Martinez rejoining Nats in Miami, will manage tonight

MIAMI - Davey Martinez will be back in the Nationals dugout tonight.

Martinez, who has not been able to manage the team since suffering from chest pain during the sixth inning of Sunday's win over the Braves, was cleared by doctors to travel to Miami and will rejoin the club in time for tonight's series opener at Marlins Park.

Club officials were hopeful the 53-year-old skipper would be ready to return this weekend but were at the mercy of doctors, who had to clear Martinez for travel after Monday's cardiac catheterization procedure in Washington.

That procedure, according to general manager Mike Rizzo, was the only one Martinez needed, aside from follow-up tests down the road. Rizzo said once doctors cleared Martinez to travel, he would be "full-go, no limitations, 100 percent, hopefully for a long time. For the rest of the season. For a long time."

Martinez was forced to miss the Nationals' entire three-game series in St. Louis this week, though he spoke on the phone with Rizzo several times and was in regular communication with bench coach Chip Hale (who assumed managerial duties) via text message.

The Nationals won one of the three games in the series and now enter the final 11 games of the regular season holding a one-game lead over the Brewers for the top wild card position in the National League and a two-game lead over the Cubs for a spot in the Oct. 1 winner-take-all game.

Hale, who made a point not to use Martinez's office or even take his seat in the first row on the team bus, expressed optimism after Wednesday afternoon's game that he'd be ready to rejoin the team this weekend.