Marathon stretch finally ending for weary Nationals

PHILADELPHIA - It began way back on Aug. 12, with a weekend series against the Braves at Nationals Park.

Bryce Harper was still on the bench, nursing a nagging neck injury. Ryan Zimmerman was still on the disabled list, a full week away from returning to the active roster. Stephen Strasburg was healthy. Trea Turner was hitting only .286. Jayson Werth still had six games left in his streak of consecutive games reaching base. Marc Rzepczynski was an Oakland Athletic. Koda Glover was a Syracuse Chief. Jonathan Papelbon was a National.

That's when the Nationals began their stretch of 20 games in 20 days. A stretch that finally comes to an end tonight, when they wrap up their series against the Phillies and then get to enjoy a much-deserved off-day in New York before returning to action Friday night against the Mets.

"I think that's a long stretch," Harper said. "I think when you have a schedule like that, that's pretty dumb, to tell you the truth. Having guys play 20 straight, that's stupid. I mean, why not change that a little bit?"

The rigors of the major league schedule are likely to be a hot topic in the collective bargaining negotiations expected to take place between owners and players in the coming months, but we'll ignore that issue for the moment.

Let's focus instead on how the Nationals have held up during this particularly difficult stretch.

There were some significant low points along the way, most notably a three-game series in Colorado in which no starting pitcher lasted more than four innings, leaving the bullpen gassed for a good week after that. Strasburg wound up on the disabled list with a sore elbow. And there were three losses to the Orioles in four games.

But after last night's 3-2 win over the Phillies, the Nats find themselves 10-9 overall in the stretch heading into tonight's finale. All things considered, that's not bad.

"We'll take it," manager Dusty Baker said. "We got one more game to go now, this 20-in-a-row we got. We're assured we're .500, because now we're 10-9. And hopefully tomorrow we'll be 11-9, then take a break in New York."

Baker has tried to give most of his regulars some days off along the way, but it hasn't been easy. Anthony Rendon has started 18 of the last 19 games (and 37 of the last 38). Danny Espinosa has started 17 of the 19. Daniel Murphy has started 17 of the 19.

And Turner has started all 19 during this stretch, 29 in a row overall since becoming the everyday leadoff man.

With that in mind, Baker plans to sit Turner tonight, giving the speedster a chance to rest his legs before the weekend series against the Mets.

"I have to give him a day also, so he doesn't wear down," Baker said. "He doesn't weigh much more than that pen (pointing to his desk) there, so I've got to keep him strong. Because he hasn't played much in September, and he definitely hasn't played any in October."