If you thought this week was long already, Friday’s games aren’t even over yet. Let’s play two!

After this afternoon’s 5-3 loss to the Phillies, in which Joan Adon covered five innings on 97 pitches and Evan Lee covered one inning on 31 pitches, the Nationals will need a total team effort to snap this six-game losing streak. The pitching hasn’t been great and the offense came into today averaging 2.6 runs per game this week.

Paolo Espino gets the assignment for the nightcap, trying to provide the home team with as much length as possible as well as the Nats' first quality start since June 5. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA and 1.022 WHIP in 21 appearances this season. He’s making his second straight start after giving up just one run and four hits with two strikes over 3 ⅔ innings against the Brewers. He threw 53 pitches on Sunday, so he’ll be pushed beyond that tonight.

The Phillies are calling up 25-year-old Bailey Falter from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to start tonight. In six major league appearances this season, the left-hander is 0-2 with a 4.20 ERA and 1.467 WHIP. In his two starts, he is 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA and 1.565 WHIP. Falter has been fantastic at Triple-A, however, pitching to a 1.54 ERA and 0.686 WHIP in five starts with Lehigh Valley.

Tonight officially kicks off Ryan Zimmerman Weekend here at Nationals Park. Gates open for all fans around 6 p.m. There are on-field and social media Q&A sessions with former players at 6 p.m. and an on-field Q&A session with Zimmerman at 6:20 p.m. Plus, the first 25,000 fans age 21+ will receive a Ryan Zimmerman Employee No. 11 T-shirt.

Needing a fresh arm to help get them through today’s day-night doubleheader, the Nationals recalled right-hander Cory Abbott from Triple-A and optioned reliever Andres Machado to Rochester.

Abbott was today’s scheduled starter for Rochester in Scranton, so he’s available for length should the Nats need it either in relief of Game 1 starter Joan Adon or nightcap starter Paolo Espino.

“The biggest thing was bringing up a guy who could give us multiple innings if need be,” manager Davey Martinez said.

Abbott, 26, has big-league experience, pitching seven games last season for the Cubs, allowing 13 earned runs on 20 hits and 11 walks over 17 1/3 innings. The Giants acquired him in April, then the Nationals claimed him off waivers in May and sent him to Triple-A to pitch as both a starter and reliever.

In six games spanning 13 innings for Rochester, Abbott allowed 13 runs on 17 hits, walking nine but striking out 18.

The longest, toughest homestand that would never end continues today with a day-night doubleheader, a byproduct of the opening week of games that was lost when Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association couldn’t finalize their new collective bargaining agreement in time to start the season as scheduled.

The Nationals actually won the first two games of this 11-game homestand, beating the Brewers behind some offensive firepower. But since then they’ve lost five in a row, including Thursday night’s blowout loss to the Phillies.

So that leaves four more games over the next three days, with two on tap today. First up is Joan Adon vs. Ranger Suárez at 1:05 p.m. Then comes Paolo Espino vs. Bailey Falter at 7:05 p.m.

What kind of shape is the Nationals pitching staff in at this point? It’s not great. That’s what happens when your starters combine for only 19 2/3 innings during this five-game losing streak. Yes, on average they’ve been getting fewer than four innings from their starters during this stretch.

Given all that, manager Davey Martinez suggested after Thursday night’s loss the team might need to bring in another fresh arm before today’s game. Adon will serve as the 27th man for the doubleheader, so any other roster additions would have to be accompanied by roster reductions.

That the Nationals are losing games at this rate, though disappointing and frustrating, is not necessarily surprising. This week – with eight games in seven days against the red-hot Braves and Phillies – always loomed as a potential landmine for an overmatched home ballclub.

What is so striking about recent events here is not that the Nats are losing so much, but that they’re losing by so much. Tonight’s 10-1 trouncing at the hands of the Phillies should be an outlier, a rare lopsided game. Instead, it is the absolute norm for this team.

Over their last 17 games, a stretch that began May 30 in New York, the Nationals have trailed at some point by five or more runs a staggering 11 times. They’ve trailed by seven or more runs seven times. And with tonight added to the list, they’ve now trailed by nine or more runs four times.

They’re not just playing bad baseball. They’re playing uncompetitive baseball, facing deficits too large to contemplate overcoming before even reaching the fifth inning many nights.

"You usually try to stay mentally tough and locked in, no matter what the circumstance, if you fall behind early," second baseman Cesár Hernández said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "We have had a few games, but we have the talent to fight and get back in the games. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to lately. But the talent is on the field."

Needing to get through the final leg of a brutal 14-games-in-13-days stretch, the Nationals have decided to recall Joan Adon from Triple-A Rochester and start the right-hander in the opener of Friday’s doubleheader against the Phillies.

Paolo Espino will start the nightcap, making left-hander Evan Lee available to pitch out of the bullpen whenever needed.

The choice of Adon may come as a surprise to those who just saw the Nationals demote the rookie eight days ago after he went 1-10 with a 6.95 ERA in 12 starts to begin the season, but the club was in a dire enough situation to necessitate his recall.

With 18 scheduled innings on tap Friday, the Nats were reluctant to use a pair of starters (Espino and Lee) who haven’t been extended yet to throw more than five innings at best. Adon, who reached the sixth inning in three of his starts, is good to throw at least 90 pitches, taking some pressure off the bullpen for the doubleheader.

“Adon’s been stretched out, so we’re going to pitch him in Game 1,” said manager Davey Martinez, adding that Adon will be the designated 27th man for the doubleheader, suggesting he’ll be sent back to Rochester after the game.

The National League East has not been kind to the Nationals so far in 2022. At this point, they’ve gone an atrocious 5-20 against division foes this season, including nine straight losses to the Mets, Marlins and Braves. And tonight they face a red-hot Phillies club for the first time in the opener of a rare five-game series on South Capitol Street.

Having just been beaten up by the Braves, the Nats must now try to find a way to contain an explosive Phillies lineup that ranks second in the NL in homers and third in OPS. It’s imperative that Patrick Corbin keep the ball in the yard tonight, and he has actually been better at that this year, with only nine homers surrendered in 13 starts (after giving up a club record 37 in 31 starts last year).

Above all else, Corbin needs to provide innings. Like Erick Fedde on Wednesday night, Corbin will be throwing 100-110 pitches no matter what. It’s only a question of how many innings he can stretch those pitches into in advance of Friday’s day-night doubleheader.

Juan Soto returns to the lineup tonight after missing the last two games with bruised right knee.

Zack Wheeler, who since signing with the Phillies in 2020 has developed into one of the most consistently effective starters in the league, gets the ball tonight. The Nationals actually had some success against him last season, though, beating him three times in six starts while scoring 18 runs in 36 2/3 innings.

As soon as it was placed on the schedule, this was always a possibility. You just have to hope that everything goes well leading up to it.

Once Major League Baseball released the updated 2022 schedule after the first week of the regular season was canceled due to the lockout, the Nationals must have circled this weekend on their calendar.

One of the two games against the Phillies that was originally scheduled for early April was rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader on Friday, the back end of an 11-game homestand over 10 days. Not to mention it’s Ryan Zimmerman Weekend at Nationals Park.

So yeah, a long weekend.

On the field, the Nationals need help for and from their pitching staff to get through these next five games.

This week hasn’t been pleasant to the Nationals. After starting this homestand with two big wins over the Brewers, it’s been all downhill since.

Looking to avoid their third sweep in as many weeks, the Nationals dropped another dud in the form of an 8-2 loss to the Braves in front of 21,153 fans at Nationals Park.

The Nats had nothing going against Braves starter Spencer Strider. The rookie brought his good stuff to his fourth straight start, putting away hitters with his triple-digit fastball and sharp slider.

Strider’s fastball averaged 98.8 mph and topped out at 100.9 mph, with the Nats swinging late on it all night. Then the slider was a great putaway pitch as it was thrown for strikes 43 percent of the time.

“He was good. He hit 100-101 (mph)," manager Davey Martinez said after the game. "But more so his breaking ball was good and he threw it for strikes. When a guy's like that, he's tough locating his fastball. He was tough."

The Nationals have already had a rough start to the week with Stephen Strasburg’s injury news, a worn out bullpen and three straight losses at home, including the first two games of this three-game set against the Braves. The last thing they need is for their best player to miss time due to a freak injury in the dugout.

But that’s exactly what they have as Juan Soto is not in the starting lineup for the second straight game after slipping in the dugout and banging his right knee on the corner of a bench in the eighth inning of Monday night’s game.

Soto was seen in the Nationals clubhouse before batting practice walking around with a slight limp in his step. He was going to test it out in the cage before making a decision on whether or not he would play, even though he told manager Davey Martinez he’s feeling better.

“He says he feels better, but we'll see,” Martinez said during his pregame session with the media before a starting lineup was announced.

What do the Nationals want to see Soto do before putting him back in the field?

Well, this week has not started off well for the Nationals. After starting this 11-games-in-10-days homestand with two impressive wins against the Brewers over the weekend, the Nats have dropped three straight by a combined score of 23-10, including the first two games of this series against the division rival Braves. Not to mention all of the injury and roster news from the past 48 hours …

As they look to avoid a three-game sweep, the Nats will turn to Erick Fedde to be the stopper, something he actually has done a handful of times this season. The Nationals have won seven of the 12 games Fedde has started this season, with the right-hander going 4-4 with a 4.87 ERA. Of those seven wins, five of them were the only victories the Nationals secured in those respective series (against the Mets, Pirates, Rockies, Astros and Dodgers). And his most recent start against the Brewers stopped a three-game losing streak after the Nationals were swept out of Miami last week.

He’ll try to do it again tonight.

The Braves will send one of the National League’s best rookies in Spencer Strider to the mound for just his fourth start in his 15th appearance this season. The 23-year-old right-hander is 2-2 with a 1.122 WHIP and 2.35 ERA, which is third-best among qualified major league rookies. Strider’s three starts have come in his last three outings, over which he allowed four earned runs in 14 innings while striking out 20 and issuing just eight walks. He gave up one run on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings of relief against the Nats on April 11 in Atlanta.

Juan Soto is not in the lineup for the second straight game. The star right fielder slipped in the dugout and banged his right knee on the corner of a bench in the eighth inning of Monday night’s game. Manager Davey Martinez told reporters yesterday Soto’s X-ray came back clean, but today said the knee is still sore. Martinez also said during his pregame media session that Soto could be available off the bench.

Reed Garrett got the call around midnight on Tuesday, having only just arrived in Scranton, Pa., with his Triple-A Rochester teammates a few hours earlier. The Nationals were calling him and fellow reliever Francisco Perez up, and because there weren’t any good flight options, his best bet was to rent a car and make the four-hour drive to Washington.

So it was that Garrett found himself behind the wheel, with Perez riding shotgun, on the road to D.C., then eventually into Tuesday night’s game against the Braves. It may have sounded like a stressful trip to some, but for the 29-year-old right-hander, it sure beat the travels he endured the last two seasons.

“Reflecting on it, it’s been a wild journey,” he said. “But it’s all been worth it.”

The journey began in Henrico, Va., where Garrett was born. It included life growing up in the Richmond area rooting for the Braves, though he believes the first major league game he ever attended was at RFK Stadium to see the Nationals.

A 16th round pick of the Rangers in 2014 out of Virginia Military Institute, Garrett would be selected by the Tigers in the 2019 Rule 5 draft and make his major league debut that season, only to be sent back to Texas after 13 disappointing appearances.

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 Jackson Tetreault (TAY-troh) from Triple-A Rochester

·       Selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Reed Garrett from Triple-A Rochester

·       Recalled left-handed pitcher Francisco Pérez from Triple-A Rochester

·       Placed right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg on the 15-day Injured List (retroactive to 6/11) with a stress reaction of the ribs

In a season that's already featured more than a fair share of bad days, Monday was about as bad as it gets for the Nationals. Between injuries to star players, a rain delay, altered pitching plans and a 9-5 loss to the Braves, nothing went right for the club.

And now the Nats have to pick up the pieces from all that and take the field against the red-hot Braves again tonight, with the rest of this 11-games-in-10-days homestand still looming.

Here’s a rundown of what needs to be sorted out before today is over …

* How’s Stephen Strasburg?
Davey Martinez didn’t want to offer up any update on Strasburg late Monday night: “We’ll talk about Stephen tomorrow, if that’s OK,” the manager said. “I’ll know a lot more tomorrow about Stephen.”

Chances are, Martinez already knew something about the results of the MRI performed on Strasburg earlier in the day. But given all the other fires he was trying to put out after a game that nearly ended at midnight, he didn’t want to go into any more detail yet.

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

• Recalled left-handed pitcher Evan Lee from Double- A Harrisburg
• Recalled infielder Luis García from Triple-A Rochester
• Placed shortstop Alcides Escobar on the 10-day Injured List with a right hamstring strain
• Optioned right-handed pitcher Francisco Pérez to Triple-A Rochester

Lee, 24, went 0-3 with a 3.60 ERA in seven games (seven starts) for Double-A Harrisburg, striking out 37 batters in 30.0 innings pitched. He opened the season strong, pitching to a 1.86 ERA (4 ER/19.1 IP) and a .182 opponents’ batting average (12-for-66) through his first five starts. Lee is Washington’s No. 17 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com and the No. 20 prospect, per Baseball America.

In 2021, Lee ranked among Nationals Minor Leaguers (min. 70.0 IP) in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (3^rd, 12.2), opponents’ batting average (3^rd, .239), home runs allowed per 9.0 innings (3^rd, 0.70), fielding independent pitching (3^rd, 3.60), groundball rate (4^th, 47.8%) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (5^th, 3.25). Lee went 4-3 with a 4.32 ERA in 21 games (20 starts) for High-A Wilmington. He was named High-A East Pitcher of the Week (Sept. 21) after tossing 6.0 shutout innings with one hit and seven strikeouts on Sept. 2 at Brooklyn.

Lee, a two-way player (LHP/OF/1B) at the University of Arkansas, was selected in the 15th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft. He is the 22^nd pitcher drafted, signed and developed by the Nationals (2005-pres.) to start a game for Washington. He is 7-8 with a 3.79 ERA, 186 strikeouts and 68 walks in 42 career Minor League outings across four professional seasons.

García, 22, joins the Nationals after recording a .314/.368/.531 slash line with six doubles, four triples, eight home runs, 32 RBI, 16 walks, one stolen base and 39 runs scored in 42 games for Triple-A Rochester. He ranked in Washington’s system in triples (2^nd, 4), batting average (3^rd, .314), home runs (3^rd, 8), RBI (3^rd, 32), slugging percentage (3^rd, .531), OPS (3^rd, .899), runs (3^rd, 39), extra-base hits (4^th, 18) and on-base percentage (8^th, .368). García was named International League Player of the Week on April 18 after leading the league in hits (14), batting average (.519), and total bases (23) across six games from April 12-17. He recorded five multi-hit efforts in those six games.

The Washington Nationals recalled right-handed pitcher Andres Machado from Triple-A Rochester and placed left-handed pitcher Josh Rogers on the 15-day Injured List with a left shoulder impingement on Friday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. 

Machado, 29, joins the Nationals for his third Major League stint this season. In 10 relief appearances during the month of April, he recorded a 2.45 ERA (3 ER/11.0 IP) with eight strikeouts, five walks and held opposing batters to a .211 average (8-for-38). Machado has pitched to a 5.40 ERA with 10 strikeouts and seven walks in 12 games out of the Nationals’ bullpen this season. He has provided scoreless relief in five of the 12 outings.

Rogers, 27, has pitched to a 5.13 ERA in 16 games (three starts) for the Nationals in 2022.

The Washington Nationals placed right-handed pitcher Víctor Arano on the 15-day Injured List with a left knee inflammation and reinstated infielder/outfielder Dee Strange-Gordon from the Paternity List on Monday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Arano, 27, has appeared in 24 games out of Washington’s bullpen, tied for the most on the club this season. He has recorded a 5.01 ERA, one save, 25 strikeouts and just four walks in 23.1 innings pitched. He posted a 1.64 ERA (2 ER/11.0 IP) with 14 strikeouts and two walks in 11 appearances during the month of April.

Strange-Gordon, 34, hit .293 with one double, one triple, two RBI, three stolen bases and six runs scored in 22 games for the Nationals prior to being placed on the Paternity List on June 3.

The Washington Nationals returned from rehabilitation assignment and reinstated infielder/outfielder Ehire Adrianza from the 60-day Injured List and optioned infielder Lucius Fox to Triple-A Rochester on Tuesday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Adrianza, 32, hit .364 with two doubles, two homers, five RBI, four walks, one stolen base and six runs scored in 11 rehabilitation games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. He appeared at shortstop (5 G), third base (5 G), designated hitter (2 G) and second base (1 G).

Adrianza appeared in 109 games for the Atlanta Braves in 2021, hitting .247 with nine doubles, two triples, five homers, 28 RBI, 21 walks and 32 runs scored. In 72 pinch-hit plate appearances, he led Major League pinch hitters in extra-base hits (8), hits (16) and doubles (5). He was second in homers (3) and RBI (12).

A veteran of nine Major League seasons, Adrianza has hit .244 with 72 doubles, nine triples, 21 home runs, 142 RBI, 115 walks, 18 stolen bases and 175 runs scored in 575 career games. He began his career with the San Francisco Giants (2013–16) before spending time with the Minnesota Twins (2017–20) and the Atlanta Braves (2021). Adrianza won two World Series, 2014 with San Francisco and most recently 2021 with Atlanta.

Fox, 24, did not appear in a game for the Nationals during this stint on the Major League roster.

The Washington Nationals recalled left-handed pitcher Sam Clay from Triple-A Rochester and optioned right-handed pitcher Joan Adon to Triple-A Rochester on Wednesday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. 

Clay, 28, joins the Nationals for his third Major League stint this season. In 15 relief appearances for Rochester, he recorded a 1.26 ERA (2 ER/14.1 IP) with 12 strikeouts, five walks and held opposing batters to a .204 average (11-for-54). Clay tossed scoreless relief in 14 of the 15 outings. He has appeared in five games out of the Nationals’ bullpen this season.

Adon, 23, went 1-10 with a 6.95 ERA in 12 starts for the Nationals in 2022.

The Washington Nationals returned from rehabilitation assignment and reinstated right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg from the 10-day Injured List and optioned left-handed pitcher Sam Clay to Triple-A Rochester on Thursday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Strasburg, 33, went 1-1 with a 1.98 ERA in three rehab starts between Single-A Fredericksburg and Triple-A Rochester. He struck out 13 batters, walked six and allowed four hits in 13.2 innings pitched. Strasburg made his final rehab start on June 3 vs. Buffalo, allowing just one hit in 6.0 innings with four strikeouts and one walk.

Strasburg is Washington’s all-time (2005-pres.) leader in starts (246), wins (113) and strikeouts (1,718). Since his debut in 2010, Strasburg ranks among Major League starting pitchers (min. 1,400.0 IP) in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (3^rd, 10.55), opponents’ slugging percentage (3^rd, .353), opponents’ OPS (4^th, .634), strikeout-to-walk ratio (6^th, 4.38), opponents’ batting average (5^th, .223), opponents’ on-base percentage (5^th, .280), walks and hits per innings pitched (5^th, 1.09), ERA (6^th, 3.21) and strikeouts (11^th, 1,718).

Clay, 28, did not appear in a game during his most recent Major League stint.