The Washington Nationals are back in D.C. for a five-game homestand that opens with two games of the Beltway Series vs. the Baltimore Orioles, followed by a three-game set against the Miami Marlins. Single-game tickets start at just $9. Fans interested in purchasing tickets should visit nationals.com/Tickets.

The season’s 11th homestand features Hispanic Heritage and Roberto Clemente Day; kids Nationals Screech Handmade by Robots ™ Vinyl Figure giveaways; the season’s final Pups in the Park game; City Connect uniforms; Girl Scout Day; Value Day; Signature Sunday; Kids Run the Bases; and more.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 13 vs. BALTIMORE ORIOLES (7:05 PM)

·        Beltway Series presented by Inova

o   The Nationals will host their neighbors from the north as part of the annual Beltway Series presented by Inova when the Baltimore Orioles visit Nationals Park for a two-game set.

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – James Wood grew up about an hour away from Nationals Park in Olney, Md. He attended Nationals games while starting his high school career as a two-sport athlete at St. John’s College High School in D.C. before transferring to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., to focus on baseball.

When the Padres drafted him in the second round of last summer’s MLB Draft, he moved even further away from his hometown. But a little over a year later at this summer’s trade deadline, Wood found himself on his way back to his original neck of the woods as part of the five-prospect package the Padres put together to acquire Juan Soto and Josh Bell from the Nationals.

Wood entered the Nats system and was assigned to low Single-A Fredericksburg, which operates about an hour and half south of D.C. and places him back in a familiar region. And familiar traffic issues.

“It's nice. I'm like, what, I'm gonna say like an hour and 30 minutes (from home),” Wood said outside the FredNats clubhouse in left field at Virginia Credit Union Stadium. “I mean it really just depends on traffic. Like it could be an hour and 20 (minutes) to two hours. But just being able to really go home, if I need something from home, be able to stop by on off-day, just having my family here just about every game, it's real nice. So, I'm glad to be back home, glad to be close to family, close to home, all that stuff.”

Some players need an adjustment period when traded from one organization to another. Rarely do young prospects land near the city in which they grew up.

PHILADELPHIA – For the past three weeks, the Nationals had been playing a much more watchable brand of baseball, made possible in large part by a vast improvement in the field.

Having spent the vast majority of the season trotting out the majors’ worst defense, the Nats have seen that problem area morph into a real strength since the arrival of 21-year-old shortstop CJ Abrams, which allowed Luis García to move to his more natural position at second base, while journeyman Ildemaro Vargas became a rock-solid addition at third base.

Then came tonight’s 8-5 loss at Citizens Bank Park, in which the Nationals reverted back to all their worst habits from this now 91-loss season, from poor starting pitching to a lack of sustained offense to unsightly defense.

The defensive miscues stood out more than anything else, because this team had looked so impressive in the field during their recent upswing. Officially, the Nats were charged with two errors (one by Vargas, one by César Hernández) but that doesn’t come close to telling the full story.

"Our infield didn't throw the ball well today," manager Davey Martinez said. "But they've been playing really well, so I'm just going to chalk it up to one of those nights, and come back tomorrow."

PHILADELPHIA – Patrick Corbin and Noah Syndergaard, at their best, were high-strikeout pitchers. Double-digit totals were regular occurrences for both starters, back when Corbin was leading the Nationals and Syndergaard was leading the Mets deep into Octobers of yesteryear.

That’s not who either guy is right now, Corbin because he’s devolved into a shell of his former self, Syndergaard because he missed considerable time with major arm injuries.

So when they faced off tonight at Citizens Bank Park, the fast-paced ballgame that ensued featured precious few strikeouts, zero walks by either starter and a whole lot of early contact by both lineups.

The Phillies managed to make more out of their contact than the Nationals did, emerging with a 5-3 victory that left Corbin to suffer his 18th loss of the season.

Corbin, who allowed five runs and a whopping 12 hits over 6 2/3 innings despite throwing only 69 pitches, is the majors’ first 18-game loser since Chris Archer and James Shields each lost 19 in 2016. Barring a change in the Nats’ rotation plans, he’s on track to make four more starts this year as he attempts to avoid becoming the sport’s first 20-game loser in nearly two decades.

PHILADELPHIA – Keibert Ruiz’s season has likely come to an abrupt end after the Nationals placed their young catcher on the injured list with a testicular contusion that forced him to remain in a St. Louis hospital overnight after he was struck by a foul ball during the team’s series finale against the Cardinals.

Ruiz was discharged and was flying to Philadelphia late this afternoon to rejoin the Nationals, who formally placed him on the 10-day IL prior to tonight’s game against the Phillies. Manager Davey Martinez, though, said Ruiz has been instructed not to partake in any strenuous activities for three weeks, which leaves him almost no chance of making it back before the season ends in 26 days.

“We hope that he just continues to get better,” Martinez said. “We’ll see how he’s doing. But with everything going on, the doctors said he’s not able to do anything strenuous for three weeks. So we’re just going to take it day by day and take it from there.”

Martinez generally was encouraged about Ruiz’s progress in the last day and didn’t sound overly concerned about his long-term well-being. Assuming his season is over, the 24-year-old will finish with a .251 batting average, 22 doubles, seven homers, 36 RBIs and a .673 OPS across 433 plate appearances.

Ruiz enters the day having caught 106 games, second only to the Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto this season. He has thrown out 18 basestealers while also picking off four runners, giving him 22 total runners thrown out (again, second only to Realmuto among all major league catchers).

PHILADELPHIA – The first two legs of the Nationals’ three-city road trip went about as well as anyone could’ve reasonably expected, and that’s even with Wednesday night’s disastrous bottom of the ninth in St. Louis. They still managed to win two of three against the Mets, then split a four-game series with the Cardinals. Now they arrive at Citizens Bank Park for a three-game weekend set with the Phillies, who aren’t in first place of their division the way the other two teams were, but are very much in the thick of the wild card race.

As expected, the Nats did make roster moves before tonight’s game, with Keibert Ruiz landing on the 10-day injured list with a testicular contusion after his scary incident with a foul ball Thursday afternoon. To fill his spot, 22-year-old catching prospect Israel Pineda had his contract selected from Triple-A Rochester, getting his first promotion to the big leagues. Jordan Weems was also recalled from Rochester, while Jake McGee was designated for assignment.

The Nationals have been scoring runs during their recent upswing, and they’ll try to continue that tonight against veteran Noah Syndergaard, who gave up four runs on 11 hits when they met each other here last month. Also remember: Syndergaard has long been one of the worst pitchers in baseball at holding runners on base, so look for the Nats to run when they have the opportunity.

Patrick Corbin, meanwhile, returns to the site of one of his worst starts of the year, one of two in which he didn’t complete the first inning. He’s been much better since, and tonight he looks for his third straight win against a Phillies lineup that surprisingly doesn’t include Bryce Harper (who has struggled since coming off the IL).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Citizens Bank Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly clear, 79 degrees, wind 8 mph out to left field

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."