ARLINGTON, Texas – In discussing Juan Soto’s struggles with runners in scoring position prior to Sunday’s game, Davey Martinez mentioned the importance of the Nationals slugger “accepting his walks” and thus not trying too hard to drive in runs when presented with the opportunity.

Wouldn’t you know Soto would wind up drawing four walks during Sunday’s 6-4 victory over the Rangers, though none of them came with a runner in scoring position (nor did the single he delivered in his other plate appearance). Instead, it was Josh Bell and Nelson Cruz driving Soto in during an early offensive barrage.

No matter. It’s the approach from Soto that pleased Martinez the most, and the hope that will continue when he does come up again with a chance to drive in runs.

“I would like him to walk a couple times, and then hit the ball a few times,” the manager said with a laugh. “But he’s going to take his walks, and when he’s taking his walks, I know he’s ready to hit. He’s seeing the ball. He got on base for us, and the other guys – Nellie and Josh – picked us up big-time today.”

It was the first time this season Soto drew four walks, the fourth time he’s done that during his career. It was also the first time this season he reached base five times, the sixth time he’s done that during his career.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Jackson Tetreault made his major league debut 12 days ago not necessarily based on performance, but more so based on the Nationals’ desperate need for a fill-in starter who was on schedule. Tetreault, who owned a 4.19 ERA at Triple-A Rochester, fit the bill and thus was summoned to face a Braves lineup that pounded him for seven runs in four innings.

The Nats could’ve sent the 26-year-old right-hander back to Rochester after that, but Davey Martinez believed he earned the right to make another start. And now, after successive standout performances, the manager has no reason to want to send his young pitcher back anytime soon.

"This kid comes up here, and he's very much under control," Martinez said. "He's got a good idea what he wants to do. And he works every day. We'll get him back out there in five days. He's done well."

With six-plus innings of one-run ball this afternoon, Tetreault picked up right where he left off last Sunday against the Phillies, this time earning his second career win in a 6-4 victory over the Rangers that turned way more tense than it needed to be.

Holding a five-run lead entering the ninth, Martinez asked Francisco Perez to finish it off and allow closer Tanner Rainey a chance to rest. Perez, though, didn't retire any of the three batters he faced in his first appearance in nine days, all of them scoring thanks to Nathaniel Lowe's RBI single and Jonah Heim's two-run homer. That forced Rainey into the game for a surprise save situation, which he converted.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Nine days ago, in the opener of their doubleheader against the Phillies, the Nationals tried to mount a bottom-of-the-ninth rally. Trailing by two runs, the bottom of the order got two men on base with one out, turning the lineup over and giving better hitters a chance to pull it off.

But then Lane Thomas grounded out, César Hernández struck out and Juan Soto found himself watching a 5-3 loss become official from the on-deck circle.

That was the last time Soto batted third for the Nats. In each of eight games since, he has served as their No. 2 hitter. And that has been by design.

“We’re getting all these numbers periodically, and analytically the numbers suggest our best hitter should hit two,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He’s getting a lot of opportunities with guys on base, and that’s kind of where I want him. The other thing: It happened again where he was on-deck and we couldn't get him up there (to the plate). I don’t want that. If we have a chance to win a game, I want him up and not on-deck.”

There certainly is logic behind that. It’s among the reasons Martinez had Soto batting second to begin the season. But as the slugger struggled, the Nationals decided to try him back in his more familiar No. 3 spot to see if it sparked anything in him.

ARLINGTON, Texas – We’ve reached the finale of what has proven to be a very competitive interleague series here at Globe Life Field. The Nationals won Friday night’s opener by one run. Then the Rangers won Saturday afternoon’s game by one run (via walk-off homer). What awaits this afternoon in the rubber match of the series?

The Nationals can only hope they continue to get the kind of quality pitching that has seemingly come out of nowhere over the last week. Starting pitchers have produced a sparkling 1.53 ERA over the last six games, with Josiah Gray responsible for both the front and the back end of this streak and everyone else contributing to varying degrees in between.

Today's game is Jackson Tetreault’s chance to prove his last start was legit. The rookie right-hander really impressed against the Phillies, allowing three unearned runs over seven innings, the last of which was especially notable because it began with Tetreault taking a comebacker off his leg but staying in there to record the final three outs.

A Nats lineup that continues to struggle to score runs in bunches will try to break through against Glenn Otto. Here’s the scouting report on Glenn Otto: He’s right-handed, and he’s the Rangers’ starting pitcher today. That’s as much advance information this brain was privy to, but upon further inspection, Otto had good numbers in the minors (3.02 ERA, 1.183 WHIP, 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings) but has yet to enjoy the same success in his first 14 major league starts (6.08 ERA, 1.492 WHIP, 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings). But he’s allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last four games.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at TEXAS RANGERS
Where: Globe Life Field
Gametime: 2:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

ARLINGTON, Texas – The only question Josiah Gray needs to answer at this still-early stage of his career is that of consistency. We already know the young right-hander has the ability on any given day to be a successful big leaguer. And we know he’s capable of stringing together several top-notch starts in a row.

Gray just needs to prove now he can do it over the long haul. On afternoons like this, it’s more than appropriate to believe he can.

With seven dominant innings that included nine strikeouts, thanks to some razor-sharp breaking balls, Gray authored the longest start of his career and put the Nationals in position to win. If only the rest of his teammates had been able to do their part to reward him.

A lack of run support left this game tied heading to the bottom of the ninth. Adolis Garcia then blasted a slider over the plate from Kyle Finnegan deep to left-center for the walk-off homer that gave the Rangers a 3-2 victory.

"He's been a rock for us lately," Finnegan said of Gray. "And to see him go out there and dominate is huge for the team. It's unfortunate that we weren't able to pull it out for him tonight, but to get a start like that is really promising for us, and we love to see it."

ARLINGTON, Texas – There’s a lot to like about Luis García’s offensive performance this month, and maybe the thing to like the most is that there is so much to like.

García has excelled in just about every significant situation since the Nationals called him up from Triple-A Rochester on June 1. He enters today’s game against the Rangers batting .326 with six doubles, two homers and 11 RBIs. He’s batting .312 vs. righties, .360 vs. lefties. He’s batting .357 with two outs. He’s batting .347 with runners in scoring position. He’s batting .500 (6-for-12) with two outs and runners in scoring position. He’s batting .227 with two strikes, which is significantly better than the leaguewide average of .169.

Pick your situation, chances are García is thriving in it right now.

“It’s very important, because those situations are big to helping the team win,” the 22-year-old shortstop said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “It just comes down to whatever you can do to help the team win.”

García has been helping the Nationals win, delivering one of their two run-scoring hits during Friday night’s 2-1 victory over Texas. He did so while batting fifth for the third time this season, manager Davey Martinez having slowly moved him up from the bottom of the lineup over the course of the last week.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Nationals rotation has actually put together a nice run here lately. In four of the last five games, their starters have surrendered one total earned run (by Paolo Espino in his final inning Friday night). The lone outlier was Patrick Corbin, who despite his struggles still only gave up three runs in four innings Wednesday in Baltimore. So all told, the last trip through the rotation saw the Nats give up four total earned runs. Not bad. Not bad at all.

The run began with Josiah Gray shutting out the Phillies on Ryan Zimmerman Day in D.C., exactly one week ago. The young right-hander was pushed to a career-high 117 pitches, but he takes the mound today having been given two extra days of rest, so he should be plenty fresh when he faces the Rangers.

Speaking of the Rangers, their starter this afternoon is a reliever: Matt Bush, who pitched a 1-2-3 top of the seventh Friday night, striking out Maikel Franco and Victor Robles, on 10 total pitches. Chris Woodward is going with a bullpen game, so don’t expect Bush to go more than maybe two innings tops before we see a steady parade of countless other bullpen arms.

Update: Turns out Bush won't start after all because he reported soreness following Friday's outing. So it'll be left-hander Brett Martin, who threw 1 2/3 innings less than 24 hours ago (though he needed only 10 pitches to do it) getting the ball first for Texas.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at TEXAS RANGERS
Where: Globe Life Field
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, FS1, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

ARLINGTON, Texas – Among the most pertinent questions facing the Nationals over the season’s final 3 1/2 months involve their top two pitching prospects. How soon will Cade Cavalli make his major league debut? And will Cole Henry make his in 2022?

The bad news: Neither is currently pitching for Triple-A Rochester, each having just been shut down for the moment, Henry while being placed on the minor league injured list with shoulder soreness.

The potentially good news: The Nats’ decision to shut both right-handers down now could be construed as evidence they intend to bring both up to the majors later this season.

How so? As general manager Mike Rizzo explained Friday afternoon, the organization is making a concerted effort to give its pitching prospects planned time off in the middle of the season in an attempt to ensure they still have fresh arms to be on the mound at the end of the season.

“You’ll see each starting pitcher will be skipped throughout the season; usually at the 10-start mark we try to skip a start or push a start back,” Rizzo said prior to Friday’s series opener against the Rangers. “That’s the situation with Cavalli, (Rodney) Theophile, (Jake) Irvin and those guys. They’ll get pushed back a start or two, just to give them a blow. No physical abnormalities there.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – They can get all the quality pitching they want, which they did tonight from Paolo Espino and Co. The Nationals know it matters only if they can also get the kind of timely hitting that has eluded them too often this season, especially from the most important batters in their lineup.

So when those guys delivered tonight, when Juan Soto and Josh Bell combined to deliver the eighth-inning run that propelled the Nationals to a 2-1 victory over the Rangers, it proved a cathartic moment for everyone in the visitors’ dugout, not the least of whom were those two big sluggers.

Soto’s 110-mph double off the wall in left-center ignited the winning rally, and Bell’s subsequent RBI single to center sealed the deal and capped off a nice homecoming for the big first baseman, who grew up in nearby Irving and did everything but homer during tonight’s win.

"It was cool, just knowing I had friends and family here," said Bell, who had 30 to 40 of them in attendance tonight and expects to have even more Saturday. "Friends that played baseball with me growing up. Being able to do this in front of them makes it all that much more special."

That eighth-inning sequence, desperately needed from a Nats lineup that has mostly been held in check all week, helped make the most out of a strong performance from the pitching staff.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Nationals have not yet finalized a full rehab plan for Stephen Strasburg but don’t feel an urgent need to devise one while the right-hander is in the early stages of rest from the stress reaction in his ribs that sent him back to the injured list 10 days ago.

General manager Mike Rizzo said he, the Nats’ medical staff, orthopedist Neal ElAttrache and Strasburg himself will jointly decide on a plan of action once they’ve gathered all information, “but we don’t have that yet.” Strasburg flew to Southern California last week to be examined by ElAttrache after an MRI taken in Washington revealed the stress reaction to his second and third ribs, likely connected to the thoracic outlet syndrome he dealt with last summer.

Because he can’t attempt to begin throwing or beginning a rehab program until that stress reaction heals, there isn’t much urgency to proceed with a larger plan for now.

“He can’t do anything until he’s pain-free and feeling good,” Rizzo said prior to tonight’s series opener against the Rangers. “He’s not there yet, so there’s no rush to put a plan together when he’s on rest now anyway.”

Strasburg’s rehab from last summer’s thoracic outlet surgery seemingly had gone quite well, with three minor league tune-up starts and then his return to a major league mound June 9 in Miami. Though he surrendered seven runs in 4 2/3 innings to the Marlins, Strasburg threw 83 pitches and was highly encouraged by how he felt physically during his first big league start in more than a year.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Hello from Globe Life Field, the only active major league ballpark the Nationals have never previously visited (not to mention the only one your humble beat writer has never previously visited). For the first time in 17 years, the Nats face the Rangers on the road, and there are all kinds of connections to this matchup.

For example, Paolo Espino made six relief appearances for the Rangers in 2017, three years before making it back to the big leagues with the Nationals. The veteran right-hander gets the start tonight, his third since being added to the rotation. After throwing 89 pitches in five innings last week against the Phillies, Espino should be good to approach the 100-pitch mark tonight, making him a full-fledged starter.

Starting for the Rangers, meanwhile, is Dane Dunning, whose name may sound familiar. That’s because he was one of the Nationals’ first-round picks in the 2016 draft (along with Carter Kieboom) and then was included with fellow pitching prospects Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López in that winter’s blockbuster trade with the White Sox for Adam Eaton. Dunning has had a bit of a winding path since, undergoing Tommy John surgery in the minors, making his major league debut for Chicago in 2020 but then getting traded to Texas for Lance Lynn. He’s now an established member of the Rangers rotation, entering tonight’s start with a 1-5 record, 4.38 ERA and 1.329 WHIP in 14 outings.

And then of course we can’t ignore the biggest connection between these franchises. At the end of the 1971 season, Senators owner Bob Short moved the club here to Texas and renamed it the Rangers, a decision that still stirs up all kinds of emotion from longtime D.C. baseball fans. But let’s at least acknowledge this: If not for that move all those years ago, the 2019 World Series would not have been won by the Washington Nationals, right?

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at TEXAS RANGERS
Where: Globe Life Field
Gametime: 8:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

On June 19, 2005, the first-place Nationals defeated the Rangers 8-2 thanks to a five-run rally in the top of the eighth highlighted by a bases-loaded double by Brad Wilkerson that scored Junior Spivey, Brian Schneider and Cristian Guzman. Sun-Woo Kim was the starting pitcher that afternoon, with Travis Hughes, Luis Ayala and Gary Majewski following him out of the bullpen. Alfonso Soriano went 3-for-4 in a losing effort as Texas’ starting second baseman.

Tonight, the Nationals return to Arlington (Texas, not Virginia) for the first time since then.

That’s right, would you believe it’s been 17 years since the Nats last played at the Rangers, the only time in club history they have done so?

How long ago was that? Ryan Zimmerman had only been drafted two weeks earlier and wouldn’t make his major league debut until that September, wearing No. 25 because Spivey still had claim to No. 11. It’s the only big league city Zimmerman never played in during his career.

It’s one of the strangest scheduling quirks in club history. The Nationals have made multiple visits to every other city over the last 17 years, and they’ve played at least once in every other city since 2014.

A Nationals club that was exhausted from a brutal stretch of 14 games in 13 days not long ago is now about to enjoy its second day off this week. Some schedule, huh?

Nevertheless, nobody's complaining about this quirk, because they desperately needed it. After completing a two-game series in Baltimore, the Nats took a late-night flight to Texas and will enjoy a day off before opening a weekend series against the Rangers on Friday. (It's their first trip to Arlington, Texas, believe it or not, since June 2005.)

Let's take this opportunity to engage in some friendly back and forth. As always, submit your questions in the comments section below, then check back for my answers throughout the morning ...

BALTIMORE – The Nationals and Orioles knew it was going to start raining at some point tonight, it was just a matter of when. And once it began, whether it would stop for any reasonable length of time.

So that turned tonight’s game into something of a three-way battle between Patrick Corbin, Tyler Wells and Mother Nature. And in the end, Mother Nature (and, as it turns out, the Orioles) won, though they both managed to prolong the misery.

With Baltimore leading by three runs after 4 1/2 innings, making this an official game, the skies over Camden Yards finally opened. But the rain eased up enough to allow play to resume after a 44-minute delay, giving Austin Hays the opportunity to hit for the cycle and the Orioles to extend their lead to 7-0 before the game went into another delay at the end of the sixth inning, this one lasting 1 hour, 2 minutes before the game finally was called.

"The grounds crew was really good," manager Davey Martinez said. "They did a good job to try to get us back out there. But we were going to battle the weather all night. The field, even though it could've been playable later on, it's going to rain. The outfield was pretty soaked. So I think they did a good job by calling it."

So it was the Nats were left to suffer a blowout loss and spend more time than they wanted to at the ballpark before boarding a late flight to Texas for this weekend’s series against the Rangers.

BALTIMORE – Though none of them are ready to return yet, several rehabbing Nationals pitchers are moving closer to rejoining the active roster, a potential boon for an overworked staff this summer.

Mason Thompson began a rehab assignment for Triple-A Rochester today and tossed a scoreless inning, with a strikeout during the frame. The right-hander, out since mid-April with a biceps strain, is scheduled to make several more minor league appearances to build his arm up but could be added to the bullpen as soon as he reaches that point.

Sean Doolittle, meanwhile, has been throwing from 120 feet, a significant progression as he attempts to return from an elbow sprain suffered in late April after making only five appearances. The veteran lefty seems to be benefitting from the effects of a platelet-rich plasma injection he received last month, though he still needs to throw off a mound before knowing he’s on the full road to recovery.

“He says he feels really good,” manager Davey Martinez said today, “which is great.”

Aníbal Sánchez and Josh Rogers are now in West Palm Beach, Fla., throwing to live hitters. Sánchez, out since opening day with a nerve impingement in his neck, pitched two innings for the organization’s Rookie-level club and could head out to join one of the higher-level minor league affiliates soon to build up his pitch count before potentially coming off the 60-day injured list.

BALTIMORE – After a beautiful, unseasonably mild Tuesday evening here, it’s a very seasonable, hot and muggy and wet Wednesday afternoon here as the Nationals and Orioles prepare to wrap up their two-game interleague series. It began raining a short while ago, and the Camden Yards grounds crew rolled out the tarp, canceling batting practice. More is expected tonight, so it’s anybody’s guess whether this game will start on time or be completed at all. Stay tuned.

If they’re able to play, it’ll be Patrick Corbin on the mound trying to continue the suddenly dominant ways of the Nats rotation, which hasn’t allowed an earned run in any of its last three starts. Corbin has made it through only one of 14 starts so far this season without allowing a run, and he gave up nine (only two earned) in his last outing. So he’s not exactly primed to pick up where Erick Fedde left off Tuesday night, but we’ll see.

The Nationals get their first look at Tyler Wells as a starter. The Baltimore right-hander did pitch two innings in relief last May in D.C., but he’s blossomed into an effective member of the rotation this season. He’s allowed three or fewer runs in all but one of his 13 starts, though he’s yet to top six innings or 88 pitches.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Where: Camden Yards
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Rain, 76 degrees, wind 10 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
RF Juan Soto
1B Josh Bell
DH Nelson Cruz
SS Luis García
CF Lane Thomas
LF Yadiel Hernandez
C Riley Adams
3B Erhire Adrianza

BALTIMORE – Four days ago, the Nationals pitching staff – specifically the rotation – was a mess. A series of unfortunate events left Davey Martinez scrambling to find somebody to start each night, then a bunch of guys to come out of the bullpen after said starter failed to complete even four innings. It was, to put it mildly, an unsustainable situation.

And then Josiah Gray tossed six scoreless innings Saturday against the Phillies, and Jackson Tetreault tossed seven innings without allowing an earned run Sunday against the Phillies and now here was Erick Fedde walking off the mound at the end of the sixth tonight at Camden Yards with nothing but zeroes on the board.

Just like that, the worst rotation in the majors had authored not only three straight quality starts, but three straight starts without allowing an earned run. And that allowed the back end of Martinez’s bullpen to come into this game fresh and finish off what Fedde started, completing a 3-0 victory over the Orioles to open this two-game portion of the Battle of the Beltways.

"That's pretty impressive," Martinez said. "After everything we've been through, we come out today and the pitchers throw a shutout."

Some opportunistic early offense staked the Nats to a two-run lead, and though they certainly would’ve liked to take advantage of more scoring opportunities to add to that lead, they ultimately didn’t need it. (Though they happily accepted Lane Thomas’ tack-on homer in the top of the ninth.)

BALTIMORE – Hello from Camden Yards, which looks different than the last time the Nationals were here. The left field wall has been pushed way back and up, turning what used to be one of the best hitter’s parks in the majors into one of the best pitcher’s parks (at least on that side of the field).

We’ll see how that impacts the Nats, but certainly Erick Fedde (tonight’s starter) and Patrick Corbin (Wednesday’s starter) won’t be complaining at all. Fedde will try to keep the recent run of quality starts by this rotation going, following in the footsteps of Josiah Gray on Saturday and Jackson Tetreault on Sunday. If he doesn’t, at least the bullpen is fresh following a much-needed off-day.

The lineup will try to pick up where it left off Sunday, when it exploded for nine runs against the Phillies. Juan Soto, Nelson Cruz and Josh Bell will be going up against right-hander Jordan Lyles, who has a 5.10 ERA and has allowed four or more earned runs in fewer than six innings in each of his last three starts.

As expected, the Nats activated Alcides Escobar off the 10-day injured list today. Escobar, out since May 31 with a hamstring strain, will assume a utility infielder spot, with Luis García remaining the everyday shortstop for now.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Where: Camden Yards
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 84 degrees, wind 7 mph out to center field

After fielding questions for several minutes late Sunday afternoon about the Nationals’ 9-3 victory over the Phillies, Davey Martinez was asked how he would sum up the entire 14-games-in-13-days stretch that had finally concluded.

“I can’t wait for the off-day tomorrow,” he said with a smile.

He wasn’t alone. The entire Nationals organization had been counting down the hours to their first day off in two weeks. (The last one came on June 6, in between series in Cincinnati and Miami, if you can remember that far back.)

How’d they do during that 14-game stretch? Not well. They went 3-11, with an eight-game losing streak in there, and were outscored 91-59. They lost Stephen Strasburg to a rib injury and Josiah Gray to a rain delay. They made 21 transactions, bringing three pitchers up to D.C. for the first time: Jackson Tetreault, Reed Garrett and Cory Abbott. They activated Strasburg off the IL and placed him back on the IL. They both recalled and optioned Sam Clay, Joan Adon, Andres Machado and Abbott during that time.

The day off was desperately needed, especially for the pitching staff. Now, though, Martinez has the ability to hit the reset button and align his starters as he prefers.

His week began with a freak injury after he slipped in the dugout and banged his knee on the corner of the Nationals bench, sidelining him two days. When he returned, he went 0-for-14 and saw his batting average dip to an unfathomable .216. Along the way, his manager criticized him for not hustling out a double-play grounder.

So when Juan Soto took a mighty swing at the first pitch he saw from Zach Eflin in the bottom of the second Sunday afternoon and proceeded to watch the ball fly 420 feet into the second deck in right field at Nationals Park for a three-run homer, what exactly did it feel like?

“It’s like a flush,” the slugger said. “It’s like you flush your mind, your body, everything. You just feel amazing. Your work is coming through, and you just feel amazing when you see the ball flying like that.”

It was as cathartic a moment as Soto has had on a baseball field in a while. It may or may not have signaled a turning point in his disappointing season – he still wound up 1-for-5 in the Nats’ 8-3 victory over the Phillies – but it certainly energized the 23-year-old and his teammates, who have desperately needed that kind of production from their young leader.

“We need Juan to be Juan,” said Maikel Franco, who also homered during the game. “I know it’s going to come. Everybody gets excited. After that, everybody (got) excited, and they wanted to just continue to play hard and have great at-bats and do well for the team.”