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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – When it came to deciding who he would entrust to record the final outs required to defeat the Royals in a wild ballgame Friday night, Davey Martinez didn’t really have the chance to consider a multitude of options.

Kyle Finnegan wasn’t available after pitching each of the previous two nights. Same for Hunter Harvey. Andres Machado needed a night off after throwing 27 pitches Thursday. Thaddeus Ward also pitched in that game, and the rookie Rule 5 draft pick has yet to appear on back-to-back days this season. Mason Thompson, who threw 12 pitches Thursday, might have been available if absolutely necessary, but Martinez preferred to stay away from him as well.

So that left … who exactly in the Nationals bullpen?

Erasmo Ramirez had already entered in the seventh after Patrick Corbin loaded the bases and proceeded to allow Kansas City to score five runs without recording an out.

Carl Edwards Jr. had to pitch out of the seventh-inning mess Ramirez created, then return to at least start the eighth.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Luis García stepped to plate to begin the top of the sixth tonight at Kauffman Stadium, hoping to jumpstart a Nationals lineup that to that point had been shut down by, statistically, the worst pitcher in the major leagues. He promptly doubled to deep left.

Some 19 minutes later, García was back at the plate, batting for the second time in an inning that had now turned into one of the Nats’ best sustained rallies of the season. He promptly doubled down the left field line again, this time driving in two runs.

In becoming the first player in club history to record two doubles in the same inning, then later becoming only the second player in club history to record six hits in a game, García became the focal point of an eight-run rally that propelled the Nationals to what should’ve been an easy victory against a Royals team that owns the second-worst record in the majors.

Instead, the Nats needed every one of the eight runs they scored in the sixth – not to mention the three they added in the eighth – to escape with a wild, 12-10 victory that got way too close for comfort when Erasmo Ramirez imploded in the bottom of the seventh, spoiling what would’ve been a quality start by Patrick Corbin.

"It feels great, especially when my teammates are battling every at-bat," García said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "We never got down at all, stayed focused and battled every at-bat. It's a great feeling."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Ten months removed from elbow surgery, Sean Doolittle will begin pitching in competitive games again. For now, that will still be at the minor league level.

Doolittle is scheduled to join the bullpen at High-A Wilmington and make his season debut Saturday, Nationals manager Davey Martinez said. It will be the left-hander’s first actual game appearance since April 19, 2022, when he suffered a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament in a win over the Diamondbacks.

Doolittle spent the next several months attempting to return without surgery, hoping to make it back for the season’s second half. But when the elbow pain returned during bullpen sessions, he opted to go under the knife.

Rather than have the more invasive Tommy John surgery, which would’ve knocked him out for 12 to 18 months, Doolittle decided to go with an internal brace procedure, a relatively new option for pitchers in which the damaged ligament is wrapped and strengthened instead of replaced altogether.

Doolittle had that surgery done in July, and at the time hoped it would allow him to be ready for the start of the 2023 season. But his timeline was slowed during spring training, and the Nationals shut him down and had him start the rehab process all over again in late March.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The nicest thing about Major League Baseball’s new schedule this season is that it allows every team from one league to play every team from the other league every year, alternating between a home series one year and a road series the next. For the Nationals, that means road trips to some places they haven’t visited much in the past, and Kansas City is high on that list.

The Nats have played at Kauffman Stadium only twice in club history. In August 2013, they took two of three from the Royals, the lone loss coming when Craig Stammen allowed two runs in the bottom of the eighth. And in May 2016, they also took two of three from the Royals, the lone loss coming thanks to a blown save by Jonathan Papelbon in the bottom of the ninth. Now the Nationals are back here, facing a Kansas City team that would have the worst record in the majors if not for the sham that is the 2023 Oakland Athletics.

Tonight’s pitching matchup is a doozy: Patrick Corbin vs. Jordan Lyles, owners of the two highest ERAs in baseball from 2020-22 (minimum 400 innings pitched). The good news for the Nats: Corbin has turned things around this season, with six quality starts in his last seven outings. Lyles, meanwhile, continues to be one of the worst pitchers in baseball, entering tonight a staggering 0-8 record with a 7.15 ERA. His biggest problem (and it’s certainly something Corbin can relate to): He has surrendered a league-leading 14 homers in 56 2/3 innings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Where: Kauffman Stadium
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 74 degrees, wind 12 mph in from right 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

Lane Thomas is on a heater this month. In 23 games so far in May, he's slashing .326/.367/.620 with a .987 OPS, four doubles, a triple, all seven of his season’s home runs, 15 RBIs and 19 runs scored.

That’s a complete 180-degree turnaround from April, when he hit slashed .260/.327/.302 with a .629 OPS and just four extra-base hits.

Thomas is hoping he can take his production this month and stay consistent throughout the season. One correlation to his strong May is his consistent place atop the Nationals lineup. It may not be the exact reason, but there are definitely parallels.

“I don't know if it has to do with just leadoff or not leadoff,” Thomas said. “I think I've said this before just trying to be a little more consistent at the plate was just my focus this offseason and spring training and now. Just being more consistent with getting swings off in good counts and just get a little confidence in doing that.”

The 27-year-old only hit leadoff eight times over his 25 games in April, with Alex Call getting most of the at-bats in the top spot. But starting May 6, Thomas been put in the leadoff spot in every game he’s played since. Over those 18 games, he’s slashing .325/.374/.571 with a .945 OPS, four doubles, five homers, 11 RBIs and 16 runs scored.

The Nationals’ clutch hits have come in bunches. Either they get a lot or none at all.

And their bullpen hasn’t always been clutch. Either its lockdown or shaky.

For the first half of today’s finale against the Padres, it looked like it was going to be one of those games where they would get neither. But then the script flipped in the seventh inning, as the Nats put up five runs to take a 6-5 lead and the relievers kept that way for Kyle Finnegan and Hunter Harvey in the eighth and ninth.

Finnegan made it through his inning clean. But Harvey, seeking his third save of the season, couldn’t close out the victory.

Facing the Padres’ 2-3-4 hitters, Harvey gave up back-to-back singles to Jake Cronenworth and Juan Soto (who finished the day 1-for-1 with four walks). Harvey was able to then strike out the next two batters, but then served up a three-run home run to Rougned Odor on a 99 mph fastball that ended up just inside the right field foul pole.

The Nationals have had a rough go to the start of the season in terms of opposing starting pitchers. They’re facing left-handed starters at a higher rate than usual, which early on led to some inconsistencies in their lineup constructions.

When the Nats face the Padres’ Blake Snell in this afternoon’s series finale, it will be their 19th time in their first 50 games facing an opposing lefty starter. That’s almost a 40 percent rate, unusually high over the first two months of the season, with possibly more on the way.

“Yes,” manager Davey Martinez answered during his pregame media session when asked if this amount of opposing left-handed starters is unusual. “We've seen a lot of lefties. I think we'll get another one too in Kansas City. So yeah, we have seen quite a bit of lefties. But the thing about it is our left-handed hitters are not doing bad against them, it's kind of nice.”

It’s almost ironic that the Nationals have faced this many southpaws to start the year. Over the offseason, the focus was on acquiring a left-handed-hitting corner outfielder and possibly a backup lefty first baseman to fill out the roster. They were able to get both and then some.

Corey Dickerson was the left corner outfielder and Dominic Smith was the starting left-handed first baseman, allowing Joey Meneses to shift to designated hitter full time. Add switch-hitter Jeimer Candelario and the Nats could actually have more lefty bats than righty in their lineup on a given night.

How are we at Game 50 already? It’s almost Memorial Day Weekend and this season seems to be flying by.

Also, who would have taken a 21–28 Nationals record through the first 49 games? That’s a three-game improvement from where they were at this point last season.

To add one more to the win column and take this three-game series against the Padres, the Nats will turn to Jake Irvin, who is 1-2 with 5.50 ERA and 1.611 WHIP over his first four major league starts. After allowing only one earned run over his first two starts, he’s allowed 10 over his last two, going only 7 ⅓ innings. The young right-hander will look to get back to what led to his early success.

The Padres are throwing veteran left-hander Blake Snell for this getaway-day finale. The 30-year-old has struggled to start the year, going 1-6 with a 5.60 ERA and 1.556 WHIP over his first nine starts. He was knocked around for six runs in just four innings in his last start against the Red Sox.

Snell is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 1.182 WHIP in four career starts against the Nats.

For a team that doesn’t hit for a lot of power but has more than a few fast players in the lineup on a regular basis, the Nationals really haven’t run that much this season.

They rank 25th in the majors in stolen bases. They’re 19th in FanGraphs’ overall team baserunning metric.

The Nats did run more than they usually do Wednesday night against the Padres. And in nearly every instance, it paid off and helped carry them to their 5-3 victory.

“We want to play our game,” manager Davey Martinez said. “If a chance arises to do some things, we’re going to try to push the envelope a little bit and do it. These guys are all ready for it. As soon as they get on first base, they’re looking at me: ‘I’m ready, I’m ready!’ Under some circumstances, we can. And today was one of those where we could push the envelope a little bit.”

The Nationals had two stolen bases in the game, one by Luis Garcia, one by CJ Abrams. But that doesn’t tell the full story. Abrams’ seventh-inning steal actually turned into a two-baser when San Diego catcher Brett Sullivan’s throw wound up in shallow center field.

Give the Nationals lineup a chance to face a left-handed starter and take an early lead. Give Trevor Williams a chance to pitch into the sixth inning and retain that lead. Then hand over the rest to the trusted portion of Davey Martinez’s bullpen and watch them finish the job.

It’s a nice formula for success, and it worked quite well for the Nats tonight during a 5-3 victory over the Padres.

The lineup put up a four-spot in the bottom of the second against San Diego starter Ryan Weathers, the latest lefty to be hit around by this group. Williams surrendered a pair of homers but otherwise was strong during his 5 2/3 innings on the mound.

All of which allowed Martinez to deploy his bullpen in his preferred manner. He had Carl Edwards Jr. get out of the sixth (on one pitch) and then record the first two outs of the seventh. He had Hunter Harvey face the top four members of the Padres lineup, and retire all four to finish the seventh and complete the eighth. And then he had Kyle Finnegan pitch the ninth and emerge with his 10th save in 12 attempts.

"Every series, I do my work before everybody comes in," Martinez said. "And I pick groups of (hitters) based on information that I get, where I feel guys match up best late in games. The (top of the San Diego lineup) was where I really felt comfortable with Harvey. ... It worked out really well. These guys came in and shut the door down."

Six times in their last 16 games, the Nationals have entered the ninth inning with a lead of three runs or fewer. Here, in order, is the name of the pitcher who took the mound in those save situations:

May 5 at Diamondbacks: Kyle Finnegan

May 6 at Diamondbacks: Hunter Harvey

May 13 vs. Mets: Finnegan

May 16 at Marlins: Harvey

Tuesday night’s series opener had some extra emotions attached to it, what with Juan Soto returning to D.C. and MacKenzie Gore facing the Padres for the first time. Tonight’s game shouldn’t carry quite the same vibes, even though Soto obviously will still be playing in D.C. And he’ll be facing a guy who hasn’t pitched for the Padres before but is from San Diego.

Yes, Trevor Williams grew up there, so it’s always a bit of a big deal for the right-hander to face the Padres. More than anything, Williams wants to give the Nationals some length tonight and take some pressure off the bullpen, which wasn’t great in the wake of Gore’s 4 2/3-inning start Tuesday night.

The Nats will look to get something going offensively against Ryan Weathers, yet another left-hander. They’re currently in a stretch of facing nine opposing lefties in 15 games. The good news: They’ve hit much better against lefties, to the tune of a .299/.359/.441 slash line (it’s only .247/.307/.358 against righties).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly clear, 79 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left field

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

While MacKenzie Gore’s laborious start Tuesday night – three runs, seven hits, four walks, 103 pitches in 4 2/3 innings – put the Nationals in a rough position, the young lefty wasn’t the pitcher of record in a 7-4 loss to the Padres. That distinction went to Erasmo Ramírez, who was charged with four runs in one-plus innings of relief, a ragged outing by the veteran right-hander to say the least.

Ramírez, such a bright spot in 2022, continues to struggle in 2023. He now owns a 5.18 ERA and 1.397 WHIP in 19 appearances. Opponents are batting .300 off him.

“It’s tough as a pitcher, no matter what, starting or relieving, every time you go to the mound you just want to do the best you can,” said the 33-year-old, who finished with a 2.92 ERA and 1.077 WHIP in 60 games last season. “And when things don’t come out right, you know you have to try to forget it and move on, execute better and work on stuff.”

Ramírez has struggled, to be sure. But the fact he was even pitching in that particular situation Tuesday night says more about the current state of the Nationals bullpen as a whole. In short, it’s not in a great state at the moment.

When Gore’s pitch count crossed into triple-digit territory, manager Davey Martinez decided to pull his starter with two on and two out in the fifth. He summoned Andrés Machado, who did a nice job to strike out pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter and prevent either inherited runner to score.

The baseball gods brought Juan Soto, MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams together tonight as only they can, three of the primary figures in one of the biggest trades in history converging at Nationals Park for a series opener that was anticipated more than most because of their participation.

The game – a 7-4 loss by the Nationals to the Padres – ultimately was decided during a couple of critical sequences in the sixth and seventh innings. But those three still were front and center on this night, in ways both uplifting and discouraging.

Abrams and Soto each homered, the former to help the Nats storm back to tie the game in the fifth, the latter to help the Padres extend the lead they retook in the seventh.

Soto, who doffed his helmet to an appreciative crowd of 21,438 when he stepped to the plate in the top of the first, finished 3-for-4 with the aforementioned homer, two singles and a walk in his second D.C. appearance since last August’s trade.

Abrams reached base only once in four tries, but that one was a big one: a two-run homer off Yu Darvish to spark the Nationals’ mid-game comeback.

When he stepped to the plate at Nationals Park nine months ago for the first time as a member of the Padres, Juan Soto was greeted with a sustained standing ovation from the crowd.

Anecdotally, it felt like the loudest and warmest ovation any former Nationals player has received in his return with another team. Louder than the ovation for Max Scherzer as a Met. Louder than the ovation for Trea Turner as a Dodger. Certainly friendlier than the reaction for Bryce Harper.

That moment stuck with Soto, who only 10 days earlier had been traded to San Diego along with Josh Bell for six players in a deal that altered both franchises.

“It means a lot,” the 24-year-old slugger said today. “It means I did a good job over here. It feels great to hear those cheers for you. That means they’re really proud of the championship that we bring back.”

Soto will forever be remembered for playing a major role in delivering Washington its first World Series title in 95 years. Scherzer, Turner, Anthony Rendon, Stephen Strasburg and countless others were vital to the cause as well, but Soto for some reason stands out from the rest, perhaps because he had only just turned 21 during the series but performed like a seasoned superstar.

Sean Doolittle is making a significant step in his recovery from an elbow procedure done last year.

Rehabbing at the Nationals' facility in West Palm Beach, Doolittle will start throwing on back-to-back days, the next benchmark he’s been working toward for a while.

“Sean Doolittle is gonna go back-to-back days now,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame media session. “Once he does that, then we'll reassess and go from there.”

The veteran left-hander was limited to just 5 ⅓ innings in six games with the Nationals last year before being shut down with an elbow injury. After trying to just rest it, Doolittle decided to undergo a similar but less invasive procedure as Tommy John surgery with the hope that he would recover faster and be able to pitch this season.

He reported to spring training healthy on a minor league deal, but was ultimately shut down out of precaution of ramping up too fast. If Doolittle feels good after throwing back-to-back games, the Nationals could start looking to get him into game action.

Hey, have you heard Juan Soto is back in town? OK, so it is of course a big deal that the 24-year-old slugger is back in D.C. for the first time since mid-August, the second time since he was traded to the Padres. We’ll see what kind of reaction he gets from the crowd when he comes up to bat in the top of the first tonight … against one of the guys he was traded for.

Yes, adding some spice to tonight’s series opener is the presence of MacKenzie Gore on the mound for the Nationals. This will of course be Gore’s first career start against San Diego, and he’ll be challenged to keep his emotions in check and not get too amped up about the matchup.

Yu Darvish starts for the Padres, and that’s always a challenge for any lineup, let alone one with as little experience as the Nats have. Given how many different types of pitches Darvish throws, guys will have to be patient and focus on swinging at good pitches, not just anything that looks like a strike (especially early in the count).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Hazy, 72 degrees, wind 11 mph in from right field

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