News and notes before today's series finale

Some pregame news and notes before the Nationals and Reds wrap up their series ...

* It got lost in the shuffle of Friday night's extra-inning comeback win, but Daniel Murphy reached a nice career milestone: his 100th home run.

That number may not carry a whole lot of weight in today's game, but what's most impressive in Murphy's case is that nearly half of those homers have come in the last two calendar years.

Yes, Murphy has hit 48 home runs since July 2015, a span of 1,163 plate appearances. He also owns a .331 batting average and .942 OPS in that span.

It took Murphy 3,339 plate appearances to hit his first 52 homers, during which time he batted .289 with a .749 OPS.

"I've seen guys improve like that because they learn how to hit the ball out of the ballpark," manager Dusty Baker said. "I saw guys that I played with who were opposite-field hitters when they came up, namely Daryl Evans and Reggie Smith. ... [Murphy] learned to sit on pitches. He's learned to look in zones. And that's how you hit home runs. You don't hit home runs just swinging at whatever they throw up there. You've got to have a pretty good idea what the pitcher's doing to you, and then execute."

* Much was made of Trea Turner's big day in Saturday's rout, and deservedly so because he went 5-for-5 with a walk. But it was merely the latest remarkable game for the Nationals shortstop this season.

Consider that back in April, Turner hit for the cycle and drove in seven runs. And that one week ago, he stole four bases against the Mets.

How many players in history have a five-hit game, a seven-RBI game and a four-steal game in the same season? Well, according to STATS LLC, none. At least since it was possible to determine such things.

The RBI became an official stat in 1920. So since then, Turner is the only player in history with a five-hit game, a seven-RBI game and a four-steal game.

Just more evidence of how multi-dimensional the Nationals leadoff man is as an offensive player.

* Sammy Solís made another rehab appearance for Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday night, facing two batters and retiring both (one via strikeout).

That was Solís' fifth game pitched for the Chiefs over the last 10 days, and it leaves the left-hander on the verge of coming off the disabled list and rejoining the Nationals bullpen.

Solis has been on the DL since April 19 with nerve inflammation in his pitching elbow.

* The Nationals open a high-profile, four-game series with the Cubs starting Monday on South Capitol Street.

Here are the pitching probables for both clubs:

Monday: Gio Gonzalez (7-1, 2.96) vs. Eddie Butler (3-2, 4.19)
Tuesday: Max Scherzer (8-5, 2.09) vs. Jake Arrieta (7-5, 4.36)
Wednesday: Stephen Strasburg (8-2, 3.57) vs. John Lackey (5-8, 4.74)
Thursday: Joe Ross (4-3, 5.40) vs. Jon Lester (5-4, 3.83)