Sean Doolittle’s rehab tour through the Nationals’ farm system continues tonight for Single-A Fredericksburg, where the veteran reliever will be returning to the mound only 24 hours after his last appearance.

Doolittle, in the final stages of recovery from last summer’s elbow surgery, just tossed a 1-2-3 inning of relief Thursday night. He struck out one batter, threw eight of his 13 pitches for strikes and reached 92 mph with his fastball, according to manager Davey Martinez.

That was Doolittle’s third rehab appearance overall, the first coming for Single-A Wilmington on Saturday before he moved to Fredericksburg on Tuesday. Each included a scoreless inning and at least one strikeout.

Tonight presents a new challenge as Doolittle pitches back-to-back days for the first time in competitive games since he had an internal brace procedure on his sprained elbow ligament nearly 11 months ago. The fact he’s ready for that kind of workload can only be considered a good sign about his health, though Martinez cautioned against speculating too much about what it means until the lefty actually pitches and reports no issues afterward.

“It’s a good thing, but we’ll see how he gets through it today,” Martinez said. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. It may be where he gets two days off after his back-to-back, and then we’ll go from there. Or maybe just one day, depending on how he feels.”

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Recalled LHP Bruce Zimmermann from Triple-A Norfolk.
• Placed RHP Mychal Givens on the 15-day Injured List with right shoulder inflammation, retroactive to June 1.

The Nationals are back home at last, following an eventful 3-3 trip to Kansas City and Los Angeles. And would you believe they have a chance to climb out of the National League East basement tonight?

Yes, that’s right. The Nats (24-32) trail the fourth-place Phillies (25-31) by only game. A win tonight would leave the two teams tied in the standings. Imagine what fans in both towns would’ve thought if presented with that possibility back on Opening Day.

This is going to be a nice test for Josiah Gray, who has kind of regressed a bit in recent outings. The right-hander still hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any start since his season debut, but he has walked nine batters over his last nine innings and needed a whopping 179 pitches to get there. Gray has got to show better command tonight, but he also has to keep the ball in the park on the first really warm day of the season, with an afternoon high of 92 degrees.

The Nationals, who mashed five homers during Wednesday’s wild win at Dodger Stadium, will try to keep that going against Zack Wheeler, who dominated the Braves in his last start to the tune of eight scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts.

Oh, and tonight also represents Trea Turner’s first of many upcoming appearances at Nationals Park as a member of the Phillies, who also have a couple games named Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber on their roster, in case you’ve forgotten.

LOS ANGELES – The Nationals won Wednesday’s series finale at Dodger Stadium thanks to far and away their biggest power display of the season. They blasted five home runs, including two from Keibert Ruiz, to emerge with a 10-6 victory and avoid a series sweep.

They headed home having finished 3-3 on a very eventful road trip through Kansas City and Los Angeles, one that started with a bang and ended with a bang, with some frustrating moments in between.

“We came in here, we had some young mistakes, but to come out of here after a long road trip and win the last game to go back home now, it feels pretty good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We finished .500 on the road. To come out to the West Coast is never easy. So, I’m proud of the guys, after getting beat the first two games, to come back the way they did today and pull this one out.”

Wednesday’s game was a wild affair itself, the Nats digging themselves into a 3-0 hole in the first, clawing back to take a 5-4 lead in the fifth, giving it back in the seventh, then taking the lead for good in the eighth. Those five homers were the headline of the game, but there were several other developments that deserve further exploration on this day off …

* Luis Garcia bookends a strange trip in style
Garcia’s week got off to an historic start: He went 6-for-6 on Friday night against the Royals, joining Anthony Rendon as the only players in club history to pull off that feat. But then Garcia followed that up with a slump. He went 0 for his next 16 before finally delivering an RBI single in the seventh inning Tuesday night, but then went hitless in his next four at-bats as well, leaving him in a 1-for-21 funk.

LOS ANGELES – If you woke up this morning without having watched Tuesday night’s game and looked at Jake Irvin’s pitching line, you probably weren’t impressed. The Nationals rookie gave up four runs on eight hits in five innings, taking the loss as his team fell to the Dodgers, 9-3.

Irvin’s outing, to be sure, was not a particularly good start. But it might not have been as bad as the final line indicated. And if nothing else, the process that got him to that final line was exactly what he and the team wanted.

“I thought Irvin did a much better job today,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Only one walk. That was very encouraging.”

Irvin had been plagued by the free passes in more recent starts. He issued four walks in four innings against the Padres last week. Prior to that, he issued four walks in 2 2/3 innings against the Tigers.

That wasn’t the case this time, even against a potent Dodgers lineup. Irvin’s one and only walk came with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, to the second-to-last batter he faced in the game. He wound up throwing 61 of his 94 pitches for strikes, by far his best strike rate in his six big league starts.

LOS ANGELES – Monday was Memorial Day, the traditional day on the baseball calendar when it becomes acceptable to start drawing broad conclusions about a team or a player’s performance for the season. It also happened to coincide with the Nationals’ 54th game of the year, making this juncture all the more significant.

Yes, the Nats have now completed one-third of their season. Time flies when you’re having fun, right?

The Nationals have had more fun to date than in prior seasons. That’s what happens when you win more games, play in competitive games on a more regular basis and get major contributions from several young players who could be a part of the long-term plan around here if they keep this up.

To be sure, this is not a good team. Not yet. Following Monday’s 6-1 loss to the Dodgers, the Nats find themselves with a 23-31 record. That’s worst in the National League, fourth-worst in the majors. Nobody should be celebrating that.

Still, for a franchise that went 55-107 games one year ago and entered this year with exceptionally low expectations, a 69-win pace can only be viewed as encouraging. The fact the Nationals have played .500 ball since April 20 also helps frame things in a more positive light.

LOS ANGELES – The ball came off Miguel Vargas’ bat at 92.8 mph, a sharp grounder to the left side of second base. CJ Abrams shuffled several steps to his left and put his glove down for what he hoped would be the start of a 6-4-3 double play that would help Trevor Williams get through a fifth scoreless inning at Dodger Stadium.

Abrams did not make the play. The ball squirted away from the Nationals shortstop, who awkwardly stumbled as he tried to corral it in time to save the play. By the time teammate Luis García finally tracked it down, Vargas was safe at first and Jason Heyward was safe at third, having aggressively advanced 180 feet on the error.

What transpired after that illustrated one of baseball’s great “What if?” scenarios. Williams proceeded to give up six runs before the inning ended, all of them unearned, the decisive sequence in the Nationals’ 6-1 loss to the Dodgers.

If Abrams makes the play and the inning ends a few batters later with no damage, would Williams have continued to dominate? Or would he still have had a nightmare of a time trying to hold down a potent Los Angeles lineup for the third time in the game, no matter what transpired before?

We’ll never know, of course. All we do know is how the bottom of the fifth did play out tonight, and it was especially ugly from the Nats’ perspective.

LOS ANGELES – Victor Robles bounded into the visitors’ clubhouse at Dodger Stadium this afternoon, grabbed his glove and headed out toward the field, a hop in his step not seen much over the last three-plus weeks as he’s resided on the injured list.

“Doing much better,” the Nationals center fielder said as he headed out for a pregame workout.

Out since May 7 with back spasms, Robles hadn’t been doing much activity on a baseball field through his first two weeks on the IL. That’s finally starting to change, and today offered an opportunity to increase his workload.

“He’s actually doing a little bit of running, some agility stuff,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He’s been hitting off the tee, doing some flips. So he’s definitely progressing a little bit. He feels a lot better, which is a great sign.”

If things go well today, Martinez said Robles may start hitting soft-toss on the field before Tuesday’s game. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s that close to returning to the active roster, though. This type of injury requires patience and the understanding it impacts all aspects of his game.

LOS ANGELES – You don’t often find the Kansas City-Los Angeles trip on a major league club’s schedule, but that’s what the Nationals are experiencing this week. They just took two of three from a rebuilding Royals team. Now they’ve got three games against one of the sport’s true powerhouses.

Davey Martinez’s bullpen should be in good shape tonight after all of the prominent guys were held out of both Friday and Sunday’s games. Now, the rest of the team just has to figure out a way to put themselves in position to need those top relievers late, which is no small task.

It starts with Trevor Williams, who has done a very good job of giving his team a chance just about every time he’s pitched. Williams, though, faces a tough Dodgers lineup tonight, even if that group doesn’t look quite as star-studded as it has in recent years. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are still some kind of 1-2 punch.

The Nationals have all the regulars back in their lineup after several of them got Sunday off. Martinez has made a few changes in the order, most notably Joey Meneses bumped down to the cleanup spot behind Jeimer Candelario, and CJ Abrams moving up to the eighth position with Alex Call now batting ninth. Those guys will be taking their hacks against rookie right-hander Bobby Miller, who impressed in his major league debut last week. Miller was the Dodgers’ first-round pick in 2020, a mere seven spots behind Cade Cavalli, for what that’s worth.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Where: Dodger Stadium
Gametime: 9:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 64 degrees, wind 7 mph out to center field

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The job of a major league manager can be both simple and incredibly complicated at the same time. Simple: Do everything you can to put your players in the best position to win that day’s game. Complicated: Figure out when it’s appropriate to do that, and when it’s more appropriate to prioritize long-term considerations over short-term success.

It can get even more complicated for the manager of a team clearly in rebuilding mode that is more focused on the future than the here and now, then even more complicated than that when the manager is trying to prove he should retain his job after his contract expires at season’s end.

All of those circumstances converged for Davey Martinez in the latter innings of Sunday’s game at Kauffman Stadium. His Nationals, a rebuilding team that nonetheless has exceeded expectations to date, were in a position to complete their first three-game sweep on the road since August 2019, when a veteran-laden squad took three straight from the Cubs at Wrigley Field and made it clear they were serious World Series contenders.

Leading the Royals 2-1 thanks to seven dominant innings from MacKenzie Gore and a couple of clutch hits from Ildemaro Vargas and Michael Chavis way back in the top of the fourth, the Nats now had to try to close this game out. Or more specifically, Martinez had to figure out how to try to close this game out while also resting a number of his top relievers and regular position players who were being given the day off.

In the bullpen, Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey and Carl Edwards Jr. were all deemed off limits. Each pitched in Saturday’s win, with Edwards having also pitched in Friday’s win. Each would’ve been pitching for the fourth time in five days had he been used, and that’s generally not something a manager wants to do to a reliever in late-May.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For as much progress as they’ve made this season, especially in the young pitching department, one achievement continues to elude the Nationals: The series sweep.

You’ve probably heard this one by now, but to reiterate: The Nats have not swept a three-game series since June 2021 against the Pirates, and they haven’t swept a road series since August 2019 at Wrigley Field. They’ve had their fair share of opportunities to do it since, including two chances earlier this season against the Twins and Mets, but they entered this afternoon’s finale at Kauffman Stadium still searching for that coveted sweep.

MacKenzie Gore did everything in his power to make it happen, striking out a career-high 11 over seven innings of one-run ball. The Nationals lineup did the bare minimum to put the team in position, scoring two runs in the fourth but nothing else. That left little margin for error for the bullpen, the challenge all the greater with all of that group's top arms unavailable again due to recent usage.

So it was left to Chad Kuhl to try to close it out. That plan worked Friday night. It did not work today, with Kuhl surrendering the game-tying homer in the eighth and then the game-winning run (albeit an unearned run) in the ninth to leave the Nats dealing with the sting of a 3-2 walk-off loss.

"You wanted the sweep today," said Dominic Smith, whose ninth inning error proved especially costly. "We come here every day to win. We're not satisfied with just winning a series. To come up today with a chance to have a sweep ... that was something that was definitely on our minds that we wanted to achieve. We had multiple opportunities to do that. For it to go out like that, it's definitely a tough feeling."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Nationals’ top prospect is moving one step closer to the major leagues.

James Wood has been promoted from High-A Wilmington to Double-A Harrisburg, a source familiar with the move confirmed. The 20-year-old outfielder is slated to join the Senators for this evening’s series finale at Reading, then continue with them on this week’s road trip to Bowie.

Wood, one of the five prospects acquired from the Padres in last summer’s Juan Soto-Josh Bell trade, had more than proven his ability in 42 games with Wilmington, batting .293 with nine doubles, five triples, eight homers, 36 RBIs, eight stolen bases, a .392 on-base percentage and a .972 OPS.

“When he hits the ball, he hits it hard,” manager Davey Martinez said. “And he’s walking, so that’s a good sign. They felt like this was the time to move him up, and he definitely deserved a shot to go up to Double-A.”

A 6-foot-6, 240-pound physical specimen, Wood entered the season as one of baseball’s top-rated prospects, ranking as high as No. 3 in the sport by Baseball Prospectus. A second-round pick of the Padres in 2021, he has made a steady climb up the prospect ladder and was already considered by many to be the best player the Nationals received in last summer’s blockbuster trade.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – This isn’t the first time this has been written this season (or last season, for that matter), but the Nationals have a chance today to complete their first three-game sweep since June 2021, and their first chance to sweep a three-game road series since August 2019. The fact this isn’t the first time this has been written tells you just how many opportunities they’ve had to end that streak and haven’t been able to pull it off.

Perhaps today’s finally the day, though, with MacKenzie Gore on the mound against the Royals. The left-hander actually hasn’t had a really good start in a while, plagued of late by walks and high pitch counts. This would be a good day for him to morph back into the pitcher who impressed through most of April and early May, especially because the Nationals bullpen had to churn out five innings in Saturday’s win.

Gore will have several non-regular faces behind him in the field today, with Davey Martinez giving a bunch of regulars the day off against Kansas City lefty Daniel Lynch. Stone Garrett gets the cleanup spot, with a 6-7-8 of Ildemaro Vargas, Michael Chavis and Riley Adams. The backups had a nice offensive day one week ago against the Tigers; we’ll see if they can duplicate that this afternoon.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Where: Kauffman Stadium
Gametime: 2:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 80 degrees, wind 5 mph out to left field

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – What is it about the sixth inning at Kauffman Stadium that brings out the best in the Nationals lineup?

Maybe the guys just need to spend five innings at the plate getting comfortable with their surroundings, since they’ve hardly ever played in this ballpark. Maybe it’s a reflection of the Royals pitching staff, with fading starters unable to get through an opposing lineup a third time and middle relievers unable to clean up the mess. Maybe it’s just sheer baseball coincidence and not an actual sign of anything.

Whatever the reason, the Nationals are happy to accept the results. Because for the second time in 24 hours they flipped a switch in the sixth, scored a bunch of runs and emerged victorious at the end of the day, this time by a count of 4-2 over Kansas City.

"Hey, it's been good," said manager Davey Martinez, whose team is now 18-16 since April 20, the fourth-best mark in the National League during that span. "We've been battling, and the at-bats got good again. We're starting to get the ball up a little bit, and staying in the middle of the field."

This rally wasn’t quite as dramatic as Friday night’s top-of-the-sixth explosion, when the Nats scored eight runs and saw Luis García become the first player in club history to record two doubles in the same inning. But it was plenty impressive in its own right.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Asked this afternoon if he expected his bullpen to be in better shape for today’s game against the Royals after it was severely depleted during Friday night’s loss, Davey Martinez couldn’t help but laugh.

“They’re out there right now,” the Nationals manager said, motioning in the direction of the field from his office at Kauffman Stadium. “I’ll get more of a sense once they get loose and come back in, but I think we should be in good shape.”

This has become something of a daily dilemma for Martinez, who has needed to mix and match his relievers this week way more than in the past. That’s in part because the Nats have been playing in exceptionally close games, which doesn’t afford a manager the opportunity to give his best late-inning arms regular days off.

That was the case Friday night, when Martinez deemed Kyle Finnegan and Hunter Harvey unavailable because each had pitched the previous two days. Andrés Machado and Thaddeus Ward also were unavailable, according to Martinez, because of recent usage, and Mason Thompson was only going to be used in case of emergency.

The situation should be better today. All five of those relievers should be available if needed. Ultimately, though, the Nationals are going to need others to start pitching well enough to be worthy of high-leverage assignments.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Nationals won Friday night’s series opener, but it required all manner of wackiness to pull it off, especially when it came to bullpen usage in the final three innings. Davey Martinez can only hope for an easier path to victory this afternoon as his team tries to secure a series win.

Josiah Gray gets the start, so that helps right off the bat. The right-hander has been the club’s most consistent starter, allowing two or fewer runs in eight of his 10 outings. He did, however, walk six batters Sunday against the Tigers, and that limited him to only five innings even though he gave up only one run. Gray will need to be around the strike zone more this afternoon, especially against what on paper is a weak Royals lineup (last night’s 10-run outburst notwithstanding).

For the second straight day, Kansas City sends a starter to the mound with an ERA over 7.00. Friday night, it was Jordan Lyles. Today, it’s Brady Singer, the one-time top prospect who has not yet come close to realizing his full potential. The 26-year-old right-hander is 3-4 with a 7.48 ERA and 1.642 WHIP, and he’s been hit hard by everybody: Left-handed batters own a .948 OPS against him, righties are at .881.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Where: Kauffman Stadium
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 79 degrees, wind 7 mph out to left field

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

Anthony Santander sits today as the Orioles resume their series against the Rangers at Camden Yards.

Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter against left-hander Andrew Heaney, and Ryan McKenna is playing right field.

Santander struck out twice last night and hit into a double play. He was 4-for-6 in his previous two games in New York.

Austin Hays moves up to third in the order. Ramón Urías returns to the lineup at third base with Gunnar Henderson on the bench.

Adam Frazier is the second baseman.

The Orioles are making a change in their rotation, optioning Grayson Rodriguez to Triple-A Norfolk following last night’s 12-2 loss to the Rangers.

Left-hander Keegan Akin is rejoining the team to replace Rodriguez on the staff.

Rodriguez, who entered the season as the organization’s top pitching prospect, allowed eight earned runs and nine total last night in 3 1/3 innings. The inconsistency dragged him down again after he held the Blue Jays to two runs in five innings last weekend.

The total body of work includes a 7.35 ERA and 1.721 WHIP in 10 starts, with 56 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings. The 50 strikeouts through his first nine career starts were the most by an Orioles pitcher in franchise history.

Rodriguez didn’t break camp with the team after a poor spring training and was recalled to make an April 5 start in Texas after Kyle Bradish went on the injured list with a bruised foot. He allowed two runs or fewer in five outings, never working more than 5 2/3 innings, and a combined 31 earned in 19 2/3 innings in his other five starts.

Yennier Cano ran the count full Thursday night against Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and did the unthinkable. He threw a sinker out of the strike zone that Judge didn’t chase it.

The first walk by Cano in 25 2/3 innings.

All good stats must come to an end.

“Looking back, it’s great that it took that long to finally walk someone, and honestly, I’m really happy with who I ended up walking and the way that at-bat turned out, because it wasn’t just any hitter,” Cano said yesterday via interpreter Brandon Quinones, the smile on his face an indicator that he wasn’t fretting the free pass.

“He’s a great hitter, it was a great at-bat. We fought hard the entire AB, and I threw some good pitches. Went through tough at-bats. I wasn’t upset at all with how it turned out and who I ended up walking. Honestly, just really happy with how things went looking back at it now.”

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

- Recalled LHP Keegan Akin from Triple-A Norfolk.

- Optioned RHP Grayson Rodriguez to Triple-A Norfolk after yesterday’s game.