It’s September, which means there are only four weeks to go in the season and rosters now expand from 26 to 28. For the Nationals, that means the major league debuts of infielder Darren Baker and reliever Zach Brzykcy, who both are being called up from Triple-A Rochester today and joining the active roster. There may not be much playing opportunity for Baker, who plays second base and a little bit of outfield, but Brzykcy (pronounced BRICK-see) should get a good look out of the bullpen the rest of the way.

As for today’s game, the Nats need a win to avoid what would be a very frustrating sweep. Each of the last two games were there for the taking, but they couldn’t avoid one big inning on the mound and then couldn’t deliver one more clutch hit in the ninth inning. They’ll hope to get out to a lead today and then maintain it, perhaps even get the ball to Kyle Finnegan.

Mitchell Parker gets the start, and he had an erratic August. He allowed one or fewer earned runs in six or more innings in three of his starts. But he was torched for nine runs in Philadelphia, and lasted only four innings (despite giving up only two runs) last time out against the Yankees.

The Nationals will be facing left-hander Jordan Wicks, who returns from a long stint on the injured list after having an oblique strain.

To clear space on the 40-man roster for Baker, the Nats transferred Trevor Williams to the 60-day IL. That doesn't change the right-hander's timetime for potentially returning before season's end.

There unquestionably is more young talent on the Nationals roster right now than there has been in years, and that alone is reason for more optimism than this franchise has offered in years.

Talent alone, of course, doesn’t win ballgames. Execution is required, especially in the moments that matter the most. And for some talented young players, that second part takes time to develop. If it ever does.

Today’s 5-3 loss to the Cubs was a game that was there for the taking. Alas, it slipped away from the home team because of a bad ending to a great start by DJ Herz, two more outs made on the bases at a time when the Nats needed baserunners, a particularly bad error by a rookie catcher and another inspiring but ultimately unsuccessful ninth-inning rally.

Put it all together, and you get a second straight narrow loss to Chicago, even if there have been several positive developments the last 24 hours by key young players.

"These things are worked on. It's just, the game speeds up," manager Davey Martinez said. "To me, we did make some mistakes today. But the big thing is, yesterday, one inning we gave it up. Today, one inning we gave it up. They’re going to have to learn how to get through these innings and limit the damage. That’s the big thing. The other things will clean up with time. ... Right now, we’re just making small mistakes. And as they play a little more, and play more and play more, they’ll start learning those mistakes become big mistakes in games like this."

Derek Law appears ready to return from his brief stint on the injured list. Trevor Williams needs some more time but took a big step in his return from the IL today.

Law and Williams each faced live hitters this afternoon prior to the Nationals’ game against the Cubs, the first time each right-hander had done that since going on the 15-day IL with flexor strains in their elbows.

Law, out since Aug. 17, threw 20 pitches over one simulated inning against teammates Ildemaro Vargas and Nasim Nuñez. He said everything felt strong and that he believes his two-week layoff helped give his arm and body a rare chance to rest after a workhorse season. (His 75 2/3 innings pitched lead all major league relievers.)

“Think about it. This is like the first time your body’s getting a full amount of time off,” Law said, citing advice he got from pitching strategist Sean Doolittle. “It’s almost like you’re in spring training again, instead of the grind of the season, where you’re trying to manipulate your body to throw how it should be throwing.

“I was definitely throwing different ways to try to get around the elbow (before going on the IL). So it’s nice to feel free, I guess.”

Friday night was a wild one for the Nationals, who saw Jake Irvin give up seven runs to the Cubs in the top of the second, then Irvin and a parade of relievers give up nothing the rest of the way, then the lineup rally to score three runs in the ninth and put the winning run on base with two outs and Dylan Crews at the plate … only to watch him strike out to end the game. Enough drama for you?

So, what does today’s game have in store? There’s an obvious storyline to watch: DJ Herz facing the Cubs. The rookie left-hander came up through Chicago’s system before he was dealt to the Nats last summer for Jeimer Candelario, and now he gets to face his former team for the first time. Herz has been solid this month, with a 2.22 ERA and 1.192 WHIP, though he’s averaging fewer than five innings per start.

Davey Martinez again has a lineup with Dylan Crews and James Wood at the top and CJ Abrams not near the top. Abrams does move up one spot today, from seventh to sixth, against Cubs right-hander Javier Assad. But clearly his drop down the order Friday night wasn’t simply a matchup situation against a left-hander. This is going to remain this way a while longer until Abrams gets himself back on track.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 86 degrees, wind 8 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
RF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Andrés Chaparro
3B José Tena
SS CJ Abrams
1B Joey Gallo
C Drew Millas
CF Jacob Young

The month of August is about to wrap up this weekend, which means it’s been a full month since the trade deadline. Which means enough time has passed to start evaluating how trades worked out.

Of course, it takes years to know if a trade truly was worth it or not. But in the Nationals’ case, it’s worth checking in on the results of Mike Rizzo’s four deadline deals to see how they look at this point.

(Spoiler alert: They look pretty good at this early stage of the process.)

HUNTER HARVEY to ROYALS for CAYDEN WALLACE and CALEB LOMAVITA
Rizzo surprised everyone by making this deal 17 days before the July 30 deadline, but there was a good reason for it. He wanted Kansas City’s “Competitive Balance A” pick in the following night’s Draft. So in addition to Wallace, a promising-but-injured third base prospect, the Nationals also got the No. 39 pick, which they used on Lomavita, an intriguing catcher from Cal.

Wallace, who was dealing with a fractured rib at the time, just finally made his organizational debut Thursday night, delivering an RBI single and drawing a walk for Single-A Wilmington. He’ll look to finish the season strong and then come to spring training next year trying to move up the organizational ladder.

It was undoubtedly the best development of the first half of the Nationals season, a young starting rotation that seemed to break through as one, four potential building blocks all succeeding at the big league level and offering real hope for the near future.

And things turned south for all four of them as the summer progressed. MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin no longer looked like All-Stars. Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz looked like rookies with a lot of things that still needed to be ironed out.

So consider the last week-plus a key turning point for that group, which along with veteran Patrick Corbin has turned dominant again.

Over their last nine games, Nationals starters have combined to post a 1.94 ERA and 1.098 WHIP, striking out more than one batter per inning and never once allowing more than two earned runs.

Everyone in the quintet has contributed to the resurgence, but Gore’s part in this play – capped off by Wednesday night’s win over the Yankees – has been the most encouraging.

It's too soon to know if the events of the last 72 hours represent a critical turning point in what the Nationals hope is among the last steps they need to take to close out a long and arduous rebuild and finally start thinking about winning again. They could come back to earth this weekend, or next month or even when they all reconvene next spring.

But for anyone who has endured the pain of the last three years believing there would be a light at the end of the tunnel, these last three nights were for you. It’s not just that the Nationals won a series against the Yankees, capped off by tonight’s 5-2 triumph on South Capitol Street. It’s that they did it with a roster loaded with talented young players, nearly every one of them a potential piece to the long-term puzzle.

For the most part, these weren’t stopgaps performing well against the Bronx Bombers. They were building blocks. And they delivered about as well as anyone could have hoped.

"I think we all understand that we're talented, to be honest with you," left-hander MacKenzie Gore said. "But it's one of those 'You either do it, or you don't' kind of things. This is where we're at. We don't want to be just like: 'Oh, we're going to be good in a couple of years, as a player or a team.' It's our job to be good right now."

Tonight’s victory included the first home run of Dylan Crews’ career (which began Monday). It included two more hits and three more stolen bases by James Wood, fully living up to the hype in his first two months in the majors. It included six standout innings from Gore, who in his last two starts has looked far more like the potential All-Star he was in April and May than the shaky left-hander he had been since.

The Nationals keep running into walls trying to find out if Joan Adon can become a regular member of their bullpen.

Adon was placed on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with a right shoulder biceps strain, removing the erratic reliever from the active roster again and replacing him with rookie Orlando Ribalta, who was recalled from Triple-A Rochester.

The Nats are awaiting MRI results on Adon, who had not pitched in six days but did briefly warm up during Monday night’s game against the Yankees. Teams cannot backdate IL moves more than three days, so Adon won’t be eligible to return until Sept. 10.

The 26-year-old, a starter throughout his professional career, was moved to the bullpen in Rochester earlier this season, with the Nationals thinking he might develop into an effective long man. But he’s appeared in only eight big league games across three stints with the club, and he has yet to record more than four outs in any relief appearance.

Ribalta returns to the majors only eight days after he was optioned to Triple-A, a move that came only seven days after he made his big league debut. The 6-foot-8 right-hander was scored upon in each of his two appearances for the Nats but sported a 2.64 ERA, 1.154 WHIP and 69 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings at Rochester and Double-A Harrisburg.

It’s been a fun couple of nights at Nationals Park. Monday night saw the debut of Dylan Crews and the Yankees outplaying the home team during a tight, 5-2 win. Tuesday night saw Crews record his first hit, Andrés Chaparro record his first home run, Patrick Corbin outpitch Gerrit Cole and the Nats emerge with a tight, 4-2 win. The atmosphere in the ballpark has been outstanding, the kind of thing that used to be common around here but hasn’t been common for several years.

Now it’s the rubber game of the series, and a big start for MacKenzie Gore. It’s been a ragged summer for the young left-hander, but he hopes he turned a corner over the weekend in Atlanta, where he held the Braves to one run over six innings without issuing a walk. This is obviously a tough lineup Gore has to face tonight, but he’s unquestionably got better stuff than Corbin, who was hugely successful. It’s up to Gore to make his stuff work against Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and Co.

The Nationals would love to give Gore some significant run support. It’s been a strange few days, because they’ve hit the ball hard quite a bit, and they’ve recorded four homers and four doubles, but they’re a staggering 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position. (The Yankees, by the way, are 0-for-13 in the series.) They’ll go up against left-hander Carlos Rodón, who has been hit-or-miss of late, and try to convert at least a few times in clutch situations to provide Gore some support.

The Nats did make a roster move this afternoon: Orlando Ribalta has been recalled from Triple-A Rochester, with Joan Adon placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder biceps strain. So it's a swap of right-handed relievers.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs NEW YORK YANKEES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 95 degrees, wind 8 mph out to right field

Dylan Crews’ first career hit figured to be a memorable one. And it was, a laser of a double off the left field wall in his first at-bat Tuesday night against a Cy Young Award winner.

And then for good measure, the Nationals rookie added another hit later in the game, stole his first base and scored his first run, then caught the final two outs of his team’s 4-2 victory over the Yankees.

“Overall, I thought today was awesome,” the 22-year-old outfielder said. “And we won, so it was a great day.”

Crews’ major league debut Monday turned out to be nondescript. He put together some quality at-bats but ultimately went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. And he didn’t have much opportunity to make an impact on the bases or in the field.

Tuesday’s game presented a very different opportunity, with Crews front and center for multiple big moments over the course of the night.

If Oct. 30, 2019, represented the pinnacle of Patrick Corbin’s career, it arguably also represented the nadir of Gerrit Cole’s career. As the former came out of the bullpen to win Game 7 of the World Series for the Nationals, the latter sat in his bullpen and helplessly watched it all unfold, ostracized for not appearing in what to that point would’ve been the biggest game of his life.

The two pitchers’ careers have gone in completely opposite directions since, with Corbin devolving into the least effective starter in baseball the last five seasons while Cole moved to New York after signing a record deal and won a Cy Young Award. There’s no comparison between them in the years since.

Except on this night, when Corbin rose to a challenge like he perhaps hasn’t since that glorious October night in Houston and Cole looked decidedly human facing a young and hungry lineup that knocked him out after five innings to give the Nationals a most satisfying 4-2 victory.

Behind back-to-back home runs from rookies Andrés Chaparro and José Tena, plus the first two hits and stolen base of Dylan Crews’ career, the Nats opened up a lead on Cole. Corbin (six scoreless innings) and four relievers then did the rest, holding down one of the most feared lineups in the sport in impressive fashion to pull off one of the team's most impressive wins of the year.

"Patrick did an awesome job today going out and giving us a chance to win," said Crews, who caught the final out of his first major league victory. "That's his job, and he executed it perfectly. It was a great crowd today. Our bullpen did an awesome job today, too. Overall, I thought today was awesome. And we won, so it was a great day."

When Jose A. Ferrer entered from the bullpen in the top of the eighth Monday night and stopped near the infield to be inspected by first base umpire Phil Cuzzi, there was no reason for any observer to pay attention. This was standard practice for any relief pitcher who enters the game, with umpires checking for any evidence of illegal substances on his glove, cap or body.

But when Cuzzi called over the entire umpiring crew, and when Nationals manager Davey Martinez came out of the dugout to find out what was going on, this suddenly became a potential controversy. Was there something wrong with Ferrer’s glove? Was he using “sticky stuff” and about to be ejected and subject to suspension by Major League Baseball?

No, he was not. After a long meeting of all the involved parties, Ferrer was allowed to pitch, and he wound up recording the final four outs of the game for the Nats without incident.

So, what happened? Ferrer accidentally had a legal ointment on his forearm but was allowed to wipe it off without any punishment.

Like many pitchers, Ferrer uses Red Hot ointment, which keeps the shoulder muscle warm, when he pitches, according to Martinez this afternoon. But when Cuzzi noticed the 24-year-old left-hander’s forearm was unusually shiny, he got suspicious and had the entire crew take a look at it in case something illegal was going on.

The hubbub of Monday night is gone, but that doesn’t mean there won’t still be juice in the ballpark tonight. The Yankees are still here, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge are still here, Dylan Crews and James Wood are still here and there’s a juicy (if lopsided, on paper) pitching matchup on tap as well.

Patrick Corbin vs. Gerrit Cole. The guy who did pitch in relief in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series vs. the guy who did not pitch in relief in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series. The guys whose careers have taken wildly different paths since that night.

Corbin is really facing a gantlet tonight in the Yankees lineup, though for whatever it’s worth he tossed a quality start last summer in the Bronx, allowing three runs over six innings to earn the win. Judge and Gleyber Torres each homered, but that’s all Corbin gave up during that game. It’s also worth noting he allowed one run over six innings to the Rockies last time out, earning career win No. 100.

Cole, meanwhile, seems to have found his groove after spending the season’s first 2 1/2 months on the injured list. He enters this one on a 12-inning scoreless streak, having shut out the Tigers and Guardians. He’ll be going up against a very young Nats lineup that now features Crews, Wood and CJ Abrams.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs NEW YORK YANKEES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 88 degrees, wind 8 mph out to left field

It was quite a Monday night at Nationals Park, where a convergence of star players, a returning former hero and a debuting top prospect came together to create as much anticipation as has been felt around these parts in a while. The end result - a 5-2 loss to the Yankees - wasn't satisfying at all. But the mere presence of CJ Abrams, Dylan Crews and James Wood atop the Nats lineup for the first time was plenty of reason to be excited.

There was also the return of Juan Soto for the first time as a Yankee. Aaron Judge robbing home runs instead of hitting them. Mitchell Parker flirting with disaster for four innings but emerging with only minimal damage. One dominant inning of relief from Tanner Rainey, then a not-so-dominant inning after that. Some kind of controversy with Jose A. Ferrer's glove. And then no postgame press conference from Davey Martinez, who according to a club spokesman wasn't feeling well.

It all made for an eventful, if disappointing, night at the park. And one worthy of plenty of follow-up discussion. So let's do this: If you've got something you'd like to ask - either about Monday's game or anything else - submit it in the comments section below, then check back throughout the morning for my responses ...

They came to see Dylan Crews do something big in his major league debut. They left having seen a pedestrian night from the Nationals’ top prospect, three big blasts from the Yankees’ potent lineup and three soul-crushing catches at the wall that spoiled any chance of a victory on one of the most anticipated nights in recent franchise history.

Gleyber Torres, Austin Wells and Jazz Chisholm Jr. each homered, and though Aaron Judge did not, the majors’ leading home run hitter did rob two potential bombs at the wall in center to dazzle a bipartisan crowd of 32,812 and steal the show during a 5-2 New York win on a night that belonged neither to Crews nor Juan Soto.

Crews, the Nats’ first-round pick in last summer’s draft, went 0-for-3 with a walk, a strikeout, a flyout and a groundout in his first career game. It was a rather uneventful night for the 22-year-old, whose biggest moment may have been a fourth-inning throw from right field that just missed nailing Anthony Volpe at the plate.

"First off, playing against the Yankees, and playing against Judge and Soto for the first time, it was a pretty surreal moment going out there," he said. "And obviously playing with my new team I'm playing on now, the Nationals, it's a great feeling. I'm just going to come out tomorrow and do it all over again."

Batting second behind CJ Abrams and in front of James Wood, Crews came up to bat with runners on base only once; he struck out with two on and one out in the sixth, unable to connect with a 3-2 fastball from Nestor Cortes.

Dylan Crews’ arrival had to come at someone’s expense. And though they don’t play the same position, technically his roster spot with the Nationals was previously occupied by Riley Adams, who was optioned to Triple-A Rochester after Sunday’s game in Atlanta.

Adams had to be worried the clock was ticking when the Nats called up Drew Millas on Saturday, giving the team three catchers for the first time in a long time. Sure enough, Millas started Sunday’s game, recorded two hits in the Nats’ 5-1 victory and remains with the big league club while Adams heads back to Rochester for the second time this season.

It’s been a rocky 2024 for Adams, who entered with high hopes of providing a quality bat behind starter Keibert Ruiz and also improving his defensive work behind the plate. But though the 28-year-old got off to a good start and performed well when Ruiz had to go on the injured list in April with a back case of the flu, he never found a way to maintain that kind of production.

In 41 total major league games this season, Adams is batting .224 with a .292 on-base percentage, five doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and a .629 OPS. He has thrown out only 3-of-34 basestealers.

The Nationals sent Adams down once before, in early June when he was struggling, and he proceeded to deliver a .946 OPS in 22 games with Rochester. That earned him a trip back to D.C. in early July, but Adams’ Triple-A offensive success didn’t carry over to the majors.

It’s a big night on South Capitol Street, and that would’ve already been the case without Dylan Crews crashing the proceedings. Juan Soto, Aaron Judge and the Yankees are in town, and that would be the big storyline under any other circumstances. But now we’ve got the added drama of the latest top prospect to debut for the Nationals.

Crews, who is in right field, joins a Nats lineup that already features James Wood, CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. They’ll all be facing left-hander Nestor Cortes, who is having a decent but not great season. Cortes enters with a 4.00 ERA and 1.153 WHIP in 26 starts, his biggest issue an inability to keep the ball in the yard. Opponents have hit 21 homers off him, though only two in his last five starts. And in each of his last two starts, he’s tossed seven scoreless innings on three hits with zero walks. So the young Nationals have their work cut out for them. Crews, by the way, will bat second in his debut. (And for those who didn't hear the news Sunday night, Riley Adams was optioned to Triple-A Rochester to clear the roster spot for him.)

So does Mitchell Parker, who faces probably the toughest lineup he’s had to face yet as a big leaguer. The rookie lefty was really good against the Rockies last week (one run, five hits in seven innings) but in his previous start he was torched by the Phillies for nine runs in three-plus innings. Suffice it to say, the Yankees lineup bears more resemblance to the Phillies than the Rockies.

There are a few storm cells set to roll through the area this afternoon, but (fingers crossed) the forecast looks OK for this evening, setting up a big Monday at the ballpark.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs NEW YORK YANKEES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Storms ending, 83 degrees, wind 7 mph out to right field

ATLANTA – James Wood hasn’t been a big leaguer long enough to offer much advice to anyone, but he has been a big leaguer long enough to share some words of wisdom with Dylan Crews as the latter prepares to debut tonight for the Nationals.

“I remember it was a lot, in a good way,” Wood said of his first major league game just eight short weeks ago. “You’ve just kind of got to take it all in. You only get one of them. I’d just tell him to enjoy it.”

There are no shortage of similarities between the two events. Each highly rated outfield prospect will have debuted on a Monday night. Each in the first game of a weeklong homestand. Each against a team that hails from New York.

Here’s the biggest difference for Crews: His debut is coming against the Yankees, with Juan Soto (and, oh yeah, Aaron Judge) in the other dugout.

As far as star-studded debuts, this is about as big as it gets. Bryce Harper played his first big league game at Dodger Stadium, with Stephen Strasburg on the mound, but the most notable Dodger on the field that night in 2012 was Matt Kemp. Strasburg’s 2010 debut was perhaps the most hyped in history, but it came against an inferior Pirates club that had a young Andrew McCutchen leading off and – believe it or not – Lastings Milledge batting third.

ATLANTA – There are more promising young players to come, especially the one scheduled to make his major league debut Monday night in D.C. But the Nationals already are awfully young even before Dylan Crews joins them.

Of the nine players in today’s starting lineup, five were rookies. So was the starting pitcher. That made this first time the franchise has started six rookies in a game since 2010, according to Elias Sports. And they added a reliever as well today, bringing the total number to seven.

Sometimes youth has gotten the best of the Nats, who have a penchant for sloppy baserunning, sloppy defense and a lack of clutch hitting. And sometimes it comes together beautifully as it did this afternoon, when DJ Herz tossed five scoreless innings, Drew Millas and Jacob Young contributed clutch hits late and Eduardo Salazar helped bridge the gap to Kyle Finnegan, who notched a four-out save to close out a 5-1 victory over the Braves.

"Everybody's just figuring it out," Herz said. "And it's fun when we put it all together."

In avoiding a weekend sweep at Truist Park, the Nationals also clinched the season series over Atlanta, having gone 7-4 with two games still to go next month on South Capitol Street. It’s the first time they’ve done that since 2017.

ATLANTA – As he rounded the bases in the top of the second Saturday night, having just connected for his first major league home run, José Tena’s smile could be seen throughout Truist Park. And when he crossed the plate and returned to the dugout, the Nationals’ 23-year-old rookie went right to Luis García Jr. and offered an even wider grin.

“I kept running the bases with a big smile on my face,” Tena said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “Thank God for giving me my first opportunity to hit my first home run.”

And thank García for providing Tena with a little extra motivation.

The Nats second baseman is only one year older than Tena, but he’s got 407 more games of big league experience and has taken his new teammate under his wing. And though Tena had been delivering hit after hit since joining the club earlier this month, García jokingly asked him Saturday when he was finally going to hit his first home run.

“I’m so proud of him,” García said with a smile as wide as Tena’s was after the homer.