The Nationals haven’t won a series opener since May 3, more than three weeks ago at this point. Their opponent that evening: The Rockies, with Germán Márquez on the mound for a 10-2 victory. Guess who’s in town for a four-game series beginning tonight? And guess who’s on the mound?

Yep, the Nats will try to duplicate that earlier feat against Márquez and the Rockies, who after a surprising start to the season have lost 12 of their last 16. Following a brutal stretch against some really tough competition, the Nationals will hope to take advantage of a more favorable matchup this weekend.

The lineup again features Keibert Ruiz in the No. 2 spot, ahead of the struggling Juan Soto and the surging Nelson Cruz. It also includes Dee Strange-Gordon at shortstop for the fourth time in six games, an interesting development.

Patrick Corbin gets the start, and he likewise will be looking to duplicate his performance the last time he faced the Rockies. One night after that series-opening win at Coors Field, Corbin tossed a complete game, allowing five runs (three earned) all in the bottom of the fourth and posting zeros the rest of the way during a 5-2 loss.

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: Cloudy, 74 degrees, wind 9 mph out to left field

The story of Wednesday’s 1-0 victory surely was the performance of the Nationals pitching staff, which became the first to shut out the Dodgers lineup in nine months. And specifically the Nats bullpen, which tossed three scoreless innings with zero margin for error and wound up stranding runners on base in each of those frames, including in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth.

It served as a reminder what this bullpen is capable of doing, when given the opportunity to be used as intended all along.

“I’ve said it before: We get some starting pitching, we get deep – deep to me is somewhere in that sixth inning or so – and we got the lead, our bullpen can hold us down,” manager Davey Martinez said afterward. “Today was an example of that with a really good team and a really good lineup.”

Erick Fedde’s six strong innings allowed everything else to fall into place, with Carl Edwards Jr. taking over for the seventh, Kyle Finnegan for the eighth and Tanner Rainey for the ninth.

Truth be told, though, the bullpen’s performance didn’t come out of nowhere. This unit has been performing well all season, with a couple of notable exceptions.

Instead of writing more of the same stuff after back-to-back blowout losses to the Dodgers, let’s take a look at what actually turned out to be an eventful night on the Nationals farm.

Major leaguers started rehab assignments, top prospects were in action and, unfortunately, a top player suffered an injury.

Manager Davey Martinez didn’t have updates immediately after last night’s game, so expect more information to come out later today …

* Let’s start with Stephen Strasburg, who made his first rehab start with low Single-A Fredericksburg while making his way back from last summer’s thoracic outlet surgery.

Strasburg was scheduled to go four innings and/or 60 pitches with the FredNats, but he reached the pitch count before he could finish the third inning.

It was going to be the headline one way or another: Josiah Gray facing the Dodgers for the first time since last summer’s trade deadline.

The other reunions happened last night. Keibert Ruiz went 0-for-4 in his first game against the Dodgers, and Trea Turner and Daniel Hudson received a joint tribute video in their return to Nationals Park.

Tuesday night was Gray’s turn. And it wasn’t a ceremonious occasion.

Gray was rudely greeted by his former club in the form of a 9-4 loss in front of 22,418 fans at his new home ballpark. It was the second straight blowout loss the Nationals suffered at the hands of the Dodgers to start this three-game series and seven-game homestand.

Unlike his last time out against the Marlins, Gray’s game plan and execution didn’t work against some of his former teammates, who saw him very well at the plate. The ability to knock him around and make loud contact drove the Nats starter’s pitch count up, setting up a short outing no matter what adjustments were made.

It’s not any easy task asked of Josiah Gray tonight. To face the team that traded him and his catcher, Keibert Ruiz, away last summer and also boasts one of the best lineups in the major leagues.

But that’s what manager Davey Martinez is going to ask of the young right-hander as the Nationals face the Dodgers in the second game of a three-game series on South Capitol Street.

Gray and Ruiz, of course, were the top two prospects included in the four-player package sent from Los Angeles to Washington in exchange for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner last summer. That deal comes full circle this week in the Dodgers’ first trip to D.C. since the blockbuster trade.

On the hill at the start of the game will be Gray, with Ruiz behind the plate and batting second for the third straight game. Batting third in top of the first inning will be Turner, in the Dodgers’ gray uniform.

Ruiz and Turner had their time to soak in the moment of playing their former clubs yesterday. Gray gets his chance tonight, with Martinez hoping he stays focused.

The reunion tour continues tonight at Nats Park when the Nationals and Dodgers play the second game of this three-game set.

Monday night saw Trea Turner and Daniel Hudson return to D.C. for the first time since last summer’s selloff (although Hudson didn’t enter the game). Tonight, it will be Josiah Gray and Keibert Ruiz’s turn to face off against their former team together. While Gray takes the mound for the first time against the Dodgers, Ruiz went 0-for-4 last night in his first action against L.A.

Gray went 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and 1.500 WHIP in eight innings over two appearances (one start) with the Dodgers last year before getting shipped off to Washington as part of the four-player package in exchange for Max Scherzer and Turner. In 20 career starts with the Nats, he’s 6-5 with a 4.92 ERA and 1.311 WHIP, including 4-3 with a 4.36 ERA and 1.269 WHIP in eight starts this season.

The Dodgers will counter with right-hander Walker Buehler, who is now tied with teammate Tyler Anderson (and six others, including Scherzer) in the league lead with five wins after the left-hander’s dominant performance on South Capitol Street last night. Buehler has the 11th-best ERA in the National League at 2.89 and is 1-1 with a 2.33 ERA in four career outings (three starts) against the Nats.

César Hernández is back in the leadoff spot after Lane Thomas led off last night. Thomas is in center field and batting eighth. We will check on Victor Robles after he came out of the Monday's game with a calf cramp.

You’ll see a familiar face in the MASN booth tonight, as Ryan Zimmerman will join Bob Carpenter, Kevin Frandsen and Dan Kolko for tonight’s broadcast. Pregame coverage starts with “Nats Xtra” at 6:30 p.m., followed by a scheduled first pitch at 7:05 p.m., all on MASN2.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 60 degrees, wind 9 mph in from right-center field

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Juan Soto
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Josh Bell
LF Yadiel Hernandez
3B Maikel Franco
CF Lane Thomas
SS Dee Strange-Gordon

RHP Josiah Gray

DODGERS
RF Mookie Betts
1B Freddie Freeman
SS Trea Turner
C Will Smith
2B Max Muncy
3B Justin Turner
DH Edwin Ríos
CF Chris Taylor
LF Gavin Lux

RHP Walker Buehler

As the latest tribute video for a pair of key members of the 2019 World Series team wrapped up just prior to Monday night’s game at Nationals Park, the crowd of 22,423 applauded and Trea Turner and Daniel Hudson each waved back in appreciation to the fans.

It was a nice moment, but hardly anything that gave anyone in the park goosebumps.

Nor was the moment a short while later when Turner stepped to the plate to bat for the first time as a visiting player in his former home ballpark. Some in the crowd stood and applauded. Some remained seated and barely moved a muscle.

The ovation, if you want to call it that, wasn’t loud enough or sustained enough to provoke Turner to step out of the box and tip his helmet to everyone.

Not that fans here don’t like Turner. Not that he left the team on bad terms. Quite the contrary. He always expressed an interest in staying here long term, but when the Nationals front office decided to sell last July, Turner was lumped in with Max Scherzer and traded to the Dodgers for four prospects.

Trea Turner sat in the third base dugout at Nationals Park, a visiting player here for the first time, and considered how few former teammates of his still call the first base dugout home.

“You look at the box score, and you see so many different names that I never played with,” the Dodgers shortstop said this afternoon. “A lot has changed, but that’s what happens in the business of baseball. There is turnover, and there’s guys trying to prove themselves and earn their spot, and that’s what’s going on over there.”

That is indeed what’s going on over there, the championship Nationals franchise Turner used to play for now a shell of its old self, with a handful of young players joining a bunch of placeholder veterans in slogging their way through a miserable opening two months to a rebuilding season.

Over on Turner’s new side, the Dodgers remain stacked with the most star-studded roster in the majors, going all-in once again in pursuit of another World Series title two years after they ended a 32-year championship drought.

The disparity could not have been more striking than it was during tonight’s series opener, which saw the Dodgers rock Joan Adon and Austin Voth for nine combined runs while the Nationals couldn’t so much as produce a single baserunner against Tyler Anderson until the sixth inning during a 10-1 steamrolling.

For the second straight day, the Nationals have someone new batting in a key spot at the top of their lineup.

Following Sunday’s decision to move Keibert Ruiz up to the No. 2 position in Milwaukee, manager Davey Martinez decided to bump Lane Thomas up to the leadoff role for tonight’s series opener against the Dodgers.

It’s only the second time this season Thomas has hit leadoff for the Nationals, but it’s hardly foreign territory for him. He started 39 games in the No. 1 position after his acquisition last summer from the Cardinals and produced an eye-opening .852 OPS from that spot.

Martinez had been thinking about giving Thomas another chance to bat leadoff against left-handers, and with Tyler Anderson starting tonight for Los Angeles, the manager felt this was the right moment to try it out.

“He’s swinging the bat well,” Martinez said of Thomas, who went 5-for-12 with two doubles, a triple and a homer over the weekend against the Brewers. “He hits lefties really well. For me, it’s just trying to get him up there against this lefty. … It’s something I thought about last night after looking at everything. I feel very comfortable with him leading off. He did it last year and did well. So with him and moving Keibert up to two, let’s see what happens.”

Reunion Month continues for the Nationals this weekend. Already in May they’ve faced Anthony Rendon and Dusty Baker for the first time as opponents, and now they’ll be facing Trea Turner and Daniel Hudson over the next three days with their new club.

Turner, as you’d expect, is smack dab in the middle of the Dodgers lineup, batting third behind Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. (Avert your eyes if seeing a 1-2-3 like that makes you shudder.) Hudson, meanwhile, continues to pitch well, with a 2.57 ERA and 0.857 WHIP in 14 appearances out of the bullpen, with two saves to his name as well. Both members of the 2019 World Series roster should receive a lot of love from the Nationals Park crowd all weekend.

As for the home team, Davey Martinez is sticking with most of the lineup that scored eight runs Sunday in Milwaukee, with Keibert Ruiz (facing the Dodgers for the first time) again batting second and Juan Soto batting third. Nelson Cruz returns after departing Sunday’s game with a sprained right ankle.

The one significant change is atop the order, with Lane Thomas batting leadoff and César Hernández bumped down to the No. 8 spot. Thomas, as noted in this morning’s blog post, had a really nice weekend in Milwaukee, and it sounds like he could get more opportunities to hit leadoff moving forward, especially against left-handers like Los Angeles’ Tyler Anderson.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB Network (outside D.C. and L.A. markets), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Rain arriving, 68 degrees, wind 7 mph in from left field

MILWAUKEE – Some more thoughts, observations and reactions following Sunday’s 8-2 victory over the Brewers, which allowed the Nationals to avoid a weekend sweep at American Family Field …

* As much attention as was given to Juan Soto, Keibert Ruiz, Nelson Cruz and Josh Bell, the member of the Nats lineup who might have had the most significant weekend actually was Lane Thomas.

The 26-year-old outfielder started all three games and went 5-for-12 with two doubles, a triple and a homer. Along the way, he raised his batting average from .202 to .228, his on-base percentage from .255 to .273 and his slugging percentage from .270 to .356.

“Man, I feel like I just see the ball well here,” he said. “And I figured out some timing stuff and just getting back in my legs and seeing the ball a little deeper, so hopefully that stays on track, too. But it just felt good to see the ball well and take some good swings.”

It’s been a rough season to date for Thomas, who after an eye-opening, 45-game audition last August and September hasn’t been able to recapture the magic and has lost considerable playing time in the process.

MIAMI – Lane Thomas arrived in D.C. last summer after a trade with the Cardinals for Jon Lester. He was one of 12 prospects the Nationals received in return for selling off eight of their veteran players. Of those prospects, he’s now one of four currently impacting the major league roster.

In 45 games with the Nationals during last season’s second half, Thomas slashed .270/.364/.489 with an .853 OPS, 33 runs scored, 14 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 27 RBIs, four stolen bases and 27 walks. Meanwhile, Lester (who went 3-5 with a 5.02 ERA in 16 starts with the Nats) went 4-1 with a 4.36 ERA in 12 starts with the Cards before retiring over the offseason.

The trade was a steal for the Nationals.

In fact, Thomas played so well, he replaced former top prospect Victor Robles full-time in center field and the leadoff spot. Robles, of course, was sent down to Triple-A Rochester and never returned to the majors in 2021.

This year, however, their roles have changed. With Robles expected to be the full-time center fielder and Thomas full-time in left coming into the season, they are now sharing time in center while Yadiel Hernandez stays hot at the plate and mans left field.

DENVER – Josh Rogers is the only left-hander in the Nationals bullpen right now, a product of Sean Doolittle’s elbow injury and the inconsistent performances of Sam Clay and Francisco Pérez, which resulted in the recent demotion of both relievers to Triple-A Rochester.

Rogers is pitching out of the bullpen for the first time in his career, having been moved out of the rotation because of his struggles there. So all this is new for the 27-year-old.

If there’s one thing the Nats want from Rogers in this role, though, it’s for him to consistently get left-handed batters out. And in that regard, he’s been excellent. Lefties are a measly 1-for-21 against him this season, equating to a miniscule .048 batting average.

Rogers is not, however, the old-fashioned left-handed relief specialist from days of yore. With all relievers now required to face three batters (or finish an inning), he has no choice but to square off with some right-handed batters as well. And the results have not been pretty: Righties are batting a robust .327 (16-for-49) off him.

Three of those 16 hits have been home runs, including the killer, three-run shot Brendan Rodgers produced at a critical moment during Thursday’s 9-7 loss to the Rockies.

MILWAUKEE – Much as they might want to convince themselves otherwise, the Nationals can’t win baseball games without scoring runs. Oh, they’ve put this theory to the test for more than a week now, and night after night they have been proven wrong.

Perhaps some teams have the pitching staff to win with one run of support. This team doesn’t.

Six times in their last nine games the Nats have either been shut out or scored one run. They have, unsurprisingly, lost all six of those games, including tonight’s 5-1 loss to the Brewers.

Not that they don’t have the ability on any random night to explode at the plate. In their 13 wins to date this season, the Nationals have averaged 7.7 runs.

Alas, in their 28 losses, they’ve now averaged 2.1 runs. That’s a tough way to live life in the big leagues.

MILWAUKEE – The Nationals intended all along for Ehire Adrianza to hold a key role on their opening day roster, serving as something of a super-utilityman for the club who could bounce around between multiple positions and give regulars some days off along the way.

But when Adrianza strained his left quadriceps during the final week of spring training, those plans had to be put on ice for a while. At last, though, the Nats have reason to believe he’s close to joining the active roster and making the difference they thought he would from the outset.

Adrianza has been playing in simulated games in Florida over the last week or so, and most recently played seven innings with no significant issues, manager Davey Martinez said before tonight’s game against the Brewers.

That means the 32-year-old is just about ready to go on a minor league rehab assignment, the final step before he’s activated off the injured list.

“He’s been playing three innings, four innings, five innings. We’ve built him up now to seven innings,” Martinez said. “Now he feels good, so we’re going to send him out shortly.”

MILWAUKEE – If you’re not excited about tonight’s tilt at Not Miller Park Anymore, perhaps the postgame concert will pique your interest: Vanilla Ice, Naughty by Nature and Rob Base. Hey, if the Nationals get shut out again, “Ice Ice Baby” might be an appropriate tune to blast in the clubhouse afterward.

The Nats need to score some runs, in case you haven’t been paying attention. Five times in their last eight games they’ve either been shut out or held to one run. That’s just not going to cut it. The crazy thing is, this lineup has been all-or-nothing so far this season. In their 13 wins to date, the Nationals have scored an average of 7.7 runs. In their 27 losses, they’ve scored an average of 2.1 runs.

The bad news is, they’re facing two-time All-Star Brandon Woodruff tonight. The good news is, Woodruff enters with a 5.35 ERA and 1.336 WHIP. So perhaps he’s more hittable than he’s been in the past. (Either that, or he’s due to dominate for the first time this year.)

Patrick Corbin starts for the Nationals, looking to continue his recent improvements but actually emerge with his first win of the season. The lefty was great for four innings Sunday afternoon against the Astros, then served up three late homers to spoil the start. He’s got to find a way to sustain success, finish strong and give his team a chance.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Where: American Family Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

MILWAUKEE – The ball came off Luis Urias’ bat, headed down the third base line and bounced directly to a charging Maikel Franco, at which point anybody watching immediately must’ve had the same thought.

Could this be a triple play?

And when Franco stepped on third, fired to second and watched as teammate César Hernández made a smooth turn to get the ball to Josh Bell at first base in plenty of time to retire Urias, it almost felt too good to be true.

Has a triple play in a big league game ever looked as easy as the 5-4-3 triplet-killing the Nationals pulled off during Friday night’s loss to the Brewers?

“It’s not easy,” Franco insisted afterward. “But you know, sometimes the play tells you what you have to do. I know I’ve been on the line and the ball was (hit) hard on the line, and I just catch the ball and I think about go to second, and César made the good turn.”

As so much else within their organization has undergone massive change over the last two years, two of the Nationals’ most important employees have remained right where they’ve wanted to be all along and provided some much needed stability: Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez.

Even as they traded away or lost countless players from their 2019 World Series roster, even as members of the coaching and front office staffs were shuffled around, even as ownership shockingly expressed its intent to explore a sale of the franchise, the Nats could point to their general manager and their manager as hallmarks of continuity.

There’s something to be said for that. The two people charged with assembling and then leading the product on the field have been here a while now – Rizzo as GM since 2009, Martinez as manager since 2018 – and there’s been no reason until now to spend too much time wondering how much longer they’re going to be around.

Then came Wednesday evening’s report by The Washington Post that the contract extensions Rizzo and Martinez each signed late in the 2020 season only guaranteed their employment through 2022, not 2023 as was widely believed. Their contracts don’t expire yet, but the club holds 2023 options on each, according to the report, and that suddenly paints their situations in a whole new light.

This isn’t any new revelation to ownership or Rizzo or Martinez, mind you. They’ve certainly known the terms of those contracts all along. It’s just now known by everyone else, which of course does change the public perception of the situation.

There’s always the next game in baseball. After a rough start to this series with two losses by a combined score of 13-3, the Nationals were finally able to solve the Marlins riddle and earn their first victory against their division rival.

It was a frustrating first two games. It almost became a third. But the Nats settled in, played a (mostly) clean game and won 5-4 in 10 innings in front of 7,566 at loanDepot Park to avoid the second straight sweep at the hands of the Marlins.

And they did it in an unconventional way: The Nationals broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning to take a one-run lead, lost it in the ninth and regained it in the 10th.

With Dee Strange-Gordon pinch-running for Nelson Cruz as the automatic runner on second base in the top of the 10th, Victor Robles bunted him over to third and Keibert Ruiz drove in the go-ahead run with a double down the left field line.

“I cannot say enough about Keibert," manager Davey Martinez said after the game. "What a tremendous game he had. Honestly, behind the plate, hitting, everything. Good all-around player and he's getting better. Like I said, every time he's out there, he's getting better. He definitely, for us, was the star of the game.”

MIAMI – Wednesday night was a glimpse into the Nationals’ potentially bright future.

After dropping the first two games of the series and first five games of the season against the Marlins, the Nats’ rough week in Miami looked like it was going to end in the worst way.

The offense couldn’t capitalize on a bases-loaded opportunity in the eighth inning and Tanner Rainey blew his second save of the season in the ninth.

No worries, because Keibert Ruiz – dubbed “​​the star of the game” by manager Davey Martinez afterwards – came to the rescue with a game-winning RBI double in the top of the 10th.

That capped off a 3-for-3 night with two doubles, an RBI and two walks as Ruiz reached base in all five plate appearances for the first time in his career. Even more impressive was the fact that the switch-hitter was able to produce that incredible night from both sides of the plate.