BALTIMORE – Davey Martinez has no shortage of close contacts in baseball, having played with, coached with and ultimately managed with countless figures over the last four decades. Brandon Hyde, though, is high on Martinez’s list of close friends in the game, the two having worked together on the Cubs’ coaching staff for three seasons before eventually competing against each other for seven seasons as managers of the Nationals and Orioles.

So while today’s news of a managerial change in Baltimore obviously affected Hyde most of all, it also hit Martinez hard, compounded by the fact it occurred hours after the Nats defeated the Orioles in dramatic fashion.

“It’s tough,” Martinez said. “Brandon and I are close. I love the guy. We all know what we sign up for when we take this job. It really just stinks. He’s a good man. I know he’ll land on his feet. I wish him all the best, but it’s a tough gig.”

Martinez first met Hyde following the 2013 season, when the latter was working in the Cubs front office and the former interviewed for their open managerial position. They immediately hit it off, and even though Martinez lost the job at that point to Rick Renteria, one year later he was back in Chicago as bench coach for newly hired manager Joe Maddon, who also appointed Hyde as his first base coach.

That arrangement remained in place for three seasons, with the trio playing a big role in the Cubs’ historic World Series run in 2016. And when the Nationals hired Martinez after the 2017 season, Hyde moved into his role as Maddon’s bench coach, a high-profile position that helped him land the Orioles’ managerial gig one year later.

BALTIMORE – Friday night’s series opener here at Camden Yards was one of the strangest games you’ll ever see. And it appears the Nationals’ 4-3 victory came at a very high cost for the Orioles, who just a few minutes ago announced they’ve fired manager Brandon Hyde. Maybe that move was inevitable at some point, given the team’s disappointment to date this season. But you have to think Hyde’s decision to pitch to James Wood with first base open in the eighth inning Friday night – Wood proceeded to hit the game-tying homer – was the final straw.

Davey Martinez, meanwhile, is very close with Hyde, the two of them having previously served together on Joe Maddon’s staff in Chicago. This will not be easy for Martinez, who now has to continue to manage the rest of the weekend knowing his friend is out of work. So, there’s the context as both clubs prepare for game two of the series.

The Nationals won the opener despite once again doing very little offensively until late in the game. That’s now eight straight games in which they’ve failed to score more than two runs against an opposing starter. They’ll try to finally break that streak today against veteran Kyle Gibson, who enters with a 13.11 ERA in three starts.

Jake Irvin gets the ball for the Nats, and while Irvin has mostly found a way to be effective this season, he strangely isn’t striking anybody out recently. He’s got three total strikeouts in his last three starts, encompassing 17 1/3 innings. We’ll see if he can get back on track in that regard today.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Where: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 88 degrees, wind 13 mph out to right field

BALTIMORE – A ballgame that had already defied conventional wisdom in countless ways for eight innings of course came down to a most unconventional conclusion in the ninth.

On a night in which MacKenzie Gore was simultaneously hittable and unhittable, on a night in which neither team could score many runs despite one team more than tripling the other team’s hit total, on a night in which the Nationals found themselves forced to play Nasim Nuñez in center field, it was Nuñez who found a way to produce the decisive run in a 4-3 win over the Orioles with his legs.

With two outs in the ninth, Nuñez hustled down the line to beat out a chopper to first, and José Tena astutely raced around to score from second base while a bewildered Félix Bautista scrambled unsuccessfully to try to throw him out at the plate.

"It's about the hunger. It's about the passion," Nuñez said. "We're fighting every single pitch, every single inning. No matter who's on the mound, we're going to get him."

Nuñez, the 26th man on the roster who got the start at second base with Luis García Jr. just returning from paternity leave, somehow found himself playing the outfield for the first time as a professional when Davey Martinez had García pinch-hit for Jacob Young in the top of the seventh, leaving the Nats without any more natural outfielders.

BALTIMORE – Luis García Jr. is back on the Nationals’ active roster, but not back in the lineup quite yet.

García was activated off the paternity list this afternoon, having spent the last three days away for the birth of his first child. Under the circumstances – and with left-hander Cade Povich starting for the Orioles – Davey Martinez wanted to give his starting second baseman a day to simply work out before returning to action.

“He’ll hit in the cage. He’ll be available to (pinch) hit if we need him,” the manager said. “But I want to him to go out and catch ground balls, get back in the swing of things.”

It’s been a disappointing season to date for García, particularly on the heels of his breakthrough 2024 campaign. He enters tonight batting .226 with a .618 OPS, down from .282 and .762 a year ago. García has also taken a step back in the field, his minus-8 Defensive Runs Saved ranking last among all major league second basemen.

“It’s just the inconsistency of his hitting,” Martinez said. “And to his defense, he’s hit the ball hard, just had nothing to show for it. … We’ve got to get him going, he’s a big part of our lineup. When he’s going well, he can do some damage with the bat.”

BALTIMORE – Hello from Camden Yards, where a couple of teams desperate to start winning more face off this weekend. The Nationals have lost eight of nine, falling to nine games under .500 in the process. The Orioles have lost nine of 11, falling to 12 games under .500 in the process. Something’s got to give.

You already know this by now, but the Nats need to hit. They’re averaging only 2.4 runs on 7.2 hits and 2.7 walks over this nine-game slide, and most of the offense they’ve produced has come late in games, when they’re scrambling to try to catch up. They’ve struggled against opposing starters, especially some less-accomplished starters who have outpitched their overall numbers. That includes Cade Povich, the Baltimore left-hander who sports a 5.55 ERA in seven starts but held the Nationals to one run over 6 1/3 innings last month in D.C.

Povich’s opponent that night was MacKenzie Gore, who faces him tonight in the rematch. Gore was really good in that previous matchup, allowing two runs over six innings while striking out eight, but was the hard-luck loser because of the lack of run support. Despite a 3.57 ERA and league-leading 75 strikeouts, Gore remains 2-4 and still seeking his first win since April 19 in Colorado.

The Nationals made a roster move this afternoon: Luis García Jr. is back from paternity leave, so Trey Lipscomb heads back to Triple-A Rochester after a brief stint up here.

Update: Tyler O'Neill has been scratched from the Orioles lineup, with Ryan O'Hearn now playing right field and batting fifth.

ATLANTA – The Nationals bullpen has been the most inconsistent and disappointing group to start the season. Entering yesterday’s finale against the Braves, Nats relievers owned the second-worst ERA in the majors.

The group is still trying to mesh together. A few relievers have landed on the injured list and two that started the season on the roster are no longer here, with an outside addition joining a couple of weeks ago.

But while the established veterans continue to get a majority of the high-leverage innings, there is a new young core forming in the Nationals bullpen.

Cole Henry, Jackson Rutledge, Brad Lord and Zach Brzykcy are starting to get more chances to prove themselves as reliable options to pass the ball to the back end of the ‘pen. And they are enjoying the opportunity together after coming up through the Nats system at the same time.

“I think it's been really cool just to have all these guys that we came up together,” Henry said on Wednesday at Truist Park. “We're pretty good friends with each other, and it's just been awesome to have those guys with me all every step of the way. We were actually just talking about it yesterday, how cool it is that a few years back we were all down in Florida together and just got drafted or signed. Just dreaming about the day that we would be here. And now it's here. It just seems surreal.

ATLANTA – After rallying to win last night, the Nationals were in position this afternoon to split this four-game series with the Braves. And given how the frustration mounted over the recent seven-game losing streak, that would have been considered a win in this first leg of a seven-game road trip.

The Nats were able to overcome some early mistakes Wednesday. Not a great recipe for success, but they did just enough to scratch out a win. Unfortunately, that was not the case in this matinee finale.

Facing a familiar deficit from last night by the middle innings, the Nationals dropped their third game at Truist Park 5-2 in front of an announced crowd of 34,074. And they can really only blame themselves.

Davey Martinez once again reconfigured his infield defense. With Luis García Jr. landing on the paternity list earlier this week, the manager moved José Tena from third base to second and inserted Amed Rosario at the hot corner for the previous two games.

That was costly a couple of nights ago when both infielders made mistakes on routine plays. So Martinez swapped them today, and at first, it paid dividends.

ATLANTA – It had been eight days since Kyle Finnegan took a mound in an actual game when he jogged out from the Nationals' bullpen in the ninth inning last night. And quite frankly, it was hard to know how it was going to go with him protecting a one-run lead.

Finnegan entered the tight ballgame with a 6.92 ERA in 27 career appearances, pitching on five-plus days of rest. The All-Star closer usually likes to pitch with more frequency, and when he doesn’t, he gets rusty.

So when the inning started with a leadoff single by Drake Baldwin on Finnegan’s second pitch, some dread probably sank into the hearts of Nats fans.

But the right-hander locked in and retired the next three batters on a scant 10 pitches, needing only 12 total to record his 13th save, which is now tied for second-most in the major leagues.

“You just try to stay ready,” Finnegan said Wednesday night. “We've had a lot of games that could have gone either way late. So I still felt like I was in that game mindset, which is good. But just pulling for the guys to go out there and perform. The ball wasn't bouncing our way, and that's why this one feels really good.”

ATLANTA – Well, the Nationals finally won one. Would two be too much to ask?

If the Nats can find a way to win this afternoon at Truist Park, they will earn a four-game series split, which they would happily accept after suffering through a seven-game losing streak.

The offense scored five runs last night, the most they’ve put on the board in a week. Today the Nats will try to continue their moment against AJ Smith-Shawver. The 22-year-old right-hander is 2-2 with a 2.76 ERA and 1.347 WHIP in six starts. He hasn’t given up more than three runs in an outing so far, and is only two starts removed from a dominant appearance against the Reds in which he pitched eight shutout innings of one-hit ball.

Meanwhile, Trevor Williams will try to help his team end this leg of the road trip on a high note. The right-hander enters his ninth start with a 2-4 record, 5.88 ERA and 1.573 WHIP. He has given up four or more runs in each of his last three starts, so he’ll need to be more effective against this tough Braves lineup.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Truist Park
Gametime: 12:15 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB Network (out-of-market only), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 77 degrees, wind 12 mph in from right field

ATLANTA – When things don’t go your way, they really don’t go your way. And things had not gone the Nationals’ way for the better part of the last eight days.

In order to break an extended losing streak, the Nationals had to do almost everything right. And even though they made more mistakes than positive plays in the early parts of this game, the fact that they put together a late rally showed a lot about what this team has: Fight.

This 5-4 comeback victory may look like any ordinary win over the Braves, but it in fact snapped a seven-game losing streak and may have been the first sign that the Nats can finally turn this thing around.

“That win was great," manager Davey Martinez said after the first victory in over a week. "Put one on the board for the good guys, how's that? The boys played well. We're playing baseball. It's fun to watch these guys come out and compete. … It was a good team effort today.”

Down 4-3 in the eighth, the Nats finally put together the clutch at-bats they’ve been searching for over the past week.

ATLANTA – Looking for anything new to spark the Nationals' offense, manager Davey Martinez has shuffled his lineup a bit for the third of a four-game set against the Braves.

With the Braves starting right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver (2.76 ERA) for tomorrow’s noon getaway game, Martinez decided to get Keibert Ruiz off his feet today to play tomorrow and start Riley Adams behind the plate tonight against right-hander Bryce Elder (4.97 ERA).

Also, Amed Rosario has been bumped up to the No. 2 spot to split up leadoff hitter CJ Abrams and slugger James Wood and combat the two lefty relievers the Braves have in Aaron Bummer and Dylan Lee.

“We got a 12 o'clock game tomorrow,” Martinez explained during his pregame media session. “So Riley gets tonight, Keibert gets tomorrow. He's available to pinch-hit if we need him. Moved Rosario between the lefties. They have two good left-handed pitchers in the bullpen, so trying to break those lefties up. But yeah, trying to get everybody in there with the early day game tomorrow.”

Adams has been productive in limited playing time, collecting hits in five of his last six games including two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs.

ATLANTA – While the Nationals were able to finally score first in last night’s game – swinging at strikes and accepting a few walks – they weren’t able to sustain that early success at the plate in their seventh straight loss.

The bats will have to try to get going against right-hander Bryce Elder. The 25-year-old is 2-2 with a 4.97 ERA and 1.289 WHIP in seven starts. But he has given up three or fewer runs in four straight outings, with three quality starts. He also struck out a season-high eight batters (while also giving up two home runs) in his last start against the Pirates.

Mitchell Parker will try to keep the Nats in the ballgame from the mound, something he has struggled with over his last three starts, in which he gave up a combined 15 earned runs and 11 walks. The left-hander hasn’t pitched past the fourth inning in either of his last two outings, so the Nats will also hope their starter can give some more length.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Truist Park
Gametime: 7:15 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind 9 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
3B Amed Rosario
LF James Wood
1B Nathaniel Lowe
RF Alex Call
DH Josh Bell
CF Dylan Crews
2B José Tena
C Riley Adams

ATLANTA – When the Nationals walked into the visiting clubhouse for the first time on Monday, Michael Soroka was greeted with some familiar faces. The longtime Brave already knew some of the clubhouse managers from his first six seasons in the major leagues, all spent in Atlanta.

Hugs were exchanged. Questions about life and family were asked. Smiles were shared.

Then when the Nats returned Tuesday afternoon for the second of a four-game set against the Braves, Soroka was focused on his 20th start at Truist Park, the first as a visitor.

“I was excited,” Soroka said last night after his third start in a Nationals uniform. “Obviously, it's been a while since we were over here. Took that mound. And yeah, there's not a ton of guys over there that I played with all those years back then. But still, certainly some that I came up with and made good memories with. But I definitely wanted to give them my best tonight and felt like we did that.”

Due to a high pitch count of 81, Soroka finished only four innings, giving up four hits, two runs, one walk and four strikeouts, in his first outing against his former team. And while doing so, he did something he had not previously done over the course of his career.

ATLANTA – The Nationals will take the field at Truist Park tonight looking to snap a five-game losing streak. A loss in the series opener against the Braves will be the Nats’ longest losing streak since they lost six in a row from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, 2023.

With both the pitchers (20 runs allowed over the weekend against the Cardinals) and the bats (only three runs scored against the Cardinals) recently, where do the Nats begin to turn things around?

“We just gotta focus on the little things,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame meeting with the media. “We're struggling hitting. We just got to come out and swing the bats a little bit better. Our leadoff hitter is doing what he's supposed to be doing. We just got to follow suit. I often talked about swinging at strikes, taking our walks, extending innings. We need to come out and do that today.”

Sure enough, CJ Abrams has been the Nats’ best hitter of late. He has reached base safely in 16 straight games, tied for the longest streak of his career. He’s hitting .379 with five doubles, two triples, seven RBIs, five walks, four stolen bases and 10 runs scored during the streak.

But the rest of the lineup, aside from a few guys here and there, has struggled to produce any more offense. Over these last five games, the Nats collectively are slashing .219/.292/.319 with a .611 OPS. They collected only 10 extra-base hits, while walking only 15 times compared to 37 strikeouts. And seven of those walks came in Wednesday’s finale against the Guardians.

ATLANTA – The Nationals have thought that in order to snap their six-game losing streak they needed better at-bats from their lineup. Specifically, they needed to accept their walks, get the ball in the strike zone and score first.

Well, the Nationals were able to do all three of those things in the second of this four-game set against the Braves. But wouldn’t you know it, that wasn’t enough as the Nats took a 5-2 loss for their seventh straight defeat, marking their longest losing streak since July 7-16, 2022 (nine).

This night immediately started on a positive note as CJ Abrams smacked Spencer Schwellenbach’s first pitch of the game over the right field wall for a leadoff home run. And just like that, for only the fifth time in their last 17 games, the Nationals scored the first run of the contest.

“I wanted to start things off," Abrams said. "Stay aggressive on the fastball. It was a little out of the zone, but I put a good swing on it and it went out.”

Abrams’ 10th leadoff homer is second in Nationals history (2005-present) only to Trea Turner’s 14. Funny that both shortstops originally started their careers in the Padres system.

ATLANTA – The Nationals made a small roster move ahead of their second game against the Braves. Luis García Jr. was placed on the paternity list and Trey Lipscomb was recalled from Triple-A Rochester to fill the open spot on the roster.

“Feels great. Every time you get to come back up here is another opportunity,” Lipscomb said in front of his locker before today’s game. “You enjoy it and you want to cherish it.”

Lipscomb has found some sustained success in Rochester, hitting .283 with three doubles, two home runs, 14 RBIs, 12 walks, six stolen bases and 14 runs scored in 26 games.

“Just kind of being myself,” he said. “Day by day, just doing things like having a better routine, going up there and just letting the game happen.”

While it will likely be a short one (players are only allowed to be on the paternity list for a maximum of three days), this will be Lipscomb’s second major league stint this year. He went 2-for-4 with a run scored across three games in late April when Paul DeJong was placed on the injured list.

ATLANTA – The Nationals need a win and they need it badly. It doesn’t matter how they get it. Whether it’s via a blowout or by one run, they just need to come out on top of the Braves to stop this six-game losing streak.

After Jake Irvin turned in the Nats’ first quality start since Tuesday in the series opener last night, Davey Martinez will turn to Michael Soroka in hopes he'll repeat the feat tonight. Soroka makes his first start at Truist Park, which he called home for the first six years of his career, since the Braves traded him to the White Sox in November 2023.

The emotions could be high for the right-hander as he faces his old team, with which his once-promising career was derailed by injuries. Soroka is 8-6 with a 4.67 ERA and 1.311 WHIP in 20 appearances (19 starts) in Atlanta. He made a strong start in his return from the injured list last week, shutting out the Guardians over five innings before ultimately being charged with four runs after the sixth got away from him.

We know the Nats’ issues at the plate. They’ll try again to correct them against right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach, who is 1-3 with a 3.42 ERA and 1.099 WHIP in eight starts.

Roster move: The Nats placed Luis García Jr. on the paternity list this afternoon and recalled Trey Lipscomb from Triple-A Rochester.

ATLANTA – The Nationals should have been feeling good about their chances to break their losing streak entering the bottom of the ninth inning of last night’s game against the Braves.

Jackson Rutledge had just pitched a shutdown eighth inning on 12 pitches, keeping it a 3-1 game going to the ninth. In the top half of the final frame, the offense rallied to tie the game 3-3, thanks to a throwing error by Braves shortstop Nick Allen.

So when the door to the Nats bullpen swung open in left field, it was surprising to see only a security guard step out onto the warning track and turn to scan the crowd. Kyle Finnegan, the All-Star closer who hasn’t pitched since the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Guardians, remained in the ‘pen and Rutledge ran back to the mound from the dugout.

And so it was Finnegan watching from the sidelines as Rutledge gave up a single and sacrifice bunt on a combined four pitches, Andrew Chafin entered to surrender the walk-off RBI single to Alex Verdugo and the Nats dropped their sixth straight game, their longest such losing streak since 2023.

“He's throwing the ball well. We had the bottom of the order up. He threw the ball really well,” manager Davey Martinez said to defend his decision to stick with Rutledge in the ninth. “Chafin, he's a guy we count on to get lefties out. He put a good at-bat up. For me, I don't want to put my closer in a tie game in the ninth inning. So I thought that they threw the ball well. It was just unfortunate a ground ball got through the infield.”

ATLANTA – The most recent homestand wasn’t kind to the Nationals. A rainout on Monday forced a doubleheader Tuesday, and with a noon game already scheduled for Wednesday, they had to play all three games against the Guardians in under 24 hours.

The Nats won the first game of that twinbill. And that still stands as the last time they found themselves in the win column.

With tonight’s 4-3 loss in the opener of a four-game series against the Braves, the Nationals have now lost six in a row, their longest losing streak since also dropping six straight Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2023.

After a ninth-inning rally tied the game at 3-3, Jackson Rutledge and Andrew Chafin combined to give up the winning run in walk-off fashion in the bottom frame.

While closer Kyle Finnegan, who hasn’t pitched since the Nats’ last victory Tuesday, sat in the bullpen, Rutledge gave up a leadoff single, with the runner advancing to scoring position on a sacrifice bunt.

ATLANTA – Greetings from about 20 minutes outside of Downtown Atlanta, where the Nationals arrive for their first series against the Braves in 2025. The Nats didn’t have a lot going for them during a 1-5 homestand, so they’ll look to turn things around on the road, where they’re 7-12 on the season.

Davey Martinez needs a strong outing from Jake Irvin, as the Nats search for the first quality start from their starting pitcher since the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Guardians. Irvin is 2-1 with a 3.94 ERA and 1.146 WHIP in eight starts. The right-hander dominated the Braves last year, going 2-0 with a 1.16 ERA, 0.900 WHIP and 22 strikeouts over four starts. That included a 1.59 ERA, 1.059 WHIP and 13 strikeouts in two starts here at Truist Park.

Meanwhile, the offense – which only scored three runs over the weekend against the Cardinals – will try to heat up against Grant Holmes. The 29-year-old right-hander is 2-3 with a 4.58 ERA and 1.246 WHIP in eight games (seven starts) in his second year in the majors. He was charged with four runs in 5 ⅓ innings in his last start against the Reds. He’s also been prone to the longball this year, so the Nats should look to take him deep in his first start against them.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Truist Park
Gametime: 7:15 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: The Team 980, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 73 degrees, wind 7 mph in from left-center field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
1B Nathaniel Lowe
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Josh Bell
RF Dylan Crews
3B José Tena
CF Jacob Young