Martinez pleads for hitters to start putting the ball in play

MILWAUKEE - The Nationals have been fielding a lineup lacking a host of key regulars for a while now, that's nothing new. Guys are starting to return, with Anthony Rendon coming off the injured list Monday, Juan Soto hopefully joining him Saturday and Trea Turner perhaps within two weeks of his activation off the IL.

How, though, do the Nats score any runs in the meantime? They've scored 21 runs over their last eight games. But that includes a 10-run outburst in Philadelphia on Saturday night, meaning they've only scored 11 runs in the seven other games during this stretch.

And break it down even further and you realize how much this team relies on the long ball to produce anything at the plate. Six of those aforementioned runs scored via home runs.

The Nationals simply aren't delivering timely hits, and Davey Martinez seems to have had enough of it.

"We need to cut down on strikeouts," the manager said after Tuesday night's 6-0 loss to the Brewers. "Put the ball in play. Let's just start putting the ball in play. Maybe cut down on swings with two strikes. Something. Move the baseball. That's what we've got to start doing."

The Nationals didn't come close to doing it Tuesday night. They took 14 at-bats with runners on base. They managed only three hits: one by Adam Eaton, one by Michael A. Taylor (who snapped an 0-for-19 slump in the process) and one by Stephen Strasburg.

They never advanced a runner to third base. They struck out six times with runners on base, 10 total times in the game.

Martinez and his players constantly talk about doing "the little things" right. Clearly, they haven't been doing them for the last six weeks. How, though, do you get a team to change?

"I don't know, just taking pride in our work and the way we go about our business," Rendon said. "Whether that means moving guys over. Whether that means hitting our cutoff men. Whether that means knowing when to take a pitch."

Perhaps once the Nationals have a healthy lineup again, they can afford to wait for the long ball. Until then, they have no choice but to try to do something that seems so foreign to today's major leaguers: Just put the ball on the ball.