Three injured regulars to face live pitching Monday (3-3 after 12)

PHILADELPHIA - Matt Adams, Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Wieters will all move a step closer to returning to the Nationals' active roster Monday when they face live pitching in a simulated game before their teammates face the Red Sox in Washington.

Adams, Zimmerman and Wieters will face a couple of minor league pitchers the Nationals are flying into town for the occasion.

It's the first time each will have batted against a live pitcher since going on the disabled list, but that doesn't mean all three are at the same stage of rehab.

Adams appears to be the closest of the group and could come off the DL within a matter of days. The first baseman/left fielder has been out since fracturing his left index finger trying to bunt 16 days ago in Toronto, and he has been able to take batting practice with no pain this weekend. Given the short layoff, Adams could return to the active roster without needing a minor league rehab assignment.

Zimmerman, out since May 10 with a strained right oblique muscle, was transferred to the 60-day DL on Friday. That makes him ineligible to be activated until July 9, so a brief rehab assignment seems the likeliest course for the veteran first baseman.

Wieters, meanwhile, said today his surgically repaired hamstring has felt strong enough to take batting practice and squat behind the plate to catch pitches. But he's not quite ready to test himself running the bases for the first time since he hurt himself May 10 in Arizona.

"Swinging feels good," he said. "Catching, throwing feels really good. It's just a matter of where we get to where we can push it running and don't have to worry about any kind of setbacks once we do start getting to where we're playing in games."

Update: The guys in today's lineup are doing a good job pushing runs across against Jake Arrieta despite only a few opportunities. They manufactured one run in the fourth when Trea Turner beat out a bunt and took second on the catcher's wild throw. Juan Soto then advanced Turner to third, and Anthony Rendon brought him home via a sacrifice fly to right. One inning later, Daniel Murphy and Mark Reynolds produced back-to-back singles, with Murphy chugging his way from first to third on his surgically repaired knee. Murphy passed up two chances to try to score (one on a passed ball, one on a chopper to second) but he had no trouble scoring along with Reynolds on Adam Eaton's two-out, two-run single to right. Gio Gonzalez, meanwhile, has tossed four scoreless innings on 49 pitches, and the Nats have a 3-0 lead in the fifth.

Update II: So much for that three-run lead. Gonzalez gave back all three runs in the bottom of the fifth, issuing three walks (one with the bases loaded), two singles and a sac fly to turn a 3-0 game into a 3-3 game. It took 40 pitches for the lefty to get through the inning. Not good. It's a battle of bullpens now.

Update III: Who wants some extra innings? That's where the Nats and Phillies are headed after both teams squandered multiple chances to plate the go-ahead run late.