This week hasn’t been pleasant to the Nationals. After starting this homestand with two big wins over the Brewers, it’s been all downhill since.

Looking to avoid their third sweep in as many weeks, the Nationals dropped another dud in the form of an 8-2 loss to the Braves in front of 21,153 fans at Nationals Park.

The Nats had nothing going against Braves starter Spencer Strider. The rookie brought his good stuff to his fourth straight start, putting away hitters with his triple-digit fastball and sharp slider.

Strider’s fastball averaged 98.8 mph and topped out at 100.9 mph, with the Nats swinging late on it all night. Then the slider was a great putaway pitch as it was thrown for strikes 43 percent of the time.

“He was good. He hit 100-101 (mph)," manager Davey Martinez said after the game. "But more so his breaking ball was good and he threw it for strikes. When a guy's like that, he's tough locating his fastball. He was tough."

The Nationals have already had a rough start to the week with Stephen Strasburg’s injury news, a worn out bullpen and three straight losses at home, including the first two games of this three-game set against the Braves. The last thing they need is for their best player to miss time due to a freak injury in the dugout.

But that’s exactly what they have as Juan Soto is not in the starting lineup for the second straight game after slipping in the dugout and banging his right knee on the corner of a bench in the eighth inning of Monday night’s game.

Soto was seen in the Nationals clubhouse before batting practice walking around with a slight limp in his step. He was going to test it out in the cage before making a decision on whether or not he would play, even though he told manager Davey Martinez he’s feeling better.

“He says he feels better, but we'll see,” Martinez said during his pregame session with the media before a starting lineup was announced.

What do the Nationals want to see Soto do before putting him back in the field?

Well, this week has not started off well for the Nationals. After starting this 11-games-in-10-days homestand with two impressive wins against the Brewers over the weekend, the Nats have dropped three straight by a combined score of 23-10, including the first two games of this series against the division rival Braves. Not to mention all of the injury and roster news from the past 48 hours …

As they look to avoid a three-game sweep, the Nats will turn to Erick Fedde to be the stopper, something he actually has done a handful of times this season. The Nationals have won seven of the 12 games Fedde has started this season, with the right-hander going 4-4 with a 4.87 ERA. Of those seven wins, five of them were the only victories the Nationals secured in those respective series (against the Mets, Pirates, Rockies, Astros and Dodgers). And his most recent start against the Brewers stopped a three-game losing streak after the Nationals were swept out of Miami last week.

He’ll try to do it again tonight.

The Braves will send one of the National League’s best rookies in Spencer Strider to the mound for just his fourth start in his 15th appearance this season. The 23-year-old right-hander is 2-2 with a 1.122 WHIP and 2.35 ERA, which is third-best among qualified major league rookies. Strider’s three starts have come in his last three outings, over which he allowed four earned runs in 14 innings while striking out 20 and issuing just eight walks. He gave up one run on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings of relief against the Nats on April 11 in Atlanta.

Juan Soto is not in the lineup for the second straight game. The star right fielder slipped in the dugout and banged his right knee on the corner of a bench in the eighth inning of Monday night’s game. Manager Davey Martinez told reporters yesterday Soto’s X-ray came back clean, but today said the knee is still sore. Martinez also said during his pregame media session that Soto could be available off the bench.

You’ll have to excuse Sean Doolittle if he seems a little amped over something as trivial as playing catch as a major league pitcher. For a guy who had to go on the 10-day injured list after a strong start to the season and then went months without picking up a baseball, the left-hander had a lot of energy and a lot to say about his ongoing rehab process.

“We're in my second week of playing catch. ... Up to 75 feet right now. And just building back up,” Doolittle said in front of his locker in the Nationals clubhouse Friday afternoon. “I can't remember the last time I took two months off from throwing. But the elbow and the forearm have been feeling really good. All of the strength work has gone really well and now is the fun part. Getting to throw and play catch again, knock that rust off. We don't have a timetable or anything. But it's been going really well.”

Doolittle landed on the 10-day IL with a left elbow sprain on April 20, the day after he recorded two outs in relief of Josiah Gray during the Nationals’ 6-1 win over the Diamondbacks in the matinee of a D.C. doubleheader. A little over two weeks later, he was moved to the 60-day IL after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection that would keep him out for a longer period of time.

He had to stop throwing for what turned out to be about two months. He wasn’t allowed to do what he’s literally paid to do.

After starting the season with 5 1/3 scoreless innings, a 0.188 WHIP and six strikeouts to no walks over six appearances, was that particularly frustrating for him?

It’s always nice to be home. After a 10-game road trip in which they went 3-7, the Nationals were happy to return to D.C. to start this long homestand tonight against the Brewers.

You could feel it in the clubhouse before the game. Despite coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Marlins and getting into town late last night, players seemed to be in high spirits this afternoon. Even manager Davey Martinez was particularly chipper in his pregame press conference.

Did the late arrival time at Nationals Park allow them to catch up on sleep? Or were they over-caffeinated after not getting enough sleep? We don’t know for sure, but whatever it was it led to an 11-5 win over the Brewers in front of 26,111 in attendance on South Capitol Street.

“I am tired. … I got three hours of sleep," Martinez said immediately after tonight's game. "By the end of the game today, I looked at (bench coach Tim Bogar) and said, 'I'm beat.' ”

It was a picture-perfect Friday night in our nation’s capital. With a gametime temperature of 79 degrees and a per usual perfect national anthem from local favorite D.C. Washington, the Nationals settled right into a victory in which they received contributions from all aspects of the roster.

After a long 10-game road trip across three cities, the Nationals are finally home in D.C., ready to start an 11-game homestand over the next 10 days.

“Yeah, it's awesome,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame session in the press conference room at Nationals Park. “I mean, it was a long road trip. It really was. But glad to be home.”

Although the location has changed, the Nationals lineup for their series opener against the Brewers remains mostly the same, with Nelson Cruz starting again as the designated hitter after being a late scratch from last night’s finale in Miami with tightness in his back.

“Cruz is back in there,” Martinez said. “His back was stiff yesterday. So he called this morning, I talked to him this morning. He said he feels a lot better. ... Says he feels good. So he's back in there.”

The 41-year-old has dealt with a handful of nagging issues that have caused him to be scratched from lineups this season. He was also removed from the lineup before an April 12 game in Atlanta with groin tightness, and he was scratched from a May 16 game in Miami with an illness.

Home, sweet home! After going 3-7 over a three-city road trip, the Nationals have finally returned home to South Capitol Street. 

Tonight kicks off an 11-game homestand over the next 10 days (thanks to a doubleheader against the Phillies a week from today), starting with three games against the Brewers. The Nats will be looking for a little payback after dropping two out of three in Milwaukee last month.

Erick Fedde takes the mound for his sixth home start to open this series. He’s 3-4 with 4.88 ERA on the season and gave up two runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings against the Brewers in May.

Aaron Ashby gets the start for the Brew Crew tonight. In 12 games (six starts) this season, the young left-hander is 1-4 with a 3.13 ERA. He closed out the Brewers’ 7-0 win with a scoreless ninth inning on the same day Fedde started for the Nationals at American Family Field. As a starter, Ashby is 1-2 with a 3.45 ERA.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 7 mph in from left field 

CINCINNATI – Wherever the Nationals go, the attention always focuses on their big-name players. Your Juan Sotos, Josh Bells, Nelson Cruzes, Josiah Grays, Patrick Corbins, etc.

While all of those stars contributed to the Nats’ three wins over the Reds this weekend, some unsung heroes played a significant role as well.

Not all of them got their fair share of praise over the last three days, partially my own fault for not incorporating them more. So let’s take some time to give them their time in the spotlight.

Lane Thomas is an obvious one, though he did get his fair share after hitting three home runs on Friday night. Those jump off the page, obviously, but he did a lot more this weekend.

Thomas went 7-for-14 with three home runs, a double, four RBIs, a walk and five runs scored in the three games he played in Cincinnati, once again showing his uncanny ability to produce in National League Central ballparks. All along the way, he played perfect defense in the outfield, including a nice sliding catch Saturday afternoon.

CINCINNATI – It’s been over a month since the Nationals completed a road series win. They took two out of three in San Francisco on April 28-May 1. They have lost five straight since.

That streak ended today as the Nationals beat the Reds 5-4 in front of 16,380 at Great American Ball Park to win their third straight game and therefore this four-game series.

The first inning had a lot of action this Sunday afternoon. Facing right-hander Luis Castillo, who doesn’t have great career numbers against the Nats, the guys in navy blue were able to jump out to an early lead, something they haven’t done in about a week.

César Hernández walked and Lane Thomas singled to start the game, and Josh Bell drove in both with an RBI double to right field, putting the Nats on the board first for the first time since Monday in New York.

But Patrick Corbin ran into trouble of his own in the bottom of the inning. The Reds’ game plan against the southpaw was clear: Attack the fastball and run on the basepaths.

CINCINNATI – It’s a lovely Sunday in The Queen City as the Nationals look to win this four-game series against the hosting Reds.

With the early game today, a flight to catch tonight and an off-day tomorrow before a series against the Marlins in Miami gets underway Tuesday night, there wasn’t a whole lot of news coming out of the Nats clubhouse this morning. So let’s go through some notes before we get underway one last time in Cincinnati …

* Here’s your daily non-update Stephen Strasburg update: He did some work in the visitors' bullpen at Great American Ball Park this morning as part of his routine while recovering from last summer’s thoracic outlet surgery and Friday’s rehab start with Triple-A Rochester, in which he pitched six shutout innings on 83 pitches. Pitching coach Jim Hickey and others were working with Strasburg.

Although things seem to be going well for the veteran right-hander and his season debut should be coming soon, manager Davey Martinez isn’t ready to commit to anything until Strasburg goes through his bullpen session tomorrow with the team in Miami.

“He's had a routine that he does in between starts, so he's just doing his routine,” Martinez said of Strasburg’s work this morning during his pregame media session. “And he's gonna throw a bullpen here in the next day. We'll see where he's at and we'll have a conversation after the bullpen. But so far, everything looks good. I don't want to make any decisions yet 'til he throws his bullpen and we go from there.”

CINCINNATI – The Nationals have a chance today to do something they haven’t done since May 1: Win a road series.

That’s right, after Thursday’s 8-1 loss to the Reds in the series opener, the Nats have bounced back to win the last two games of this series to put themselves in position to win three out of four on Sunday. This would be their first road series win since they took two of three in San Francisco over a month ago.

Like Saturday’s starter, Erick Fedde, Patrick Corbin will attempt to shake off a rough outing in his last start. Corbin gave up seven runs while scattering 12 hits over 4 1/3 innings in Tuesday’s loss to the Mets.

Corbin comes in with a 1-8 record and 6.96 ERA on the season and 3-4 record and 4.04 ERA in 11 career appearances (10 starts) against the Reds.

Luis Castillo brings his 2-2 record and 3.38 ERA into today’s finale for the Reds. The right-hander was great in his last outing, pitching six scoreless innings of one-hit ball with 10 strikeouts against the Red Sox. 

CINCINNATI – For so long considered the weakness of a rotation-dominated pitching staff, the Nationals bullpen has been a point of strength two months into this season.

Leading the way for the relief corps have been Carl Edwards Jr. and Kyle Finnegan, two setup guys who have proven their worth in the back end of the bullpen.

Edwards, signed to a minor league contract in February, has been lights out since his first appearance as a National.

In his season debut, the veteran right-hander gave up three runs in one inning against the Mets. Afterward, he vowed it wouldn’t happen again.

It hasn’t. He’s almost been perfect in 12 outings since, posting 14 scoreless innings while giving up just two hits and six walks and recording 12 strikeouts. His ERA is 1.80 and his WHIP is 0.800. 

CINCINNATI – The Nationals have made a bad habit of falling behind early in games this week. They have allowed their opponents to score first in six of their last seven games, including today’s matchup against the Reds.

To the Nats’ credit, they were able to claw their way back and win last night’s game. They had to claw their way not once but twice today in a wild 10-8 win over the Reds in front of 23,128 fans at Great American Ball Park.

“I tell the guys, 'Hey, we give up a run or two the first thing, there's still a lot of baseball left. We got a good enough offense that we can inch our way and come back and end up winning these games. So don't get down,” manager Davey Martinez said before today’s game.

Stay in the fight, or something like that.

That’s exactly what they did.

CINCINNATI – Baseball is a streaky sport. A single player or a whole team can go through long stretches of success or failure.

For an example of the latter, look at the Nationals through the first four games of this road trip, when they lost all four and were outscored 36-6. But after last night’s 8-5 win over the Reds, which was led by Josiah Gray’s dominant start and Lane Thomas’ three home runs, the Nationals are hoping their fortunes have made a 180-degree turn and a new streak will start.

They say hitting can be contagious. Can good pitching have the same effect on a staff?

“Absolutely,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame press conference. “You know, the thing is, when it comes to hitting in any team that's struggling, you start the game and all of a sudden you find yourself trying to come back again. We did that yesterday, we did come back. But it was the innings after that with Josiah, where he beared down and kept us in the game, gave the guys some motivation. They went out there and they scored some more runs (for) him when he went out and he pretty much shut the door down. So that's kind of what we need.”

In Erick Fedde’s case, he’s trying to carry over Gray’s strong start into his own outing today after allowing six runs in 1 1/3 innings against the Mets on Monday. Martinez said Fedde just needs to forget about that outing and return to form today against the Reds.

CINCINNATI – Hey, would you look at that: The Nationals offense finally scored some runs last night! In fact, their eight runs Friday night outscored their collective six from the previous four games. Go figure.

As promised, Lane Thomas is back hitting second after his three-homer game last night. The Nats offense will hope to ride the Lane Train against Reds starter Tyler Mahle, who sports a 2-5 record and 5.53 ERA. But the right-hander had a lot of success against the Nats last year, holding them to just one unearned run in 11 1/3 innings over two starts.

Erick Fedde will make his second start of this road trip after having an abysmal start Monday in New York. He allowed six runs in 1 1/3 innings on 52 pitches against the Mets to inflate his ERA from 3.55 to 4.60.

Fedde did not have the same sort of success against the Reds last year as Mahle did against the Nats. In a September start at Great American Ball Park, the right-hander gave up five runs on seven hits and three walks over 4 2/3 innings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CINCINNATI REDS
Where: Great American Ball Park
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 82 degrees, wind 3 mph out to right field 

CINCINNATI – It’s coming. It might be as soon as next week.

Just like the holidays sometimes sneak up on you, Strasmas could be closer than you think after Stephen Strasburg’s dominant performance last night with Triple-A Rochester.

After struggling in his first rehab start with low Single-A Fredericksburg and then coming back in his second pitching how a World Series MVP should against low minor leaguers, Strasburg shoved against Triple-A hitters to the tune of six shutout innings on one hit and one walk with four strikeouts on 83 pitches Friday night.

“He did well, six innings, 83 pitches, one hit, four strikeouts," Nationals manager Davey Martinez said after last night’s 8-5 win over the Reds. "So he threw the ball well.”

So is that it? Is Strasburg’s next start coming at the major league level?

CINCINNATI – Josiah Gray was upset with himself a little over a week ago. In his first start against the Dodgers, the team that traded him and Keibert Ruiz to the Nationals for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner last summer, he let his emotions get the best of him and allowed seven runs in three innings.

He didn’t want it to happen again and was looking forward to facing the Reds, the team that drafted him in the second round in 2018 and traded him to the Dodgers that December.

“I'm looking forward to facing the Dodgers again, facing the Reds whenever we face them, and going out there and just giving it my all and kind of just trying to put it to them,” Gray said after losing to the Dodgers last week.

That opportunity to face the Reds arrived tonight, and Gray fared much better this time against a former club while helping the Nats win 8-5 to snap a four-game losing streak in front of 19,032 at Great American Ball Park.

Gray effectively used his four-seamer and slider to work through the Reds lineup. He finished an impressive six innings with two hits, two runs (one earned), three walks, nine strikeouts, one home run and one wild pitch on 91 pitches, 51 strikes. A fantastic return to Cincinnati for the 24-year-old.

CINCINNATI – There was a good amount of pregame news ahead of the Nationals’ second game against the Reds at Great American Ball Park. Some were baseball related. Some were more important than baseball.

Starting on the diamond, the Nationals made a handful of roster moves before today’s game. They recalled right-hander Andres Machado from Triple-A Rochester and placed left-hander Josh Rogers on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement, leaving no lefties in the bullpen for tonight.

Machado rejoins the Nats for his third stint this season, in which he has a 5.40 ERA with 10 strikeouts and seven walks in 12 appearances. Rogers has a 5.13 ERA in 16 games (three starts) with the Nats and was charged with two runs after serving up a three-run home run to Kyle Farmer while only recording two outs last night.

“He went on the IL with a little bit of impingement in his left shoulder. So we'll see,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame media session. “He's gonna get an MRI tomorrow and we'll see how he's doing tomorrow. But we brought in Machado to fill that void as well.”

Martinez mentioned yesterday that lefty Evan Lee could be used out of the ‘pen on his bullpen day, but that isn’t until tomorrow. So how will the skipper use his relievers without a southpaw?

CINCINNATI – Surely the Nationals offense will break out of its funk and score some runs tonight, right?

Since their 6-5 win over the Rockies on Sunday – their fourth victory of their previous five games – the Nats have been outscored 36-6 in four straight losses this week.

They’ll get their shot at 10-year veteran Mike Minor on Friday at Great American Ball Park. The 34-year-old is making his Reds debut after being acquired from the Royals for Amir Garrett in March. Minor is 3-3 with a 4.47 ERA in 11 career starts against the Nationals, all of which came between 2010 and 2014, when he was with the Braves.

The Nats have been kept quiet by right-handed starting pitchers this week, so maybe facing a lefty will bring different results. They do have a slightly better average against southpaws this year, hitting .253 to rank fifth in the National League.

Josiah Gray will get to face the team that selected him in the second round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft for the first time. The young right-hander didn’t fare so well when he faced his other former team, the Dodgers, for the first time last week, giving up seven runs in just three innings of work. After the game, Gray said he let his emotions get the best of him, but was looking forward to facing the Reds for the first time. We’ll see if he can keep his emotions in check tonight.

Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer (not in tonight’s lineup after going 2-for-4 with a three-run home run last night) arrived in Cincinnati in the trade that sent Gray to Los Angeles in December 2018. They are the only two major league players currently active from that six-player deal.

The Nationals have recalled Andres Machado from Triple-A Rochester and placed Josh Rogers on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement. So manager Davey Martinez has no left-handers in his bullpen tonight, with Evan Lee’s bullpen day not until tomorrow.

Congratulations to Dee Strange-Gordon and his wife, Jojo, who welcomed the couple’s second child this morning. They named their son Dash, a fitting name for the son of a speedy utility player. Former Nationals speedster Trea Turner also used “Dash” as a nickname for his firstborn son, Beckham.

The Nationals will place Strange-Gordon on the paternity list and will make another roster move this afternoon.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CINCINNATI REDS
Where: Great American Ball Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 79 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left-center field

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

RHP Josiah Gray

REDS
CF Nick Senzel
3B Brandon Drury
LF Tommy Pham
1B Joey Votto
C Tyler Stephenson
DH Mike Moustakas
RF Albert Almora Jr.
2B Alejo Lopez
SS Matt Reynolds

LHP Mike Minor

CINCINNATI – The Nationals were very clear about their plans for infield prospect Luis García: He is to play every day at shortstop. And he wasn’t going to come back up to the majors until the organization felt he was ready to do so at the big league level on a consistent basis.

That might have caused some frustration and confusion among fans, who watched 35-year-old Alcides Escobar, 34-year-old Dee Strange-Gordon and offseason waiver claim Lucius Fox share the reps at shortstop through the first two months of the season while García stayed at Triple-A Rochester.

In a rebuilding year, why not play one of your top prospects whose major league-ready bat can help your struggling offense?

Well, García finally got the call back to the majors ahead of Wednesday’s finale in New York when Escobar landed on the 10-day injured list ​​with a right hamstring strain and everyday reps at shortstop became available.

But it’s still a developing period for the 22-year-old, and the Nats are keeping a close watch on one of their key pieces of their future.