After sluggish few days, Martinez trying out different lineup

In making some changes to his lineup for tonight's game, Davey Martinez had a couple of goals in mind:

* Get Matt Adams and Howie Kendrick, both swinging hot bats in recent days, in the lineup.

* Give Brian Dozier, who fouled a ball off his toe Tuesday night, a breather.

* Move Anthony Rendon, the team's best hitter to date this season, up to try to give him more at-bats and more early opportunities to give the Nationals a lead.

The end result of all that is the lineup card that Martinez will present to plate umpire Jeff Nelson just before the start of tonight's game. It includes Rendon batting second for the first time this season, with Juan Soto batting third, followed by Adams and Kendrick.

"I'm viewing this as getting these guys up there and trying to score early in the game," Martinez said. "And getting these guys up as much as possible. And yet getting Matt Adams in the lineup and just moving Howie behind Matty."

Martinez had been sticking with a pretty consistent lineup through the season's first 15 games. If a regular was getting the day off, his replacement would simply take over his spot in the batting order.

But after watching his team score only three runs each of the last four games, Martinez decided to shake things up a bit. That includes the inclusion of Kendrick and Adams in place of the less-productive Dozier and Ryan Zimmerman.

Kendrick is off to a torrid start since making his delayed debut following a hamstring strain. The veteran second baseman is batting .471 (8-for-17) with three doubles, two homers, five RBIs and four walks. He's starting for the third time in four games, though Dozier's ailment played a role in that.

Dozier fouled a pitch off his foot during Tuesday's game and wound up departing after three at-bats. Martinez said he needed to have his toe drained later that evening, and that prompted the manager to give the .152-hitting second baseman the night off.

"I thought he'd be sore today," Martinez said. "He's available to play, but to get him on his feet for nine innings I thought would be too much."

Even if Dozier was 100 percent healthy, there's an argument for Kendrick to start getting more time in the lineup. That may come true, though Martinez said it won't become a daily change given the 35-year-old Kendrick's recent injuries. (He missed most of 2018 with a ruptured Achilles tendon.)

"You'd love for him to play every day, but we've got to take care of Howie," the manager said. "He's going to play. But again, I've got to make sure he's with us for the duration of the season."

Adams, meanwhile, is starting for the third time in six games, having gone 4-for-10 with two doubles and a homer after opening the season 0-for-9 with six strikeouts. Zimmerman is batting .188 (9-for-48) overall with one double, one homer and eight RBIs.

One constant in the lineup is the man batting ninth: Victor Robles. Despite the rookie's success, Martinez still prefers to keep pressure off him by hitting him at the bottom of the order behind the pitcher.

"We thought about (moving him up), but then again, he's a young hitter and he's doing well," the manager said. "He's been successful hitting ninth, so why change something? He's getting on base for us. He's knocked in some big runs for us in the 9-hole. I like him there. I like him hitting in front of Adam Eaton, and now Rendon and Soto. At this point right now, I really don't want to mess with him. I want him to just keep playing the game, having fun and doing the things he has been doing."