Summer training news and notes

Some news and notes for you on this Friday morning, the eve of the Nationals' first exhibition game against another club in four months ...

* Though most of the attention - rightfully and deservedly - during Thursday night's intrasquad game was on Juan Soto and Howie Kendrick, there were other notable moments not involving the two big-name lineup regulars who made their summer training debuts after two weeks in mandatory quarantine.

Patrick Corbin started for the home team and pitched four scoreless innings against a lineup of mostly regulars. The left-hander got into some first-inning trouble via back-to-back singles by Kendrick and Asdrúbal Cabrera but escaped the jam striking out Starlin Castro. Corbin would finish by retiring the last nine batters he faced, four on strikeouts.

The only two runs scored during the six-inning game came during a two-out rally in the bottom of the first off Daniel Hudson. After Hudson walked Eric Thames, Carter Kieboom and Yan Gomes produced back-to-back doubles, Gomes' hard shot down the left field line bringing home both runners.

Hudson wound up needing 26 pitches to complete his one inning of work, a bit of a shaky outing for the veteran reliever.

For the second straight night, Kieboom made an impressive play at third base. The rookie had to venture into foul territory well behind the bag to make a tricky catch of Adam Eaton's fourth-inning popup.

* After four consecutive evening intrasquad games, the Nationals will hold a late-afternoon workout today. The 4 p.m. session will include appearances by several relievers who need work, plus Aníbal Sánchez, whose turn in the rotation comes up.

The Nats then host the Phillies in their exhibition opener at 6:05 p.m. Saturday. They'll return to work out the next morning, with manager Davey Martinez wanting players to get used to the quick turnaround from night game to day game.

* If you were worried about the 2020 Nationals losing a key element of their 2019 mojo, don't worry. They still plan to dance in the dugout after home runs and in the clubhouse after wins.

They're just going to have to be careful not to get too close to each other as they do it.

"We don't have to be one on top of the other to dance," said Sánchez, one of the key dance leaders from last season. "We can enjoy those moments with social distance."

Anybody who has ever attended a junior high dance can sympathize.

* Thursday night's game saw the return of artificial crowd noise, walk-up songs and PA announcements from Jerome Hruska. The volume was turned down a few notches from Wednesday's game, and it does appear the unnatural ambiance is here to stay.

Also added to the proceedings Thursday were canopies covering the first couple rows of seats down each baseline. Those will serve as expanded dugouts, giving players and coaches more room to spread out and socially distance during games.

The Nationals also began covering up some outfield seating sections with tarps emblazoned with advertisements.