Sánchez will return to start Wednesday's finale (Nats up 4-2)

ATLANTA - They waited to make a final decision until after tonight's game, but the Nationals did decide to start Aníbal Sánchez in Wednesday night's series finale against the Braves, believing the right-hander's hamstring is fully healed even if he hasn't built his arm all the way back up to a full workload yet.

Sánchez, who strained his left hamstring May 16 against the Mets, was slated to go through a pregame workout this evening at SunTrust Park. If he got through this workout with no issues, it appeared the club would activate him off the 10-day injured list.

"We'll see how he does, see how he feels after," manager Davey Martinez said at the time.

After the game, a 5-4 victory, Martinez announced Sanchez will indeed come off the injured list and make the start. The club will need to make a corresponding roster move.

If Sánchez wasn't deemed ready to go, Martinez said Kyle McGowin would get the start. McGowin lasted only four innings in his Friday night fill-in start against the Marlins, giving up five runs on six hits while throwing 80 pitches in a game the Nationals eventually would win, 12-10.

The team's preference seemed to be Sánchez, even though the veteran has not gone on a minor league rehab assignment. Sánchez did throw a pair of simulated games over the last week, though, including a 56-pitch session in the bullpen at Nationals Park on Sunday.

That second sim game might have been enough to convince club officials to activate Sánchez now instead of sending him to one of their affiliates for a rehab start to build his arm up more. Martinez said he would probably be good to throw 75-80 pitches, depending on the game situations and how many high-stress innings he faced.

Sánchez's leg doesn't appear to be any significant cause for concern anymore. He ran through fielding drills and ran the bases with no problems.

"He said he feels good," Martinez said. "And he only missed one start, too. He said he feels good. But I want to make sure when I talk to him tonight he's 100 percent."

Even if healthy, Sánchez will need to show marked improvement from his first nine starts of the season, during which he went 0-6 with a 5.10 ERA and 1.677 WHIP. He reached the sixth inning in only three of those nine starts despite averaging 92 pitches per outing.

No matter what happens to Sánchez, the Nationals will give Erick Fedde at least one more start: Saturday in Cincinnati. Fedde, who technically took Sánchez's spot in the rotation, has allowed only one run in 10 total innings over two starts and has impressed team officials with his performance and renewed confidence.

The Nationals would then face a decision once Jeremy Hellickson is ready to return from a strained right shoulder. Hellickson last pitched May 19, when he lasted only three innings against the Cubs.

Update: Stephen Strasburg is in a groove early on tonight. Strasburg allowed a leadoff single (and stolen base) to Ronald Acuña Jr. but has retired nine in a row since then, six via strikeout. And his teammates have managed seven hits off Max Fried through four innings. They've all been singles, but Victor Robles managed to deliver one of them with two outs and two on in the fourth, driving home Juan Soto. That gives the Nats a 1-0 lead.

Update II: The Braves finally got to Strasburg in the bottom of the fourth. Not that they really got to him all that much - the three singles off him had exit velocities of 55 mph, 73 mph and 72 mph - but it was enough to score two runs. That puts Atlanta on top 2-1.

Update III: The Nats put pressure on Fried all night, and they finally delivered a sustained rally in the sixth. Mostly by being patient. They got back-to-back doubles from Howie Kendrick and Kurt Suzuki to tie the game, but then they took the lead thanks to a hit batter (Robles, of course) and three consecutive walks (Trea Turner, Adam Eaton, Anthony Rendon). They had a chance to really pile on, but Soto struck out looking at a 3-2 breaking ball from reliever Anthony Swarzak with the bases loaded. Nevertheless, the Nats now lead 4-2 heading to the bottom of the sixth.