Jordan gets the start tonight, plus notes on Treinen and Taylor

Right-hander Taylor Jordan makes his first start for the Nationals this evening as they attempt to claim the finale of the three-game interleague set with the Blue Jays. Jordan is filling Stephen Strasburg's spot in the rotation after the right-hander was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left trapezius muscle.

Jordan's only appearance this season came in relief of Strasburg last Friday. He was called on in emergency duty shortly after the second inning began when Strasburg was forced to retire for the evening with neck tightness. Jordan was exceptional for most of his outing, shutting down the Reds in four straight scoreless innings until he gave up the lead with three runs in the sixth.

The Nationals selected Jordan in the ninth round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft. The 26-year-old made his major league debut in 2013 and has started 14 games for the Nats over the past two seasons, compiling a 1-6 record with a 4.31 ERA.

The bullpen difficulties continued for the Nationals again last night. This time it was hard-throwing right-hander Blake Treinen, who entered the game to start the seventh with the game still in reach as the Nats trailed by only one. But Treinen quickly loaded the bases on a couple of singles and a walk before eventually allowing three runs.

"For me, he was throwing through his sink," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "You know, it's nasty sink. It's 97 mph and going down hard. He was just throwing through it a little bit so the ball straightened out on him. The more work he gets it, the better sink he tends to get, and it's more down and he induces those grounders. (Last night), he couldn't do it."

The 26-year-old Treinen has now allowed runs in half of his 20 relief appearances and his ERA has ballooned to 4.44.

Denard Span's availability for tonight's rubber match with the Blue Jays is in question. The 31-year-old hasn't played since leaving the game in the eighth inning of Sunday's loss to the Reds. He continues to deal with a sore right knee that he injured early last week when he slipped on a play at Wrigley Field.

"I'm not gonna push him that regard," Williams said. "So we'll see how he is (Wednesday). A couple days off, hopefully, are good for him. He's got some anti-inflammatory medicine to take that swelling outta there so hopefully he feels a lot better on (Wednesday)."

Rookie Michael A. Taylor filled in for Taylor in center field during yesterday's split doubleheader, just as he did when Span began the first 12 games of the season on the disabled list.

Taylor went for 2-for-8 with a double over the twinbill,but the problem was the six unsuccessful at-bats resulted in strikeouts. Taylor now has whiffed at least three times in six of his 27 starts this season. Nearly 40 percent of the time Taylor steps to the plate, he retreats to the dugout without having put the ball in play. His 48 strikeouts are tied for second-most on the team with far fewer at-bats.

On the flip side, Taylor has produced some big hits recently. His three-run homer on Saturday gave the Nats a lead and on Sunday he added a clutch game-tying two-run single. Not to mention the ninth-inning grand slam Taylor crushed in mid-May to win a game in Arizona.

"It's part of his maturation process," Williams. "You have to remember where he was last year. And he got a taste of it last year and he's getting some more experience up here now. For Mike, it's about swinging at a good pitch and putting a good swing on that good pitch. It's part of the process as young players go through it. So he's getting good experience at this point. He whacked a double and got in scoring position and was out there for a base hit to tie the game (last night). But he also swung at some balls out of the zone. So it's part of the process."