heart of the Rockies’ lineup in the eighth inning. And after Rainey retired the side, it was veteran Steve Cishek entrusted with the ninth, his team’s lead having just been padded to four runs.

There was no save in the end, but Cishek did finish off a satisfying 7-3 victory for the Nationals that finally got Corbin in the win column for the first time in 10 tries this year.

"It was going to come," Martinez said. "And I told him: 'Don't fight it. Don't worry about the wins and losses. It's going to come. Just keep pitching, keep doing what you're doing.' And tonight was a perfect example. He went out there and pitched well, kept us in the game. We scored some runs, and he got his first one out of the way."

The latest MRI taken of Joe Ross’ elbow ligament showed “a little bit more of a sprain than I had in my previous MRIs,” the right-hander revealed today, making the second Tommy John surgery of his career a distinct possibility now.

Ross, who had to cut short his rehab assignment with Double-A Harrisburg after three innings Tuesday night, is scheduled for more tests Friday before a final decision is made. The 29-year-old and the Nationals are bracing for news he needs ligament replacement surgery again after trying to avoid that last-ditch option since last summer.

“I’m definitely frustrated,” he said. “Just a combination of missing the last five or so weeks last year, then doing all the rehab and going through all that from day one of the offseason, staying down in Florida and watching how this season is going so far, obviously I’d like to provide some assistance by coming back. … So it’s definitely frustrating to go through all that and not be able to assist in the way I would’ve liked, or at least how I was planning to.”

Ross had been diagnosed with a partial tear of the UCL last summer, but doctors determined he could attempt to rest and rehab and avoid surgery. He reported for spring training hoping to open the season on time, but after experiencing more elbow issues learned he had a bone spur that needed to be removed.

Ross started up his rehab process again, throwing alongside Stephen Strasburg for the last two months in West Palm Beach, Fla., and was excited to finally pitch in a competitive game for the first time this week. He said his arm felt strong during his first two innings in Harrisburg, when his fastball reached 95 mph, but he had trouble getting loose in the third inning and realized he couldn’t continue after that frame was over, even though he had barely thrown half of the total pitches (60) he was scheduled for in the start.