Soto sidelined for third straight day (Nats down 4-2)

PHILADELPHIA - At a time when they can't afford to lose any more middle of the order hitters, the Nationals now find themselves without yet another middle of the order hitter.

Juan Soto, still dealing with back spasms, is not in the Nationals' lineup for the third straight night. And if this continues much longer, the club may have to consider putting the young outfielder on the injured list like it already did with Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner and Ryan Zimmerman.

"I'm hoping that after today - they've been working on him diligently - so after today we'll have more of a sense what's going on," manager Davey Martinez said.

Soto was a late scratch from the lineup before both Wednesday and Thursday's games against the Cardinals in Washington. He received an MRI on Thursday to check for any more substantial injuries like an oblique strain, but the test came back showing nothing more than the back spasms.

Tonight's lineup, though, never included Soto in it. The Nationals decided not to take any chances.

"He still has a little discomfort in his back," Martinez said. "So rather than try to push him through the day, hopefully he's available to pinch-hit. I want him to actually try to get out on the field and participate in BP and move around. And this way we know he's good."

Martinez said Soto only feels the ailment when he swings, so that's a somewhat encouraging sign. Even so, the club is being cautious with the 20-year-old, not wanting to risk major injury.

With Soto sidelined, the Nationals again are going with a reconfigured outfield featuring Michael A. Taylor in center, with Victor Robles moving to right and Adam Eaton moving to left.

Update: This game is off to an interesting start. The Phillies were all over Jeremy Hellickson in the bottom of the first. They only scored one run (on Jean Segura's homer to right) but there was a lot of loud contact, even on the outs. But Hellickson has since reversed course and actually has struck out five consecutive batters. The Nats, meanwhile, saw six of their first 13 batters strike out against Jerad Eickhoff. But Howie Kendrick delivered a two-out RBI single up the middle in the top of the third to drive the tying run home. So this is a 1-1 game after three innings.

Update II: The good news: The Nats took a 2-1 lead in the sixth on Kurt Suzuki's homer. The bad news: They immediately gave three runs back, all via one swing after a curious decision. Though Hellickson was cruising and had only thrown 79 pitches, Martinez pulled his starter with one out, a man on first and Bryce Harper at the plate. In came Dan Jennings, who proceeded to walk Harper on five pitches. Not good, but worse was the fact the lefty then stayed in to face Rhys Hoskins. Hoskins has reverse splits, but that just felt like a bad matchup for the Nats from the get-go. And indeed it was. Hoskins drilled a Jennings curveball deep to left for a three-run homer that put the Phillies up 4-2 and left Martinez needing to answer some questions postgame.