Not that Mason Thompson truly expected to dominate to such a dramatic extent all season, but the Nationals reliever had every reason to believe he was capable of continuing to pitch at a high level all year long after a brilliant April.

In his first 10 appearances of the season, Thompson sported an 0.96 ERA, 0.589 WHIP and a staggering 17-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Then came a three-inning save at Citi Field on April 25, a milestone moment for the Nationals right-hander cause for concern for anyone worried about the health of the 25-year-old’s arm. And sure enough, in six appearances since, Thompson has been roughed up. He’s given up runs in five of those six outings. He’s allowed a whopping 15 batters to reach base in only 3 2/3 innings of work. He’s walked as many batters (four) as he’s struck out.

What happened?

“I’m just not getting the ball where I need to get it right now,” Thompson said Sunday after his latest rough appearance in the Nationals’ 8-2 loss to the Mets. “Just leaving too many pitches over the plate, and they’re taking advantage of it.”

When the ball left Brandon Nimmo’s bat and started rolling toward the second base position, Jake Irvin could’ve been excused for believing he had just escaped a fifth-inning jam and was about to head back to the dugout having completed yet another impressive outing in this most unexpected run of them.

If Luis García fields that routine grounder and starts a 4-6-3 double play, the inning is over and Irvin is done for the day, the proud owner of a sparkling 0.67 ERA through the first three starts of his career, best in Nationals history.

Yes, better than Stephen Strasburg, who had a 1.86 ERA in his first three career starts. Yes, better than Max Scherzer, who had an 0.83 ERA in his first three starts as a National.

That grounder toward second, though, did not turn into a 4-6-3 double play. García was shaded a bit toward the hole and couldn’t get there, so the ball rolled through for an RBI single.

And then the wheels fell off, both for Irvin and for the Nationals, who would ultimately suffer an 8-2 loss to the Mets that could’ve produced a far different outcome with just a little bit of better luck for the home team in the second half of a pseudo Mother’s Day doubleheader.

The Nationals pulled out all the stops to win the opener of today’s pseudo doubleheader, using five relievers en route to a 3-2 victory over the Mets. What does that leave for the nightcap? We’ll have to wait and see.

Jake Irvin makes his third career start, hoping to pick up where he left off last week in San Francisco, when he reached the seventh inning in impressive fashion. This is a very tough Mets lineup the right-hander is facing; he’ll have to throw strikes to avoid a high pitch count and an early exit.

If Irvin has any trouble, the Nationals have some length in the bullpen in the form of Cory Abbott. Turns out the team brought both Abbott and Joan Adon here from Triple-A Rochester, waiting to decide which pitcher would make more sense to add as the 27th man for this game. They decided to go with Abbott, who has bullpen experience, over Adon, who does not.

The lineup, meanwhile, will do its best against a guy named Max Scherzer, who returns to his old stomping grounds wearing blue and orange instead of his more familiar red and white uniform. Scherzer has made only one start since his 10-game suspension for sticky hands, and this start was pushed back due to neck spasms.  

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 77 degrees, wind 77 mph in from left field

With only seven innings of baseball to play in the opener of today’s pseudo-doubleheader at Nationals Park, every moment of consequence was magnified just a bit more. Big outs, even early in the game, were a little bit bigger. Big hits, whether early or late, carried a little bit of extra significance.

And CJ Abrams found himself delivering the two biggest hits of all, propelling the Nationals to victory long after the game technically began.

Abrams twice drove in the go-ahead run, producing a two-out RBI single in the fourth, then blasting a leadoff homer in the seventh for the decisive run in a 3-2 win over the Mets.

"When it's time, I can step up," said Abrams, who entered the day batting .343 with an .852 OPS in "high-leverage" situations, according to Baseball-Reference. "I've got confidence in myself and in my team. We're doing good."

In the completion of Saturday night’s controversial suspended game, the Nats got 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball from five members of their bullpen, with Hunter Harvey churning out five big outs in the seventh and eighth, and Kyle Finnegan pitching the ninth to seal the narrow victory in his first appearance since a blown save in Arizona eight days ago.

So, here we are again. After a fiasco of a Saturday afternoon and evening, the Nationals and Mets are back at it this afternoon for what amounts to nearly a full doubleheader. Today’s originally scheduled 1:35 p.m. game has been pushed back to 4:35 p.m., with Jake Irvin and Max Scherzer still expected to start. But first, the teams have to complete Saturday’s game, which was suspended with one out in the top of the third, the Nats leading 1-0.

The Mets were threatening when the game finally went into a rain delay, with Michael Perez’s double to deep center leaving runners on second and third with one out and Brandon Nimmo due to bat. Trevor Williams had been on the mound for the Nats, but he won’t be back out there today. Davey Martinez was still contemplating Saturday night how to approach this. The hunch here: He’ll try to use one of his better relievers to get out of the jam in the third, then turn to his multi-inning relievers in the fourth inning and beyond.

Joey Lucchesi won’t return for the Mets, either, so Buck Showalter will need to decide who to use out of his bullpen for a clean bottom of the third, with Luis García due to lead off. There are at least 16 innings of baseball that need to be played today; it’s going to be a challenge for both clubs to get through it in one piece.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS (resumption of suspended game)
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 12:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 72 degrees, wind 7 mph in from center field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
*2B Luis García
DH Joey Meneses
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Alex Call
1B Dominic Smith
3B Jeimer Candelario
LF Stone Garrett
SS CJ Abrams

Against all odds, today’s game at Nationals Park began on time, with Trevor Williams getting Brandon Nimmo to fly out on his very first pitch at 4:05 p.m., only a few minutes after a steady rain began to fall from the sky.

The intensity of that rain only increased over the ensuing 38 minutes as the Nats took a 1-0 lead, then as the Mets put two runners on base with one out in the top of the third. At that point, with the infield soaked and outfielders unable to get any kind of solid footing chasing down fly balls, crew chief Paul Emmel finally called for the grounds crew to roll out the tarp, putting the game into a rain delay.

More than two hours later, the rain had stopped, the tarp was pulled and the grounds crew furiously got to work prepping that previously soaked infield. And kept prepping. And kept prepping. Never to the satisfaction of those who had the final say on whether or not to resume the game.

And then, finally, nearly four hours into the delay, the announcement was made: The field could not be made playable again, so the game was suspended, the Nationals still leading 1-0, both starting pitchers having long since run out of time to return.

They’ll now have to resume the game from this point at 12:35 p.m. Sunday, with only tickets from today’s game accepted. They’ll then have to play Sunday’s originally scheduled 1:35 p.m. game, now moved to 4:35 p.m. Fans holding those tickets can only attend the later game.

Bullpens are an ever-evolving beast, even in good times. Few relievers hold a single role from Opening Day through Game 162, aside from a handful of the most established closers in the sport.

This has already proven the case for the Nationals, who only a few weeks ago seemed to have established a bullpen hierarchy but have since been forced to mix and match on a nightly basis while manager Davey Martinez tries to find the right combination late in close games.

“Honestly, it’s basically right now the matchups we’re looking at more than anything,” Martinez said this afternoon, prior to the Nats’ game against the Mets.

It wasn’t like that not long ago. Martinez had pretty much stuck with a plan that included Mason Thompson setting up Hunter Harvey for the eighth inning and setting up Kyle Finnegan for the ninth inning. But Thompson, after a dominant April, has hit a rough spot since, getting scored upon in four of his last five appearances. Finnegan, meanwhile, hasn’t enjoyed a clean inning since April 27, and he hasn’t pitched at all since blowing a save exactly one week ago in Arizona.

Add in some recent struggles from Carl Edwards Jr., who took the loss Friday night in relief of MacKenzie Gore, and what looked like a real club strength a few weeks ago now looks far less stable.

It’s not exactly a beautiful day for baseball in the nation’s capital. Rain is expected all afternoon, so there’s a reasonable chance the second game of his four-game series between the Nationals and Mets doesn’t start on time. Will it be played at all today? Well, according to my sources (aka the same weather app all of you use), it’s supposed to rain from 2-7 p.m., then clear up after that. So, this late-afternoon game could very well turn into a night game. Stay tuned.

The Nats are looking to bounce back from a tough, one-run loss Friday night in which their starter lasted only four innings. They’ll need more than that from Trevor Williams, who faces his former team for the second time this season. Williams wasn’t great two weeks ago at Citi Field, allowing four runs on nine hits in five innings. The Nationals could sure use a more efficient outing from the right-hander today.

Williams was opposed that night by Joey Lucchesi, and he’ll again be opposed by the Mets left-hander today. The Nats got to Lucchesi for three runs in 5 1/3 innings, with Alex Call homering. Call is batting fifth today, ahead of Dominic Smith, Jeimer Candelario and Stone Garrett (who gets the nod in left field).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Rain, 68 degrees, wind 9 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
2B Luis García
DH Joey Meneses
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Alex Call
1B Dominic Smith
3B Jeimer Candelario
LF Stone Garrett
SS CJ Abrams

SAN FRANCISCO – As well as he pitched Monday night to earn his first major league win, Jake Irvin had a moment when it looked like things might fall apart on him.

Irvin opened the top of the fourth by allowing a leadoff single to the Giants’ Thairo Estrada. He then walked Joc Pederson. On the MASN broadcast, analyst Kevin Frandsen speculated Nationals pitching coach Jim Hickey was about to make a mound visit to settle the young right-hander down.

That didn’t happen, but when Irvin threw a curveball outside to J.D. Davis to fall behind in the count 1-0, the mound visit happened. It came not from Hickey or anyone else in the Nats dugout. It came from Keibert Ruiz, who trotted out from his position behind the plate to chat with Irvin, joined by first baseman Dominic Smith and third baseman Jeimer Candelario.

In the dugout, Davey Martinez was thrilled.

“His mound visit was spot-on,” the manager said. “He went out there, talked to Jake, slowed him down a little bit. That’s part of maturity. That’s part of seeing something in Jake that he wanted to confront him with. And it was a perfect moment.”

SAN FRANCISCO – Riley Adams doesn’t find himself in this position very often, greeted by teammates in the dugout after launching a three-run homer, so why wouldn’t the Nationals’ backup catcher crack a wide smile and don the colonial wig that has become this team’s new home run celebration?

“Just to be able to drive in some runs in that situation with two outs and help my team, that’s all that mattered there,” he said following the Nats’ 11-6 thumping of the Giants on Wednesday. “It’s pretty cool to see them, and it’s my first time putting on a wig in a while, so I was happy about that.”

Celebration opportunities are few and far between for Adams, because playing time is few and far between. This was the Nationals’ 37th game of the season, but it was only his sixth game played despite being on the active roster since Opening Day.

Such is life for the No. 2 catcher on a team that recently locked up its No. 1 catcher with an eight-year extension. Adams, though, is fine with the role. As are others on the Nationals bench who understand their job isn’t to get regular at-bats. It’s to be ready and make sure to make the most of the few at-bats they do get.

“I know my role. I’ve known my role from the get-go, from the start of the season,” backup infielder Ildemaro Vargas said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “So I have to be prepared. I work off the field a lot more than most of the guys, because I have to be ready.”

SAN FRANCISCO – Run support is a funny thing. It comes and goes, often without rationale or explanation. Some guys get tons of it. Some never get it. Some have no idea what they’re going to get from one game to the next.

Josiah Gray had been the biggest victim in the Nationals rotation, really in the major leagues, through much of April, the recipient of a grand total of one run from his teammates through his first four starts of the season.

And then something funny happened. The Nats started hitting on the days Gray pitched. They scored five runs April 25 in New York. They scored seven runs April 30 against the Pirates. And this afternoon, they torched left-hander Sean Manaea early and often en route to an 11-6 dismantling of the Giants, who scored four late runs off the bullpen to make the final margin look far more competitive than it was in reality.

That kind of support allowed Gray to cruise through seven innings on a cool, 57-degree Wednesday afternoon along the shores of the San Francisco Bay, earning his third win of the season and leading the Nationals to another series win on the road.

"It's been great," Gray said. "I think with our guys going out there early and scoring runs, it kind of puts you at ease. You go out there and make your pitches, and when you see three runs in the first two innings, it gets you at ease. You don't have to nibble as much. These guys have been phenomenal the way they've supported me the last few outings. I hope it keeps going, because when we're scoring runs early and often, we're a really good team."

SAN FRANCISCO – Given the way things went for him Tuesday night, it would be natural to wonder if CJ Abrams was given today off as a reaction to his shaky performance both at the plate and in the field. Davey Martinez insists that’s not the case and that Abrams was going to have the Nationals’ series finale against the Giants off no matter what.

“It was a planned day off for him,” Martinez said this morning. “Looking at the schedule, it gives us an opportunity to give him two days off. He’s been really playing well. For me, this is just an opportunity to get him off his feet. As I always say, if we need him for today’s game, he’s definitely going to be in there. But if he gets half of today, maybe all of today, and then tomorrow, he’ll be fresh to go on Friday.”

The Nationals are off Thursday following their red-eye flight home tonight. They’re scheduled to return to action Friday night in D.C. against the Mets.

Abrams had his shakiest game in the field in weeks Tuesday, committing an error on the first batter in the first inning, then making several more low throws through the remainder of the game. He also went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts at the plate, stranding seven runners on base in the Nats’ 4-1 loss to San Francisco.

Ildemaro Vargas starts at shortstop in Abrams’ place, facing Giants left-hander Sean Manaea. Abrams, meanwhile, will spend the afternoon sitting alongside run prevention coordinator (and former big league infielder) Ricky Gutierrez in the dugout, with specific instructions.

SAN FRANCISCO – The Nationals have an opportunity today to win another road series and head home with a .500 road trip. They’ve been a .500 team away from D.C. the entire season to date, entering this one with a 9-9 record (as opposed to 6-12 at home). And they’ll have one of their best starters on the mound this afternoon at Oracle Park.

Josiah Gray opened this trip with a rare blah start in Arizona, allowing three runs and seven hits in only five innings. He would very much like to get back on track today with an outing more reflective of the way he’s pitched through the majority of the season’s first six weeks. The Nats would love to get six-plus innings out of the right-hander, but with most of the bullpen fresh and a day off Thursday, Davey Martinez should have the flexibility to manage the later innings however he likes.

Sean Manaea starts for the Giants, and Martinez has a few changes to his lineup against the left-hander. CJ Abrams gets a rare day off (on the heels of a shaky performance Tuesday both at the plate and in the field), so it’s Ildemaro Vargas at shortstop. Keibert Ruiz also gets a well-deserved day off, his first of the trip, so it’ll be Riley Adams behind the plate. And Stone Garrett is back in left field against the left-hander, with Jake Alu coming off the bench following an 0-for-4 performance in his major league debut.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: Oracle Park
Gametime: 3:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 58 degrees, wind 15 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
2B Luis García
DH Joey Meneses
3B Jeimer Candelario
CF Alex Call
1B Dominic Smith
LF Stone Garrett
SS Ildemaro Vargas
C Riley Adams

SAN FRANCISCO – CJ Abrams had been in the midst of a sustained run of excellence in the field. He hadn’t committed an error in 12 games. He had converted all 10 chances he had in the field Monday night, including teaming up with Luis García to turn four double plays in the Nationals’ victory over the Giants.

And then came Tuesday night’s game at Oracle Park, in which Abrams struggled on the very first batted ball of the evening and never looked fully comfortable after that.

Abrams was charged with an error when he bounced a low throw to first on Austin Slater’s leadoff grounder to short. One inning later, he bounced another throw to first on Brett Wisely’s chopper up the middle and initially was charged with an error, though the official scorer later changed it to a hit because the ball took a weird hop off second base before Abrams could cleanly field it.

There were more shaky throws throughout the game, though, Abrams spared from being charged with any more errors thanks to Dominic Smith’s clean picks at first base.

It all made for a strange evening for the young Nationals shortstop, who just never seemed to be able to make a good, solid throw across the diamond.

SAN FRANCISCO – There were moments tonight when the Nationals seemed to be on Logan Webb. They did, after all, rap out nine hits off the Giants ace and present themselves with a number of golden opportunities in the early innings at Oracle Park.

And then there were moments tonight when it seemed like Webb had the Nats eating out of his hand. Especially when facing the inexperienced bottom of this lineup, which was no match for the right-hander’s assortment of sinkers, changeups and sliders.

In the end, there were more of those frustrating moments than the promising ones for the Nationals, who managed only one run off Webb and were left to suffer a 4-1 loss to San Francisco in the second game of this week’s series by the bay.

Continuing a semi-recurring theme through the season’s first six weeks, the Nats hit a bunch of singles to give themselves a chance. But they could not take advantage of those opportunities, going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, including 0-for-7 in the game’s first three innings alone.

"We had traffic all day; we couldn't get that big hit," manager Davey Martinez said. "(Webb) got tough. Guys were on base, he threw some really good changeups, mixed in his two-seamer. He got really tough with guys on base."

SAN FRANCISCO – Though they aren’t making any declarations about the long-term plan with Jake Irvin, the Nationals aren’t about to remove the rookie right-hander from the rotation after his dominant performance Monday night.

Irvin, who shut out the Giants over 6 1/3 impressive innings, will at least take his next turn in the rotation, which should come up Sunday against the Mets at Nationals Park.

“As of right now, I would say he’ll get that start again,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I think he’s earned that. And then after that, we’ll see where we’re at.”

Martinez was careful not to pronounce any plans beyond that, but with Chad Kuhl still making his way back from a foot injury, the job appears to be Irvin’s for at least a while longer.

The Nationals’ biggest concern with Irvin may not be his performance but his workload. After missing the 2021 season following Tommy John surgery, he was held to 103 1/3 innings over 24 minor league starts last year.

SAN FRANCISCO – Don’t look now, but the Nationals have won 10 of their last 17. They’re 15-20 overall. They’re one game behind the Phillies, 1 1/2 games behind the Marlins, two games behind the Mets. Sure, it’s still early May, and there’s a whole lot that can still go wrong (or right), but this is unquestionably a better position than almost anyone envisioned this team being in at this moment.

The Nats will look to keep the good vibes rolling tonight in the middle game of this series against the Giants, hoping Patrick Corbin can pick up where he left off last time out. In far and away his best start in a long time, Corbin carried a one-hit shutout into the eighth inning against the Cubs before finally fading. He did so by pounding the strike zone, tunneling his fastball and slider to make them look the same coming out of his hand and keeping the opposing hitters off balance.

The Nationals would love to give Corbin an early lead like they did for Jake Irvin on Monday night. They’ll see what they can do against veteran Giants right-hander Logan Webb, trotting out the same lineup as the series opener with one notable exception: Jake Alu makes his major league debut, batting ninth and starting in left field.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: Oracle Park
Gametime: 9:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 57 degrees, wind 16 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
2B Luis García
C Keibert Ruiz
DH Joey Meneses
3B Jeimer Candelario
1B Dominic Smith
CF Alex Call
SS CJ Abrams
LF Jake Alu

SAN FRANCISCO – Hits are coming in bunches for Luis García right now. The Nationals will happily take them from their young second baseman.

With a 2-for-5 showing Monday night during the Nats’ 5-1 win over the Giants, García continued a torrid week at the plate. He’s now 10-for-18 on this West Coast road trip, having produced multiple hits in each of the team’s four games to date.

García’s offensive surge has actually been going on longer than that, though. On the morning of April 27, he sported a weak .209/.260/.328 slash line, leaving him with a paltry .589 OPS. In 12 games since, he has slashed a robust .378/.408/.556, raising his season OPS to .739. That actually ranks tops among all active regulars in the Nationals lineup through 35 games.

What changed?

“I changed a little bit; I raised my hands a little bit, and that’s helped,” García said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “But to be honest, I think it’s just the work. Putting in the work to maintain my focus out there every at-bat. I’m going to keep working and keep my focus the same as it’s always out there on every at-bat.”

SAN FRANCISCO – Jake Irvin took the mound at Oracle Park tonight, already the proud recipient of a five-run lead thanks to a sudden barrage of hits from his teammates in the top of the first, and went to work. With a purpose.

Irvin worked fast. He threw strikes. He changed speeds. He bounced off the mound every time he recorded a strikeout or induced a double play.

And the rookie right-hander did it all as well as anyone else who has taken the mound wearing a Nationals uniform so far this season. And better than anyone who has ever taken the mound wearing a curly W cap with so little experience under his belt.

With a crisp, 6 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, Irvin mowed down the Giants lineup. And thanks to that early barrage from his teammates against opposing starter Anthony DeSclafani, the Nats rewarded him with his first career win in a 5-1 game that saw the Nats score all of their runs in the top of the first.

In a game that required a scant 2 hours, 14 minutes to be completed, the Nationals improved to 14-14 since a ragged 1-6 opening week to the season. They did it tonight behind a most unlikely pitching prodigy in Irvin, who in his second major league start looked every bit like an established veteran who had a plan to beat an opposing lineup and executed it to perfection.

SAN FRANCISCO – Victor Robles officially went on the 10-day injured list with back spasms today, leaving the Nationals without their starting center fielder and leaving the club with only three true outfielders for now.

Robles hurt himself sliding into second base on a stolen base attempt Saturday night in Arizona. He sat out Sunday’s game, and because it didn’t appear he’d be ready to return in short order the club decided to place him on the IL and bring in another healthy position player.

“He came in today, got treatment, still feeling the same,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I’m sure it’s going to take him a few days before he really feels better, and then we’ll go from there.”

The healthy player added is Jake Alu, the 26-year-old utility man who was promoted from Triple-A Rochester and will be making his major league debut once he steps on the field. Alu, who was batting .247 with four doubles, two homers and 10 RBIs in 21 games for Rochester, is a natural infielder who has been seeing some action in the outfield as he tries to prep himself for a potential career as a versatile bench player in the big leagues.

With only three true outfielders – Stone Garrett, Alex Call, Lane Thomas – on the active roster now, Martinez will have to get creative. Martinez said Call will be the starting center fielder in Robles’ absence, with Thomas remaining in right field. Garrett is starting in left field tonight, but Joey Meneses, Ildemaro Vargas and Alu all could see time there as well until the rest of the roster gets healthy.