The Nationals just completed a seven-game homestand, one that featured all sorts of twists and turns. It began with two straight wins over the Pirates, giving them six wins over an eight-game stretch and giving everyone reason to feel optimistic for the first time in a while. Then it concluded with five straight losses, the last four to the Marlins, who came to town and ransacked the home club over the holiday weekend.

As they now prepare for what looks like a difficult, six-game road trip to Philadelphia and Atlanta, let’s look back at the homestand, breaking it down between the good, the bad and the ugly …

GOOD: JOSH BELL
It doesn’t matter how poorly the team is playing, Josh Bell continues to shine on an individual level. The big first baseman went 11-for-26 on the homestand. Include the big weekend he had just prior to that in Texas, and he’s 18 for his last 38 (a .474 average) with nine extra-base hits, four walks, a .535 on-base percentage and .789 slugging percentage. For the season, Bell is now batting .318 with a .399 on-base percentage (both second best in the National League behind Paul Goldschmidt) and a .913 OPS that ranks fourth (behind Goldschmidt, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado). All-Star rosters are going to be announced at the end of the week. It’s hard to see how Bell doesn’t get his first career selection at this point.

BAD: THE REST OF THE LINEUP
The Nationals as a whole had a dismal weekend at the plate. In getting swept by the Marlins, they hit a measly .194 with a brutal .295 slugging percentage. The lack of power outside of Bell is killing them. The lack of clutch hitting from just about everyone is causing just as much damage. They were no-hit for six innings Sunday by Pablo López. Then they were shut out for seven innings Monday by Braxton Garrett. The worst realization of all: The Nats just lost four straight to Miami, with a feeble offensive performance, and they never even had to go up against ace and early Cy Young Award favorite Sandy Alcantara.

UGLY: ROTATION DEPTH
Just when it looked like they had settled on five quality starters, the Nationals saw Jackson Tetreault succumb to a stress fracture in his right scapula, an injury that figures to sideline the rookie for some time. Which means they need a replacement starter Thursday in Philadelphia. Except the options aren’t all that appealing. Aníbal Sánchez and Josh Rogers likely aren’t ready to be activated off the injured list, needing more time to build their arms up in rehab starts. Cade Cavalli seems to still need to prove he can have consistent success at Triple-A before the organization calls him up, hopefully for good. Joan Adon may be the only remaining choice at this point.

They got another strong start from Patrick Corbin, making it two in a row for the beleaguered lefty. They once again struggled all day to generate any kind of offense against a Marlins starter pitching the game of his life. And they yet again managed to scratch together a late run to tie the game and ultimately send it into extra innings.

At which point an all-too-familiar result awaited.

Bryan De La Cruz’s towering two-run homer off Tanner Rainey in the top of the 10th was the eventual difference, lifting the Marlins to a 3-2 victory over the Nationals. And if any of that comes as a surprise, you haven’t been paying any attention to the 13 games played between these two division foes this season.

The Nats have now lost 12 of those 13 games against Miami, including four in a row this holiday weekend, the last two in 10 innings, each of them defined by a towering home run surrendered by Rainey.

It matters not how often they put themselves in position to beat the Marlins, the Nationals simply are not able to beat the Marlins in 2022. The silver lining: They won’t see each other again until September, with six final matchups between the two remaining on the schedule.

Though he’s not in today’s lineup, and may not be for a few more days, Juan Soto believes he avoided any serious injury to his left calf during Sunday’s loss to the Marlins.

Soto said the MRI he underwent late Sunday showed that “everything was fine” and that he’s only dealing with tightness in the calf. He won’t play this afternoon’s series finale against Miami but hopes to return sometime during this week’s series at the Phillies.

“We’re going to be good,” he said. “They said it’s just a little bit tight. It’s going to take a couple days to see, and then go. It all depends how I’m feeling day by day.”

Soto hurt himself while tracking down Bryan De La Cruz’s third-inning double off the wall in right field. After retrieving the ball, planting and making a long throw to second base, he felt his left leg “grab.” It wasn’t enough to pull him from the game at that point, but after he ran the bases in the bottom of the fourth, he realized it was best if he departed and not risk anything worse.

“I just felt a little tight behind my knee; it was kind of my calf,” he said. “After the play, the double by De La Cruz, I threw the ball and something just grabbed me right there and it stays and stays and stays. And I think my other at-bat, the rundown, it didn’t feel that way. So I just took the decision to come out of the game and make sure everything’s fine before I keep going and make things worse.”

Good morning from Nationals Park, which is something we can’t often say. We can say it today, though, because it’s July 4th, and that means morning baseball on South Capitol Street. As has been the case every year since 2012 (except for 2020) the Nats are playing an 11:05 a.m. home game on Independence Day, an annual tradition that has become quite popular with fans (if not necessarily players who don’t love having to report to the ballpark so early in the morning for the first time since spring training).

The Nationals desperately need a win right now. They’ve been ransacked by the Marlins, losing 10 of 11 to them this season, including the first three games of this series. They were one strike away from winning Sunday. They still managed to lose in extra innings.

Patrick Corbin gets the ball for his first July 4 assignment as a National. He’s coming off his best start of the season, probably his best start in three years, having notched 12 strikeouts over eight innings against the Pirates. The lefty has felt much better about the quality of his stuff in recent outings. Now he needs to prove he can be effective on a consistent basis again.

The Nats will be facing a lefty starter for the third time in four days, in this case Braxton Garrett. The 24-year-old has spent parts of the last three seasons in the big leagues. He’s made only one career appearance against the Nationals, getting roughed up for five runs in 2 2/3 innings in September 2020. He also has surrendered 16 hits over his last 9 1/3 innings, though he has struck out 12 during that same time.

MIAMI MARLINS vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 11:05 a.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB Network (outside D.C. market), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 81 degrees, wind 4 mph in from center field

There was a no-hit bid by Pablo López, who still had zeros on the board entering the seventh. There was a quality start by Erick Fedde, who limited the damage and gave his team a chance. There was the sight of Juan Soto departing the game after four innings with a left calf injury. There was an inspiring rally in the bottom of the seventh to end López’s no-hit bid and tie the game, then a go-ahead homer by Josh Bell in the bottom of the eighth to put the Nationals on the precipice of a long-awaited victory over the Marlins.

Then there was the top of the ninth, with Tanner Rainey one strike away from closing it out but surrendering a two-run homer to Jesús Sánchez to blow the save and put Miami on the precipice of victory.

But then there was the bottom of the ninth, with Victor Robles delivering the unlikely two-out RBI single to left that tied the game and forced extra innings of a ballgame that left anyone watching in person or from afar physically and emotionally exhausted.

All of which made the Marlins' three-run rally in the top of the 10th en route to a 7-4 win as big a letdown as the Nationals have experienced throughout this frustrating season. They could've lost for the 11th time in 12 games against Miami, the 52nd time in 81 games overall, in uninspired fashion. Instead, they sucked everyone in and made them believe, only to pull the rug out and leave a crowd of 25,385 stunned and downtrodden.

"I think I wear it a lot more sometimes than they do, because I want these guys all to succeed," manager Davey Martinez said. "And it's tough when I see them not. But I've got to make sure that tomorrow I pat them on the back and say: 'That's one game. We've got so many more left. Keep doing what you've been doing.' "

The Nationals pitching staff has stabilized somewhat over the last two weeks, thanks to mostly quality performances from starters and thus fewer innings asked of the bullpen. But if and when more reinforcements are needed, several pitchers are inching closer to return from injury.

Aníbal Sánchez is scheduled to make his second rehab start for Triple-A Rochester tonight in the Red Wings’ series finale against Worcester. The 38-year-old right-hander last pitched Tuesday, lasting only 2 2/3 innings while throwing 61 pitches (only 34 strikes).

The Nationals, obviously, want to see more efficiency from Sánchez, who has been out since opening day with a cervical nerve impingement in his neck, allowing him to go deeper in the game. They’re targeting four innings for him.

“He says he’s going to go more,” manager Davey Martinez said with a look of skepticism in his eye. “We’ll see.”

As with Sánchez, the Nats want to see better results from Josh Rogers when he makes his second rehab start for Rochester later this week on the road at Lehigh Valley. The lefty, out since June 3 with an impingement in his shoulder, was roughed up for seven runs in 3 2/3 innings Thursday, serving up three homers.

Can the Nationals finally beat the Marlins again today? Can they somehow find a way to beat the unstoppable Marlins for only the second time in 12 games this season? Can you believe this is what it has come to?

Given how little the Nats have hit against Miami’s pitching staff, and given that the very effective Pablo López is on the mound today, it’s probably foolish to think there’s a path to victory trying to outhit these guys. They’ll simply need to take advantage of whatever scoring opportunities they have and hope it’s enough to emerge victorious.

That will also require a fantastic effort from Erick Fedde, who probably has little margin for error today. Fedde actually has only faced the Marlins once this season, way back on April 27. He allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings but threw 91 pitches, and that continues to be his biggest stumbling block. Fedde has allowed two or fewer earned runs in nine of his 15 starts this season. The problem: His pitch count has been so high, he’s only completed six innings in three of those starts.

MIAMI MARLINS vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 81 degrees, wind 8 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
RF Juan Soto
1B Josh Bell
DH Nelson Cruz
SS Luis García
C Keibert Ruiz
LF Yadiel Hernandez
3B Ehire Adrianza
CF Victor Robles

That the Nationals have been bulldozed by the Mets, Braves and Phillies this season doesn’t come as a huge surprise. Those three division rivals all entered the season with high hopes and currently find themselves in a pennant race.

That the Nats have also been ransacked by the Marlins, who don’t find themselves anywhere near contention, is both surprising and incredibly aggravating to a ballclub that isn’t used to suffering this kind of domination from a traditional division doormat.

Today’s 5-3 loss at steamy Nationals Park was only the latest in a half-season’s worth of losses to this team. The Nats are now a ghastly 1-10 against Miami this year, having been outscored 59-26.

And it’s not like the Marlins are doing this to anybody else. They’re 26-39 against the rest of the league, turning the Nationals into their personal punching bag.

"Today's a different day," manager Davey Martinez said, prior to today's game, which still produced the same result. "We've got to do the the things that we need to do to win, and control some of the things they're doing. And if we do that, any given day we'll win. I worry about the way we play, not what other teams are doing."

The Nationals formally picked up the 2023 contract options on general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez today, ensuring both men will remain in their current positions for another season as the franchise potentially navigates its way through an ownership change.

Both Rizzo and Martinez signed extensions at the end of the 2020 season that included two guaranteed years and then club options for the third year. Those options were required to be picked up by July 15, so that meant resolutions in each case were forthcoming.

The timing also perhaps helped make the decisions to retain both men more logical. With the Lerner family exploring a sale of the franchise in what figures to be a lengthy process, the notion of making a GM and/or managerial change midseason would’ve complicated matters even more. As things now stand, there’s a chance a new owner would have ample opportunity to evaluate the state of the organization before making long-term decisions on Rizzo and Martinez at the end of the 2023 season.

Not that either of them is looking to leave anytime soon.

“For me, this my home,” Martinez said. “I love it here. I love the people I work with here, from up to down.”

It’s a hot, muggy, potentially stormy Saturday in the nation’s capital. In other words, classic July 4th weekend weather. Hopefully the storms hold off and allow the Nationals and Marlins to play as scheduled at 4:05 p.m. Stay tuned.

It’ll be Jackson Tetreault on the mound, making his fourth career start. The rookie right-hander was excellent in his last two outings against the Phillies and Rangers. We’ll see if he can keep that up against a Marlins club that has ransacked the Nats all season, having now won nine of their 10 head-to-head matchups.

The Nationals will be facing another young left-hander in Daniel Castano, who makes his 14th career start. They saw him in relief in May, with Castano pitching the ninth and 10th innings of that crazy game that included an appeal play at third after Jesus Sanchez potentially tagged up too soon.

I wanted to take an opportunity to thank everyone for your kind words (and even the criticism, too!) about my pinch-hitting appearance on the MASN broadcast Friday night. Kevin Frandsen was great doing emergency play-by-play and setting me up to analyze. Director Chip Winfield and producer Joe Matusek helped guide me through everything. And not that it needed to be said, but for the record: Bob Carpenter and Dan Kolko are true pros, and make a very difficult job look and sound easy. They’re both doing well and will be back soon. And finally, thanks to Tim Leonard for stepping in and writing a game story for the site while I was busy.

With all that said, I’m happy to be back in my usual seat in the writer’s press box today, covering the game the way I’m used to covering a game!

The Nationals made adjustments to their bullpen and their catching corps in advance of tonight’s series opener against the Marlins, activating Mason Thompson off the 60-day injured list, designating Sam Clay for assignment, calling up Tres Barrera from Triple-A and optioning Riley Adams to Rochester.

The bullpen moves bring Thompson back to the big leagues nearly three months after he went down with a right biceps strain only two appearances into the season. The right-hander recently began a rehab assignment and made six total appearances between the rookie Florida Complex League and Triple-A, allowing one run in 6 2/3 innings, striking out 11 without issuing any walks.

Thompson gives manager Davey Martinez another potential setup option to take some of the workload off Carl Edwards Jr. and Kyle Finnegan, who each made four appearances in six days over the last week and each was scored upon during Wednesday’s 8-7 loss to the Pirates.

Clay also pitched Wednesday, his first appearance since getting called back up from Rochester. The left-hander, though, issued a walk and then hit a batter, finally recording an out on a sacrifice bunt before he was pulled by Martinez.

Clay still had minor league options, but the Nationals elected to designate him for assignment, opening a necessary spot on the 40-man roster for Thompson’s return from the 60-day IL. Signed away from the Twins prior to the 2021 season, Clay wound up making 64 total appearances for the Nats, with a 6.02 ERA and 1.682 WHIP.

We have reached the holiday weekend, which means a lot of earlier-than-usual baseball. The Nationals’ series opener against the Marlins is still a night game, but first pitch is at 6:05 p.m. to account for postgame fireworks (barring any excessive delays or a super-long game, fingers crossed).

The Nats have had all kinds of trouble with Miami this season, going 1-8, their only win coming May 18 in that wild, extra-inning game at loanDepot Park in which they initially thought they had won in the bottom of the ninth when Jesús Sánchez was called out for leaving third base too soon on a sacrifice fly to right, only to have the call overturned on review. (Sound similar to any other recent plays?)

Josiah Gray takes the mound tonight, and the young right-hander has been on some kind of roll lately. He’s got a 1.24 ERA, 0.966 WHIP and 31 strikeouts in 29 innings over his last five starts, never allowing more than two runs in any of them. Alas, Gray has not received a decision in any of his last three outings due to a lack of run support.

The Nationals lineup will try to provide some support tonight against a Marlins rotation that has been elite against them this season. That includes tonight’s starter, left-hander Trevor Rogers, who despite a 5.86 ERA overall has held the Nats to three runs in 11 innings over two starts this season.

MIAMI MARLINS vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 89 degrees, wind 11 mph out to left field

The Nationals woke up exactly one year ago feeling as good about themselves as they had, quite possibly, since they won the World Series.

On the morning of July 1, 2021, the Nats owned a mediocre 40-38 record but had just won 14 of their last 17 games to climb back over .500 and thrust themselves into the National League East race. Kyle Schwarber was on fire at the plate. Trea Turner had just hit for the cycle for the third time in his career. Max Scherzer was still the ace. Stephen Strasburg was supposed to return from the injured list within a matter of weeks. Mike Rizzo would probably be a buyer at the trade deadline.

And then over the course of that holiday weekend, which included a four-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers, injuries to Turner and Schwarber and Alex Avila starting a game at second base, the foundation began to crack. And by the end of a disastrous month that saw the franchise suffer all manner of calamity, the Nationals were well under .500 and Rizzo had traded away eight key veterans, signaling the end of an era of contention in D.C. and embarking on a massive franchise rebuild.

What has happened since hasn’t been pretty, at least not in terms of wins and losses on the field. The Nats have played exactly 162 games in the last 365 days, and their record is a woeful 54-108. That’s a .333 winning percentage, worst in the majors during that time frame. (Next worst are the Cubs at 59-98, a .376 winning percentage.)

One year ago, there was genuine optimism about the state of the franchise, reason to believe a run at another World Series title wasn’t far-fetched. At the very least, this organization would be in a position to try to win a title for several more years, between the big league talent already in place and the ability to spend on more to fill roster holes.

The archaic manner in which the top of the fifth ended dominated the discussion of Wednesday’s 8-7 loss to the Pirates, but at least everyone now knows Rule 5.09c and the so-called “fourth out” clause.

There were a lot of other things going on in this game, though, things worth revisiting as the Nationals sleep in and enjoy a day off before opening a four-game, holiday weekend series with the Marlins on Friday. …

* Josh Bell is red hot again
After a consistently productive opening two months to the season, Bell had finally begun to cool off a bit in mid-June. He endured an 0-for-11 mini-slump from June 12-15, one that lowered his batting average 15 points (from .305 to .290) and his OPS 30 points (from .831 to .801).

And then, just like that, Bell turned it back on again and has been as good as ever at the plate. With a 3-for-3, two-double, two-walk showing Wednesday afternoon, he is now batting .467 (21-for-45) over his last 13 games, with 10 extra-base hits, a .564 on-base percentage, .889 slugging percentage and 1.453 OPS. This was only the second time he’s reached base five times in a game in his career, first with the Nationals.

All of that has lifted Bell’s season batting average to .319 and his OPS to .909.

Whatever took place on South Capitol Street this afternoon would not qualify as “good” baseball in the minds of most. Mistakes were made, both physical and mental. Outs were given away, both in the field and on the bases. Effective pitching was hard to come by. An obscure, and fairly infuriating, rule was invoked in the top of the fifth, giving the Pirates a run they didn’t particularly deserve.

And wouldn’t you know how this would all turn out in the end, with the Nationals losing by that one run, 8-7, in a ballgame that was, if not well-played, at least interesting.

A back-and-forth affair ultimately came down to the run umpires awarded the Pirates on a bizarre play in the fifth that saw the Nationals turn an inning-ending double play yet still surrender a run to a guy who left third base too soon on a lineout because they didn’t properly appeal to have him declared what practically speaking would’ve been the fourth out of the inning.

Got all that? We’ll attempt to explain further in just a moment.

The upshot at the end of the day: The Nats failed to complete their first three-game sweep of the season, and now head into an off-day trying to sort through the mess they just endured on a warm, late-June afternoon in D.C.

In the big picture, the results have been there for Tanner Rainey this season. The Nationals closer owns a 2.88 ERA and 11 saves, including four straight conversions. He’s been unscored upon in 20 of his 25 appearances.

So why does it feel like more of a roller coaster than that when Rainey enters for the ninth inning? Because he’s putting guys on base, especially via walk, and often forcing himself to have to pitch out of jams.

Rainey hasn’t enjoyed a 1-2-3 inning of relief since May 26, a span of 11 outings. He had six of them in his first 14 appearances this season.

Walks are frequently the issue, especially when the Nationals lead by more than one run. He’s issued five of them over his last 7 1/3 innings.

“Understand the score of the game. Understand what we’re trying to do,” manager Davey Martinez said. “There’s times and situations where he feels like a walk won’t hurt him, because he knows the next guy he can get out. I tell him: ‘When you get out there, it’s three quick outs. Don’t worry about (anything else).’ He’s got to understand, we’re up two. He’s just got to attack hitters, try to keep them off base. But he’s learning. Closing’s not easy, as we all know.”

The turnaround of the Nationals rotation over the last week-plus has been nothing short of remarkable. Over their last nine games, starters have delivered a 1.66 ERA, allowing only 10 total earned runs over 54 1/3 innings. Nobody has been charged with more than three earned runs in a start since Joan Adon in the opener of the June 17 doubleheader against the Phillies, a full 12 days ago.

So it’s up to Paolo Espino to keep the ball rolling today and potentially lead the Nats to a three-game sweep of the Pirates. Espino has been quite good since his move from low-leverage reliever to No. 4 starter, allowing three earned runs on nine hits over 10 1/3 innings. He’s yet to complete six innings in a game, and he’d love to get that far today if he can keep his pitch count down.

The Nationals would also love to get a clutch hit or two prior to the bottom of the eighth. That strategy, though it has worked the last two nights, probably isn’t sustainable over the long haul. So perhaps some early offense against Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller would help today and take some pressure off Espino.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 83 degrees, wind 9 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
RF Juan Soto
1B Josh Bell
DH Nelson Cruz
SS Luis García
C Keibert Ruiz
LF Yadiel Hernandez
3B Ehire Adrianza
CF Victor Robles

Davey Martinez has always liked the idea of a deep and talented bench, offering him opportunities to play matchups late in games. And the Nationals manager did it often en route to a World Series title in 2019, summoning a pinch-hitter off his bench 252 times, then even more last season, when pinch-hitters received 282 plate appearances.

The times, though, they are a changing. With the designated hitter now in the National League on a full-time basis, there simply hasn’t been much reason to turn to the bench late in games this season. To wit: The Nats have taken only 22 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter so far, third-fewest in the majors.

So consider what happened Tuesday night to be well outside the norm this season. Martinez didn’t just use one pinch-hitter in the bottom of the eighth of a 3-1 victory over the Pirates. He used two.

First it was Luis García, out of the lineup for the first time in 26 games since his promotion from Triple-A Rochester, batting for Maikel Franco. Then it was Yadiel Hernandez batting for Alcides Escobar and coming through with the two-run double that broke a tie game. And then to set up his best defensive alignment for the ninth, Martinez brought in Ehire Adrianza to play third instead of Franco, with García playing shortstop. 

Was that how Martinez planned for it to all work out?

Through it all, through the awful starts, the mediocre starts and the hard-luck starts, Davey Martinez has stuck with Patrick Corbin. The Nationals manager has maintained throughout this three-year slump the one-time stalwart of a World Series pitching staff still had it in him, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.

Whether tonight represented a dramatic turning point or a mere blip on the radar against a weak opponent, we won’t know for a while. But for one late-June evening under an unseasonably mild D.C. summer sky, the lefty did still have it in him.

With a season-high 113 pitches and a career-high-matching 12 strikeouts, Corbin tossed eight innings of one-run ball, giving the Nats a chance to beat the Pirates. Now he just needed somebody with a bat in his hand to make it all worth it.

Enter Yadiel Hernandez. Summoned off the bench to pinch-hit for Alcides Escobar with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth, Hernandez drilled a two-run double to right to propel the Nationals to a 3-1 victory and extend this team’s sudden hot streak.

"Everyone tonight did a good job," Corbin said. "Defense behind me. (Tanner) Rainey came in and shut the door. And then we get a couple big runs there by Yadi late. It was huge."

Davey Martinez knew Luis García wasn’t going to play every day. Though the Nationals manager made it clear the 22-year-old would be his starting shortstop upon his promotion from Triple-A Rochester at the beginning of the month, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t get a day off at some point.

And that day is today, with García on the bench for the second game of this series against the Pirates, with Alcides Escobar getting the nod at shortstop for the first time in four weeks.

García had started all 25 of the Nationals’ games since his June 1 promotion, and he’s performed quite well at the plate, batting .337 with eight doubles, a triple, two homers, 11 RBIs and an .847 OPS across 101 plate appearances.

On the heels of a 3-for-4, two-double showing Monday night, it might sound illogical for García to get tonight’s game off. But Martinez had this planned for a while, a product of the Nats’ schedule, which includes Wednesday’s 1:05 p.m. series finale before the team’s off-day Thursday.

“So it gives him a few days (of rest), even though he’s available today if we need him,” the manager said. “He’s been playing well. He’s been playing a lot. And we’ve got to remember, he played every day at Triple-A as well before he got here. So I thought today would be a good day, and get Escobar some at-bats.”