No team in the National League has hit fewer home runs than the Nationals, who entered today’s series finale with only 30 of them through the season’s first 48 games and lengthy individual power droughts by some of their biggest power hitters.

Through it all, manager Davey Martinez has been positive the homers will come, as hitters get their timing down, elevate the ball and take advantage of warmer summer weather.

And then on this warm, 80-degree Memorial Day Sunday afternoon on South Capitol Street, Martinez and the Nats began to see signs of it finally happening, most importantly from their most important hitter.

Juan Soto’s first homer since May 12, a span of 16 games, put the Nationals up early. And then Lane Thomas’ homer in the sixth provided some insurance they wound up needing to secure a 6-5 victory over the Rockies and a rare series win.

It got a bit hairy late, with Andres Machado allowing two runs in the seventh and Kyle Finnegan allowing two runs in the eighth before Tanner Rainey locked things down. But at the end of the day, the Nats took three of four from Colorado and four of five overall to end this homestand with their first series victory since late April in San Francisco, their first home series victory of the year.

Saturday night’s decision to designate struggling right-hander Aaron Sanchez for assignment was prompted by the Nationals’ need to clear a 40-man roster spot in order to account for the fill-in starter they’ll need Wednesday in New York.

Manager Davey Martinez said the club will have someone not currently in the rotation start Wednesday’s series finale against the Mets, an outing that became necessary due to Friday night’s rainout and Saturday’s subsequent day-night doubleheader against the Rockies.

Martinez insisted the decision hasn’t been made yet and likely won’t until Tuesday, but acknowledged it played a role in Saturday night’s DFA decision with Sanchez.

“We felt like we’re going to need a spot here next week,” the manager said prior to today’s series finale against Colorado. “We felt like right now was a good time to start thinking about what we’re going to do for Wednesday. I can tell you right now, we have a lot of different options and things we’re thinking about. We won’t have a decision until probably Tuesday.”

The schedule does limit the team’s options to some extent. The organization’s top two pitching prospects, Cade Cavalli and Cole Henry, each had dominant starts Saturday night, with Cavalli tossing seven scoreless innings for Triple-A Rochester and Henry pitching four perfect innings for Double-A Harrisburg. Neither would be ready to come back and pitch Wednesday, though, removing them from the equation for now.

It’s been a while since the Nationals last won a series. You have to go back to April 29-May 1 in San Francisco to find the last time they took two of three against an opponent. So a win today, which would make three in four games against the Rockies, would be quite a welcome development for a ballclub that could certainly use some positive vibes.

Josiah Gray gets the ball for the Nats, and he needs to get himself back on track after a ragged start earlier in the week against the Dodgers in which he gave up seven runs in three innings, with three homers surrendered. The home run has become a problem again for Gray, who has served up nine of them over his last four starts after allowing only three in his first five outings. Unsurprisingly, his ERA has risen to 5.44.

A Nationals lineup that beat up on Colorado left-hander Austin Gomber in the opener of Saturday’s doubleheader will face another lefty today in Kyle Freeland, who has been pretty good of late. In five starts this month, Freeland had a 3.54 ERA and only two homers allowed in 28 innings.

COLORADO ROCKIES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 80 degrees, wind 4 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
LF Lane Thomas
RF Juan Soto
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Josh Bell
3B Maikel Franco
C Riley Adams
SS Alcides Escobar
CF Victor Robles

Maybe the worst thing the Nationals could have done before tonight’s game was score 13 runs in this afternoon’s game.

Though that hefty output in the opener of their doubleheader with the Rockies represented the sixth time this season they’ve scored 10 or more runs – tied with the Yankees, Dodgers and Cardinals for the major league lead – they’ve almost always followed those performances with tepid ones at the plate. In four of the previous five instances, they scored four or fewer runs their next game.

So it shouldn’t have surprised anyone when the Nationals, presented with countless opportunities to drive in runs in bunches tonight, failed to deliver during a 3-2 loss to Colorado that snapped their season-high winning streak at three games.

Those two lone runs came via Nelson Cruz’s first-inning double (the team’s only hit in 16 tries with runners in scoring position) and Yadiel Hernandez’s sixth-inning solo homer (the team’s sixth during the last three Saturdays, with zero homers on any other day during that bizarre stretch).

"We just couldn't get that big hit with guys on base," manager Davey Martinez said. "That's part of it. These doubleheaders sometimes go sideways on you a little bit."

As if today hasn’t already been jam-packed with enough action, we’ve still got another game to play on South Capitol Street. The Nationals and Rockies, after a quick break to shower, nap, snack or whatever else guys do between games of a day-night doubleheader, are back at it for Game 2 of the twinbill.

After watching Aaron Sanchez get knocked out in the fourth inning of the opener, manager Davey Martinez surely would like more length from his starter tonight. So the pressure’s on Joan Adon to at least complete five innings, if not more. Alas, the rookie has done that in only two of his nine starts to date this season. He will have the element of surprise in his corner, though, having not appeared in the Nats’ series at Coors Field earlier this month.

Chad Kuhl also didn’t pitch in that previous series, but a few members of the Nationals lineup do have experience against the right-hander from his previous days with the Pirates, led by Maikel Franco (5-for-10 with a double) and César Hernández (3-for-8). And Josh Bell was Kuhl’s longtime teammate in Pittsburgh, so he probably knows a thing or two about his repertoire and approach.

COLORADO ROCKIES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS (Game 2)
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 9 mph out to right field

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

They say you can start drawing legitimate conclusions about a ballclub on Memorial Day, with nearly one-third of a season’s worth of data available by then. So as we commemorate this holiday weekend, here’s one thing we can say with some certainty about the 2022 Nationals: When they win, they score a bunch of runs.

The Nats don’t have a great lineup. They don’t hit for power. They don’t consistently cross the plate night in and night out.

But when they do cross the plate, they do it in droves. And today’s 13-7 victory over the Rockies in the opener of a split doubleheader was merely the latest evidence of it.

The Nationals, who now have their first three-game winning streak of the year, have won only 11 of their last 34 games overall. But in those 11 wins, they’ve scored an average of 8.8 runs, blasting the competition and rarely needing to sweat those victories out.

And would you believe they're one of only four teams in the majors (joining the Dodgers, Yankees and Cardinals) to score 10 or more runs six times this season?

The late postponement of the game made for an annoying Friday night for everyone who had already gathered at Nationals Park and had to turn around and head home. It also created a new annoyance for the Nats, who must figure out how to fill out their rotation over the next week to account for today’s doubleheader.

Teams have the ability to promote a 27th player from the minors for doubleheader games and often elect to call up a spot starter for one of the two games. In this case, the Nationals elected to promote reliever Andres Machado and have him available for both games.

Machado opened the season in the Nationals bullpen and posted a 2.45 ERA in 10 appearances, but was optioned to Triple-A Rochester once rosters had to be reduced from 28 to 26 at the end of April. He had less success with the Red Wings, allowing five runs and nine hits in seven innings since the demotion, but his experience and ability to provide more than one inning if needed made him the choice for today’s promotion.

“He’s been throwing the ball well,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Based on what we think (the Rockies’) lineup will be, and the righties they have, if we needed someone, we wanted to get a right-handed pitcher up here that can give us multiple innings.”

Aaron Sanchez, who had begun to warm up before Friday night’s game was postponed, said he was good to start today’s first game. Joan Adon will pitch tonight as originally planned. And Josiah Gray will remain on a normal schedule and start Sunday’s series finale.

OK, let’s try this again. The Nationals and Rockies came oh so close to playing Friday night, only to have the game postponed about 25 minutes before scheduled first pitch and rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader today. So get ready for a long day (and night) of baseball on South Capitol Street, beginning at 12:05 p.m. with the makeup for Friday night’s postponed game.

Aaron Sanchez, who started to get loose in the outfield but never made it to the bullpen for warmups, will go ahead and make this start. As noted before, the right-hander gave up seven runs in 4 1/3 innings when he faced the Rockies at Coors Field earlier this month. He’ll need to be better today, especially when you consider the Nationals need as many innings from their starters as possible to ease the workload on a bullpen that will have to cover innings in both games.

Austin Gomber, who did throw some warmup pitches in the bullpen prior to the postponement announcement, will start for Colorado. The lefty held the Nats to two runs in 6 2/3 innings a few weeks ago.

The Nationals decided to use the allotted 27th roster spot for the doubleheader on reliever Andres Machado, who will be available for both games. The right-hander has a 6.43 ERA in six appearances for Triple-A Rochester since his demotion last month.

COLORADO ROCKIES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS (Game 1)
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 12:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 75 degrees, wind 10 mph out to right field

Despite initial hopes of being able to play tonight before an expected storm arrived, the Nationals’ game against the Rockies was postponed once it became clear the rain would likely hit earlier than anticipated.

The announcement didn’t come until about 25 minutes before the scheduled 7:05 p.m. first pitch, with many in the crowd for Juan Soto Shuffle Bobblehead Night having already settled into their seats and no rain in the immediate vicinity yet. Both teams’ starters – the Nats’ Aaron Sanchez, the Rockies’ Austin Gomber – were already getting loose in the outfield as the game was officially postponed.

The clubs will play a split, separate-admission doubleheader Saturday, with the makeup game starting at 12:05 p.m. and the original 4:05 p.m. game now moved to 6:05 p.m.

Fans who held tickets and parking passes for tonight’s game can use them for admission to Saturday’s 12:05 p.m. game or call the Nationals ticket office to exchange them for a future available date. Fans who hold tickets and parking passes for Saturday’s 4:05 p.m. game can use them for the rescheduled 6:05 p.m. nightcap.

The evening forecast looked dicey all day, with a first round of storms sweeping through the Washington area around noon and another round expected to arrive sometime in the 8-9 p.m. range tonight. There was consideration given to postponing the game earlier, but Major League Baseball did not give the official approval until about 6:40 p.m.

Stephen Strasburg will head back to Fredericksburg for his second rehab appearance, starting Sunday’s game for the Nationals’ low Single-A affiliate five days after taking the mound in a competitive game for the first time in nearly a year.

Strasburg, who allowed three runs while throwing 61 pitches in 2 2/3 innings Tuesday night for the FredNats, is slated to ramp up to 4-5 innings or 60-70 pitches, according to Nationals manager Davey Martinez. Because minor league teams now play six-game series every Tuesday-Sunday, he’ll be facing the same Salem Red Sox lineup he pitched against earlier this week.

The 33-year-old right-hander, recovering from last summer’s thoracic outlet surgery, is entering the final stages of a long rehab program. Martinez has said he’d like for him to reach six innings and 90 pitches before coming off the injured list and making his much anticipated season debut, perhaps sometime in the next 2-3 weeks.

Further evidence that Strasburg is getting closer to pitching for the Nationals: After pitching Sunday afternoon, he’ll drive back to D.C. and join his teammates on their charter flight to New York. While the Nats face the Mets during a three-game series at Citi Field, he’ll go through his typical between-starts routine.

“Our plans are, if everything goes well, to take him with us to New York so he can throw another bullpen with us,” Martinez said. “And then we’ll determine what happens next.”

There’s a ballgame scheduled tonight at Nationals Park. Whether it’s played on time, with or without interruption, or played at all, remains to be seen. The storms that have been rolling through town all day are certainly a threat, but at this point there’s been no proclamation about the status of the game between the Nationals and Rockies.

If they play, the Nats are seeking to do something they haven’t yet done in 2022: Win three games in a row. Yep, they’ve won back-to-back games several times, but they have not managed to win back-to-back-to-back games. So there’s your motivation this evening.

The Nationals will need to keep the offense rolling after scoring seven runs in Thursday’s series opener. They’ll need to do so against a Rockies starter they struggled against a few weeks ago: Austin Gomber, who held them to two runs in 6 2/3 innings May 4 at Coors Field. That game included a home run by Lane Thomas, so unsurprisingly Tomas is in tonight’s lineup.

One night later, Aaron Sanchez started for the Nats and gave up seven runs in 4 1/3 innings. He’s back on the mound tonight, looking for better results and hoping to pick up where he left off last weekend in Milwaukee when he allowed only two runs in five innings thanks in large part to three double plays induced.

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: Storms, 72 degrees, wind 9 mph out to left field

He may not have known the precise time elapsed since his last extra-base hit, but Josh Bell knew it had been too long.

“I mean, I didn’t get a hit for a while, so I think I had to start there,” the Nationals slugger said with a laugh. “Finally getting back into that extra-base hit column definitely helps. Hopefully there’s more to come.”

After a six-week stretch to open the season that was as productive as that of any hitter in baseball, Bell suddenly fell into a slump over the last week. He went hitless in 24 at-bats from May 16-23, seeing his batting average plummet from .333 to .291. And he went without an extra-base hit for 19 days, his last one coming May 7 when he homered in Anaheim.

So imagine Bell’s relief Thursday when he delivered a long-awaited big hit right away in the bottom of the first of what became a 7-3 win over the Rockies. His RBI double off the wall in deep left-center snapped that ignominious powerless streak and contributed to his team’s fortunes as well.

And he wasn’t done there. Though Bell wouldn’t record another hit in the game, he did drive another ball to left field that was caught and later drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to center. All told, he ended three of his four at-bats with balls that left his bat at 104 mph.

The Nationals lineup did its part, jumping out to an early lead with a first-inning barrage of hits. Patrick Corbin did his part, producing a rare quality start and departing in the seventh inning with his team ahead.

All that stood between Corbin and his long-anticipated first win of the season was a Nats bullpen that needed some reconfiguring on this night.

With Kyle Finnegan presumably unavailable after pitching back-to-back days, manager Davey Martinez made the aggressive move to put closer Tanner Rainey on the mound to face the heart of the Rockies’ lineup in the eighth inning. And after Rainey retired the side, it was veteran Steve Cishek entrusted with the ninth, his team’s lead having just been padded to four runs.

There was no save in the end, but Cishek did finish off a satisfying 7-3 victory for the Nationals that finally got Corbin in the win column for the first time in 10 tries this year.

"It was going to come," Martinez said. "And I told him: 'Don't fight it. Don't worry about the wins and losses. It's going to come. Just keep pitching, keep doing what you're doing.' And tonight was a perfect example. He went out there and pitched well, kept us in the game. We scored some runs, and he got his first one out of the way."

The latest MRI taken of Joe Ross’ elbow ligament showed “a little bit more of a sprain than I had in my previous MRIs,” the right-hander revealed today, making the second Tommy John surgery of his career a distinct possibility now.

Ross, who had to cut short his rehab assignment with Double-A Harrisburg after three innings Tuesday night, is scheduled for more tests Friday before a final decision is made. The 29-year-old and the Nationals are bracing for news he needs ligament replacement surgery again after trying to avoid that last-ditch option since last summer.

“I’m definitely frustrated,” he said. “Just a combination of missing the last five or so weeks last year, then doing all the rehab and going through all that from day one of the offseason, staying down in Florida and watching how this season is going so far, obviously I’d like to provide some assistance by coming back. … So it’s definitely frustrating to go through all that and not be able to assist in the way I would’ve liked, or at least how I was planning to.”

Ross had been diagnosed with a partial tear of the UCL last summer, but doctors determined he could attempt to rest and rehab and avoid surgery. He reported for spring training hoping to open the season on time, but after experiencing more elbow issues learned he had a bone spur that needed to be removed.

Ross started up his rehab process again, throwing alongside Stephen Strasburg for the last two months in West Palm Beach, Fla., and was excited to finally pitch in a competitive game for the first time this week. He said his arm felt strong during his first two innings in Harrisburg, when his fastball reached 95 mph, but he had trouble getting loose in the third inning and realized he couldn’t continue after that frame was over, even though he had barely thrown half of the total pitches (60) he was scheduled for in the start.

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.

Meaningful late-inning opportunities for Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey have been so sparse this season that Davey Martinez has regularly been compelled to use his best relievers in blowouts just to make sure they don’t get rusty.

The Nationals have had a save opportunity in only two games this month (each of them blown saves by Rainey, for what it’s worth). So when the situation finally presented itself again early this evening on South Capitol Street, it was more than appropriate to feel some pangs of anxiety for the home ballclub.

Turns out there was nothing to be worried about, because Finnegan and Rainey delivered in the eighth and ninth innings to close out a tense, much-needed, 1-0 victory over the Dodgers to avoid a series sweep.

"Those are the moments you want to be pitching in, and those are the moments you're hoping for," Finnegan said. "To get one of those tonight and do our job at the back end of the bullpen and come away with the win, it was awesome."

A matinee finale that saw Erick Fedde toss six scoreless innings and the Nationals push across one run in the bottom of the sixth, ultimately came down to the two relievers Martinez has ready to pitch the final two innings every night but hardly ever had been able to use as desired through the season’s first 45 games.

Though Stephen Strasburg emerged from his first minor league rehab start encouraged about the way his arm felt and is ready to continue progressing toward his return to the Nationals rotation, Joe Ross did not enjoy the same outcome after experiencing tightness in his surgically repaired elbow during his outing.

Both Strasburg and Ross were scheduled to throw four innings or 60 pitches in their first competitive game appearances of the season. Strasburg reached his pitch limit after only 2 2/3 innings. Ross never got there, getting pulled after his elbow tightened up during the third inning, with his pitch total reaching only 31.

Both pitchers were back at Nationals Park today, and Ross was headed to get an MRI on his elbow, with manager Davey Martinez admitting concern given the right-hander’s injury history. Ross had Tommy John surgery in 2017, then missed the second half of the 2021 season when a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament was discovered, then had arthroscopic surgery in March to remove a bone spur in the elbow.

“It’s a concern, because it’s his elbow again,” Martinez said. “But I don’t want to jump to any conclusions until we get the MRI back.”

Martinez said Ross showed no signs of trouble during his first two innings at Double-A Harrisburg, with his fastball topping out at 95 mph. But there was a drop in velocity during the third inning, and after he returned to the dugout he told the coaching staff his elbow was tight, at which point the decision was made not to send him back to the mound for another inning.

For the sixth time in 14 series this season – and the third straight series – the Nationals head into the finale needing a win to avoid getting swept. This is not a good way to live life in the major leagues, but it’s the way this team is living this year, and that’s just the way it is.

The Nats will hope Erick Fedde can put forth a better start than Joan Adon or Josiah Gray did the last two nights. Fedde arguably has been the team’s most effective starter recently, but he faces quite a challenge this afternoon in a Dodgers lineup that has blasted out 19 runs over the last 48 hours.

The Nationals go up against Los Angeles left-hander Julio Urías, who just shut out the Phillies over five innings in his last start and led the league with 20 wins a year ago. Lane Thomas isn't batting leadoff against the lefty, as he did in the series opener, but he's still near the top of the order, behind César Hernández.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 70 degrees, wind 9 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
LF Lane Thomas
RF Juan Soto
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Josh Bell
3B Maikel Franco
C Riley Adams
CF Victor Robles
SS Alcides Escobar

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.