SAN FRANCISCO – So, was Friday night’s 14-run explosion a sign of things to come, or a mere blip on the radar? We’ll start to get the answer to that question this afternoon when the Nationals take the field again at Oracle Park and try to pick up right where they left off about 14 hours earlier.

The challenge for Davey Martinez’s lineup: Have some success against Giants starter Logan Webb. The Nats did score three runs in 6 2/3 innings off the right-hander Sunday in D.C., but Yadiel Hernandez was responsible for all three of those runs (via an RBI single and a two-run homer). The rest of the batting order did very little against Webb.

Joan Adon opposed Webb that afternoon and struggled early. The rookie gave up two runs apiece in the first and second innings, then another in the fifth before departing. The good news for Adon? He doesn’t have to face Joc Pederson, who homered and doubled off him but now is sidelined with an adductor strain.

Bob Carpenter and Kevin Frandsen are here in San Francisco for the broadcast on MASN2, excited to call their first in-person road game of the season, so be sure to tune in!

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: Oracle Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 62 degrees, wind 20 mph out to center field

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” — A.A. Milne, "Winnie The Pooh"

In December 2010, I walked through the doors of the MASN web studio on the fifth floor of the Camden Yards warehouse and into the best job I’ve ever had. And I’ve had a few jobs, from cleaning the bathrooms at a Dunkin’ Donuts to years in newspapers as a reporter and editor to a gig as a public relations executive and a soul-crushing stint in a publishing house, from which I was laid off as the economic downturn of 2008 was just beginning.

That exit from the publishing world, where I edited everything from travel guides to a compendium of lawyers and law firms in Philadelphia, was especially painful. It came out of the blue; I had misjudged the landscape, thinking that our three-person editorial staff that handled about 80 projects a year was safe. But with profits cratering and no one advertising, something had to go – and that something was me.

To make ends meet for most of the next three years, I retreated into baseball, my part-time vocation since 1993, working for anyone who would offer a job and a few bucks – The Associated Press, MLB.com, out-of-town daily newspapers. I worked all of spring training on my own dime and 13 of every 14 days during the regular season, praying that the paychecks arrived in time to cover the mortgage, car payment and health insurance bills. Most times they did, but I had to be creative.

Creativity has never been a challenge for me. Nor has following the national pastime, which was always my intended path, even if I took a roundabout route to get there. But the 14-year-old kid who went to junior high school an hour early to pore over the box scores in the morning paper, the youngster who played APBA Baseball and then in Rotisserie leagues, the guy who made his major league press box debut at 33 and marveled at the opportunity to step onto the field of a big league ballpark and talk to managers and players wasn’t deterred.

For the most part, the Nationals bullpen has been a bright spot early this season. Not to take anything away from their accomplishments, but this group of relievers quite frankly had nowhere to go but up.

Washington’s bullpen posted a 5.10 ERA last year, worst in the National League and second-worst in the majors.

So far this year, the Nats ‘pen has a 3.61 ERA that was eighth in the NL and 17th in the majors at the conclusion of Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Marlins. A big improvement.

At the forefront, or should I say the back end, of this bullpen are Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey, two relievers the Nationals really need to have bounceback seasons in 2022.

With a banged-up bullpen that has Sean Doolittle (elbow sprain), Hunter Harvey (pronator strain), Mason Thompson (biceps tendinitis) and Will Harris (pectoral surgery) on the injured list, manager Davey Martinez has relied on Finnegan and Rainey to get important outs this season.

Patrick Corbin was “pissed” after his last start. He said so after completing only 1 2/3 innings against the Giants on Friday while his ERA inflated to 11.20 and his WHIP went up to 2.561 on the season.

So after an extra day of rest and an intense bullpen session Tuesday with pitching coach Jim Hickey that manager Davey Martinez called “crisp,” Corbin was looking for his best outing of the season. And the Nationals needed it to avoid a second straight sweep and an eight-game losing streak at home.

Corbin did his part, becoming just the second Nationals starter to complete six innings this season while only giving up two earned runs. He struck out a season-high eight batters over his six-plus innings.

But even Corbin’s best wasn’t enough to break the losing streak as the Nats fell to the Marlins 3-2 in front of 12,454 fans taking in Thursday’s matinee.

“Felt really good," Corbin said after the game. "I've been working on a lot of stuff, so it's good to see some results out there. But yeah, I felt pretty good. Just try to continue off this. It's been a tough week or so for us here. It stinks we didn't get the win, but guys are out there fighting and they'll come.”

It’s a sunny day in D.C., though still pretty chilly for late April. Not unlike the weather the Nationals will see in San Francisco this weekend.

But before they leave for a three-city road trip out west, in which they’ll play nine games in 10 days, the Nats have to take care of business against the Marlins to wrap up this homestand while trying to end a seven-game losing streak.

Patrick Corbin will once again take the mound for the Nationals while looking for some sign of improvement. The left-hander only completed 1 2/3 innings during his last start on Friday against the Giants and sports an 0-3 record with an 11.20 ERA and 2.561 WHIP on the season. Corbin went 1-2 with a 6.19 ERA in three starts against the Fish last year and is 5-5 with a 4.29 ERA in 15 career starts against Miami.

Left-hander Trevor Rogers makes the start for the Marlins this afternoon. Last year’s National League Rookie of the Year runner-up is 0-2 with a 3.26 ERA in four starts against the Nats in his career and is 0-3 with a 6.94 ERA over his first three starts this season.

MIAMI MARLINS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 54 degrees, wind 15 mph in from left field 

After the Nationals wrap up a 10-game homestand with today’s afternoon finale against the Marlins, they will board a plane to embark on a nine-game road trip out west.

First stop: San Francisco, to face a familiar foe in the Giants.

The Giants just swept a three-game series in D.C. last weekend, so the Nats will look to start their three-city road trip with some revenge by the Bay.

Manager Davey Martinez announced this morning he will be sticking with his regular rotation from the past week to lead his club on the mound this weekend, with Aaron Sanchez, Joan Adon and Josiah Gray scheduled to start the three games against the Giants.

As Martinez mentioned last week, Sanchez will get another chance to start after making his Nationals debut Saturday, also against the Giants, in which he gave up four runs and six hits over 4 1/3 innings. While that line doesn’t jump off the page, Sanchez did retire nine straight between the second and fourth innings. 

Lucius Fox thought it about more in previous games than he did Wednesday night. Yes, he knew he remained hitless to begin his big league career. It’s tough not to see those three zeros in succession listed right next to his oversized visage on the scoreboard at Nationals Park every time he steps to the plate. But he didn’t feel as much pressure as he did previously, thanks to a recent conversation with manager Davey Martinez.

Martinez told Fox he, too, knew what it was like to wait a while to record his first career hit. As a rookie outfielder for the Cubs in 1986, he went 0-for-11 before finally getting on the board in his seventh game.

Fox couldn’t believe it.

“Before me and Davey had that conversation, it’s been on my mind quite a bit. Every at-bat, to be honest with you,” he said. “But talking with Davey has instilled confidence in me. Let the game come to you. Don’t chase the game. It made me more relaxed. I’ve had better at-bats and made better contact.”

Maybe so, but Fox still doesn’t have that elusive hit on his major league register. After an 0-for-4 night during Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Marlins, he’s now 0-for-18 overall.

The idea was first broached late last summer, after the Nationals acquired Riley Adams from the Blue Jays and wondered if it might make sense to have him start learning how to play first base.

It continued in earnest this spring, with infield coaches Gary DiSarcina and Tim Bogar working with Adams at first base (when he wasn’t busy with his myriad catching responsibilities) and picked up as the regular season commenced, with Adams joining Josh Bell and Nelson Cruz taking grounders almost daily at the position.

And yet, as of 11:30 a.m. Sunday, the Nats did not have any immediate plans to actually play Adams at first base in a game. It would only happen, Davey Martinez insisted, in case of emergency.

“I talked to DiSarcina and Bogie, they still want some more time to work with him,” the manager said prior to Sunday’s series finale against the Giants. “So he’s going to work over there just in case something does happen.”

Well, at precisely 1:37 p.m., something did happen. Two pitches into the game, third baseman Lucius Fox tried to make his way back to the dugout but made it only near the pitcher’s mound before he had to bend over and vomit on the infield grass. Fox eventually was helped off the field as Maikel Franco shifted to third base. And because Josh Bell already was sidelined with a tight hamstring and Victor Robles was nursing a sore groin muscle, Adams wound up taking the field wearing a first baseman’s mitt for the first time in a major league game.

When looking for omens of what’s to come the rest of the afternoon at the ballpark, this one was impossible to miss.

Two pitches into today’s series finale at Nationals Park, third baseman Lucius Fox inexplicably began jogging from his position toward the home dugout in apparent distress. He made it only a few feet to the right of the pitcher’s mound before he realized he had no choice but to bend over and vomit right there on the infield grass in front of 26,003 fans watching in person and countless more watching on TV.

"Apparently he had a bit of a stomach flu," manager Davey Martinez said. "I guess it's going around. They gave him fluids before the game. He said he was good. He did everything. And then, as you could see, it wasn't good."

Two pitches after that, with the remnants of Fox’s pregame meal still visible near the mound and backup catcher Riley Adams now playing first base for the first time in his career, Joan Adon served up a leadoff homer to Joc Pederson.

Bench coach Tim Bogar "approached me right after the national anthem that Lucius wasn't feeling too hot," Adams said. "He told me pretty last-second there was a good chance I might sneak in there. And obviously it was one or two pitches in, and I had to go in."

Josh Bell isn’t in the Nationals’ lineup for today’s series finale against the Giants, but the slugger’s right hamstring injury doesn’t appear to be serious enough to keep him out for long.

Manager Davey Martinez said the MRI taken of Bell’s hamstring after he departed Saturday’s game was “pretty clean.” The club decided not to start him today – giving him two full days off because the Nats don’t play Monday – but he was planning to attempt to run pregame to test his leg and could therefore be available off the bench to pinch-hit if needed.

Even if Bell is available, the Nationals bench is woefully thin at the moment. He joins backup catcher Riley Adams and outfielder Victor Robles as the only non-starting position players on the roster this afternoon, with the team preferring to stick with a 16-man pitching staff for now.

There was some thought to calling up another position player from Triple-A Rochester before today’s game, but the team opted not to do that yet, based on Bell’s encouraging prognosis.

“We did think about bringing up somebody else,” Martinez said. “But after talking to Bell yesterday, we feel like if he’s even eligible to pinch-hit – which I think he will be – we could use him to pinch-hit later in the game. Right now, we’re just going to hold off and see how he feels.”

This homestand began in uplifting fashion, with the Nationals sweeping a day-night doubleheader from the Diamondbacks behind the strong performances of two young starting pitchers. Four consecutive losses later, the vibe has changed dramatically around here. Now the Nats need a win this afternoon just to avoid a series sweep at the hands of the Giants.

We usually focus on the pitching matchup, but let’s start today with the importance of a more well-balanced offensive performance from the Nationals. They’ve scored only nine runs over their last five games, totaling only 31 hits. That’s just not going to cut it, not unless they get ridiculously good pitching to overcome their own lack of scoring.

Seventeen games in, only two players sport an OPS over .750: Josh Bell (.955) and Juan Soto (.893). And Bell had to depart Saturday’s game with a tight hamstring, requiring an MRI this morning. That MRI came back "pretty clean," per Davey Martinez, but Bell won't be in today's lineup out of caution. It's possible he'll be available to pinch-hit later. The Nats simply can’t afford to lose their cleanup hitter for any length of time, but even if they don’t, they need other guys to start producing on a regular basis. They’ll try to get it going this afternoon against Logan Webb, who owns a 2.55 ERA through three starts this season and has yet to surrender a home run.

Martinez had his choice of starters for today’s game, because both Josiah Gray and Joan Adon were on schedule after pitching both ends of the aforementioned doubleheader. He selected Adon for this assignment, holding Gray back for Tuesday’s series opener against the Marlins. Adon was outstanding last time out, shutting out the D-backs on three hits for 6 1/3 innings, still the longest outing of the young season for the Nats. He’ll look to continue that positive momentum today and avoid the big inning that cost him in each of his first two starts.

The Giants, meanwhile, learned this morning outfielder Mike Yastrzemski tested positive for COVID-19. As of this moment, nobody else on either team is impacted, but San Francisco will be playing a man down this afternoon.

The Washington Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Aaron Sanchez from Triple-A Rochester and designated right-handed pitcher Patrick Murphy for assignment on Saturday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Sanchez, 29, went 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA (6 ER/15.0 IP), 10 strikeouts and five walks in three starts with Triple-A Rochester in 2022. In his most recent start, Sanchez allowed one earned run on seven hits in 6.0 innings pitched on April 17 vs. Buffalo (TOR).

Sanchez will make the start on Saturday afternoon against the San Francisco Giants. He made nine appearances (seven starts) for the Giants in 2021, going 1-1 with a 3.06 ERA and a .234 opponents’ batting average.

A veteran of seven Major League seasons and an American League All-Star in 2015, Sanchez is 35-34 with a 3.93 ERA in 159 games (103 starts) across those seven seasons. He was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft and eventually spent six Major League seasons (2014-19) with the Blue Jays before spending time with Houston (2019) and San Francisco (2021).

Murphy, 26, posted a 6.35 ERA in six games out of Washington’s bullpen in 2022.

This week started off nicely for the Nationals. They returned home after a seven-game road trip to an off-day on Monday that, thanks to a rainout, broke up a scheduled stretch of 18 games in 18 days to start the season.

The good fortune carried over into Tuesday, as they watched Josiah Gray and Joan Adon combine for 11 ⅔ innings of one-run ball between their two starts in a doubleheader sweep of the Diamondbacks. 

But since Tuesday, the Nats’ fortunes have changed. They have lost four straight, have seen more players bitten by the injury bug and needed to make a couple of roster moves to fill Saturday’s spot in the rotation.

Aaron Sanchez did perform well in his Nationals debut yesterday, earning himself another turn in the rotation despite a 5-2 loss to the Giants. Still not enough to say the bad luck of the last couple of days has passed, especially with Josh Bell leaving yesterday’s game after the second inning with right hamstring tightness.

Even so, they must continue through this grind of a season.

It’s a tough ask for any pitcher to come up to the big leagues and make a spot start. You’re usually facing an unfamiliar lineup and have done little preparation.

But Aaron Sanchez has been around the block a few times over his seven-year major league career. He had pitched in 159 games while making 103 starts with the Blue Jays, Astros and Giants before making his Nationals debut this afternoon.

And he’s familiar with his opponent, the Giants, who he pitched for last season, while also being on one extra day of rest from his last start with Triple-A Rochester on Sunday. So Nationals manager Davey Martinez liked the matchup for Sanchez to make a spot start.

Sanchez pitched admirably in this opportunity, but was done in by the bookends of his outing that only lasted 4 ⅓ innings en route to a 5-2 loss in front of 27,799 fans on a beautiful 73 degree day in the District.

"I thought I threw the ball well," Sanchez said in front of his new locker at Nationals Park after the game. "Early, they got a couple of hits that found holes. Mostly throughout most of the game, I felt like they found holes. Maybe two to three hard hit balls. But that's baseball. I felt like maybe in the fifth pitch selection could have been a little different now going back and looking at it. But I thought, for the most part, I threw the ball well."

While the Nationals enjoyed the off-day due to Monday’s rainout to break up a scheduled 18-day stretch of games to start the season, and while they enjoyed watching budding stars Josiah Gray and Joan Adon lead them to a doubleheader sweep of the Diamondbacks on Tuesday, this week’s schedule crunch created a dilemma for Saturday’s game against the Giants.

With the spot in the rotation open for this afternoon, manager Davey Martinez would have loved to use his secret weapon in Paolo Espino for the start. The right-hander had been stretched out as a starter in spring training and had pitched multiple innings in each of his first two outings of the season.

But after last night’s debacle in which Patrick Corbin only went 1 2/3 innings, Espino was needed to cover the last two innings of the game, taking him out of consideration to start Saturday.

With no other available arms, the Nationals needed to make a roster move. They selected the contract of right-hander Aaron Sanchez and officially announced him as today’s starting pitcher. In order to add Sanchez, the Nats also had to remove someone from the 40-man roster.

That someone was right-handed reliever Patrick Murphy, who was designated for assignment to clear space for Sanchez.

Hope you slept fast because we’re right back at Nationals Park for a rare early Saturday afternoon game. The Nationals are looking to bounce back after last night’s 7-1 series-opening loss to the Giants in which Patrick Corbin gave up seven runs in just 1 2/3 innings. 

The Nationals needed to make some changes to their roster this morning in order to bring up a pitcher for today’s start. Although Monday’s rainout gave the staff a needed break, Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Diamondbacks created a conundrum for today. And after Paolo Espino’s two innings of work last night, the Nats needed reinforcements for their second game against the Giants.

Aaron Sanchez, who made his way to D.C. from Triple-A Rochester last night, is set to make his Nationals debut against his former team. The 29-year-old right-hander is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in three starts with the Red Wings. He has a 3.93 ERA over his seven-year major league career, including a 1-1 record and 3.06 ERA over nine appearances (seven starts) with the Giants last year.

In order to select Sanchez's contract and make room on the 40-man roster, the Nats designated right-hander Patrick Murphy for assignment.

Manager Davey Martinez has made a significant change to the top of his lineup this afternoon. Lane Thomas is in the leadoff spot with César Hernández moving down to the sixth spot. After posting a .364 on-base percentage in 45 games with the Nats last year, Thomas gets his first chance to lead off this season.

In 17 seasons since Major League Baseball returned to Washington, the number of Nationals players who have been booed by home fans can possibly be counted on one hand. It’s just not a regular occurrence in these parts.

The number of players from the 2019 World Series roster that have ever been booed? Well, that number stood at zero until 7:53 p.m. tonight, when Patrick Corbin handed the ball over to Davey Martinez and made the long walk back to the dugout having just surrendered seven runs in 1 2/3 tortured innings to set the tone in what would end up a 7-1 loss to the Giants.

A crowd of 23,751, many of whom probably stood behind Corbin throughout his struggles in 2020, 2021 and his first three starts in 2022, finally decided not to hold back any longer. It wasn’t a thunderous round of boos from everyone in attendance – that was reserved for a questionable upholding of a third inning call that saw Juan Soto ruled out trying to stretch a double off the wall into a triple – but neither was it a smattering of boos from a few rogue individuals.

This was the moment those fans chose to voice their displeasure for Corbin, who may have won Game 7 in Houston with three scoreless innings of relief but since that glorious October night 2 1/2 years ago has been unequivocally the worst starting pitcher in baseball.

Corbin has now made 46 starts over the last three seasons. He has delivered 26 losses, most in the majors. He has produced a 5.81 ERA, highest in the majors. And he has compiled a 1.554 WHIP, worst in the majors by a longshot.

When Hunter Harvey first felt what he described as a cramp in his right forearm during Wednesday night’s relief appearance, he knew he now faced a serious dilemma. Should he let the Nationals know he might be hurt, or should he try to pitch through it, knowing he was quickly establishing himself as one of the more trusted members of Davey Martinez’s bullpen only two weeks after joining the club?

Throughout his career with the Orioles, Harvey tended to keep these things to himself. That got him nowhere, aside from the injured list, usually for months at a time.

This time, he decided to speak up immediately. And though he’s now on the 10-day IL with a right pronator strain, he believes the stint will be brief because it’s being addressed now and not later.

“I’ve had too many times where I’ve felt stuff like this that I told them: ‘I think I can pitch with it; I don’t think it would be a problem,’ ” Harvey said. “But I’ve pitched with stuff like this before, and I’ll start doing something different trying to protect it and then I’ll end up blowing something out.”

Martinez certainly appreciated Harvey’s willingness to be forthcoming with his injury, an approach plenty of players in his position wouldn’t take.

After a disappointing finish to their four-game series with the Diamondbacks, the Nationals tonight open a three-game weekend set with the Giants. The defending National League West champs are off to a strong 8-5 start, though they did just lose three of four to the Mets at Citi Field.

The Nats are still figuring out their pitching plans for Saturday and Sunday. Some of those plans may depend on how things go tonight. If Patrick Corbin can give them quality innings, they can probably save Paolo Espino to make a spot start Saturday. If Corbin gets knocked out early, Davey Martinez may have to use Espino out of the bullpen tonight, and that would probably require a roster move before Saturday’s game.

The Giants are using their own spot starter this evening: Left-hander Sam Long. He’s made three relief appearances, totaling 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Five of his 12 outings last year came as a starter, but it doesn’t appear he’s stretched out to go very far tonight.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 70 degrees, wind 6 mph in from center field

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

Davey Martinez knew this might happen. He’d been through a condensed, three-week spring training in 1995 following the end of the players’ strike, and he remembered the physical damage that caused, on pitchers in particular, once the season began later than originally planned.

So the last thing Martinez is right now is surprised. He had a hunch some pitchers wouldn’t be ready for the regular season grind after the short camp. And wouldn’t you know what happened?

First it was right-hander Mason Thompson, who landed on the 10-day injured list April 10 with biceps tendinitis. Then came the back-to-back blows this week: Sean Doolittle, who sprained his left elbow ligament, followed by Hunter Harvey, who has a pronator strain in his right forearm.

“When I went through this as a player in ’95, (for) a lot of these pitchers, April was pretty strenuous,” Martinez said. “I don’t know if it’s anything related to the short spring training, but you’ve got to look at (that), trying to ramp these guys up. That being said, this is the reason we tried to have so many different options, in case something like this would happen.”

Thompson pitched twice in the season’s first three days before he was placed on the IL. Doolittle pitched in six of the Nats’ first 12 games before telling club officials about the elbow pain that was growing worse. And Harvey, who pitched four times in 10 days after he was called up from Triple-A Rochester, reported physical issues following Wednesday night’s game. By Thursday afternoon, he joined the others on the IL.