Martinez sticking with batting order for now (Nats lose 6-5)

NEW YORK - If the season was two or three weeks old, perhaps Davey Martinez would construct his lineup based on trends instead of track records. But the season is only one week old, and so for now, the Nationals manager is going to put his faith in track records over trends.

The trends suggest Victor Robles shouldn't be hitting ninth and Brian Dozier shouldn't be batting second. But with only six games of evidence to make decisions on, Martinez believes the right path right now is to stick with the plan.

So Dozier, despite his 2-for-22 start to the season, is batting second again this afternoon against the Mets. And Robles, despite his 6-for-20 start with five extra-base hits, remains the Nats' No. 9 hitter.

"He's done really, really well," Martinez said. "I contemplated moving him up to the top of the order when Trea (Turner) got hurt. But I like where he's at. For me, he's like that second leadoff hitter."

Robles has performed exceptionally well so far when leading off an inning, going 5-for-8 with two doubles and two homers. That makes the notion of bumping the rookie up to the No. 1 position in the lineup, and bumping everyone else down a spot, enticing. And that may happen at some point. Just not yet.

"It might," Martinez said. "But right now I want him to continue to do what he's doing and put no pressure on him and just go out and play. ... We're just trying to build up his confidence and let him play."

Dozier, meanwhile, will remain in the No. 2 spot for the time being, given his experience batting high in the order throughout his career in Minnesota and his manager's faith in a return to normal production.

"Right now, you've got to let him play," Martinez said. "It's early in the season. But he's the kind of guy where once it clicks, he'll start getting it, he'll start hitting home runs like he always does. I'm not worried about Dozier."

Though he hit .215 last season while playing through a knee injury, Dozier is a career .245 hitter who has averaged 30 homers and 82 RBIs each of the last five years.

Martinez will trust that a veteran reverts to his norm soon enough.

"If you assessed me as a player in April, I would've never played in the big leagues," the skipper said. "My Aprils were not good. You've just got to let those things play out."

Martinez, a career .276 hitter with a .730 OPS, hit only .250 with a .669 OPS in April.

Update: Patrick Corbin dominated the Mets the first time through the lineup, striking out six of the first nine batters he faced, plus Brandon Nimmo the second time up. But all it takes is one swing, and J.D. Davis put together one really good swing to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Davis crushed Corbin's first-pitch fastball to right-center for a solo homer. And because the Nats haven't taken advantage of Steven Matz's wildness (four walks) while barely putting the ball in play themselves (eight strikeouts), they trail 1-0 after four.

Update II: Talk about a strange afternoon. Corbin was absolutely brilliant for six innings, striking out nine and almost entirely keeping the Mets flummoxed. Almost. He made three mistakes, and all were hammered into the bleachers for solo homers. Davis got him twice, adding a rocket to left-center in the bottom of the sixth. Michael Conforto then drilled a ball into the second deck for the Mets' third solo homer. The Nats got on the board in the top of the inning via Anthony Rendon's double and then productive outs by Juan Soto and Ryan Zimmerman, but now they trail 3-1 and need to rally against the New York bullpen.

Update III: The Nats cut the deficit to 3-2 in the seventh, thanks to heads-up, aggressive baserunning by Robles. Standing on second base with two outs, he took off as soon as a pitch got past Wilson Ramos, then kept going and scored when Ramos couldn't find the ball. Adam Eaton, trailing him, advanced from first to third to put the tying run 90 feet away. But Matt Adams, pinch-hitting for the slumping Dozier, struck out to strand him at third. No worries, because Rendon led off the eighth with a solo homer off Jeurys Familia. And so just like that, this game is tied 3-3.

Update: Wilmer Difo hit a two-run homer later in the eighth to put the Nationals up 5-3. But the bullpen blew the lead in the bottom of the inning, allowing two home runs and a decisive RBI single by Keon Broxton, and the Mets took a 6-5 victory.