What's the state of the Nats pitching staff entering Sunday?

So, after all that, what's the state of the Nationals pitching staff heading into today's series finale against the Giants? Not as bad as it could have been, all things considered. But there are still bullpen concerns.

The Nats made it through Saturday's 15-inning doubleheader in one piece, thanks to Erick Fedde's five scoreless innings in the opener and Jefry Rodriguez's four scoreless innings in the nightcap.

Now they'll turn to Joe Ross for today's nine-inning game. Originally scheduled to pitch Saturday, Ross was pushed back a day because the club felt it would be better off saving him for a nine-inning game, hoping he can provide more depth than Rodriguez could in his emergency start in Saturday night's seven-inning game.

And the Nationals may need to push Ross to go deep this afternoon because manager Davey Martinez again is probably going to be working with a depleted bullpen that includes a couple of unavailable key arms based on their usage Saturday.

Both Brad Hand and Kyle Finnegan pitched in both ends of the doubleheader. The two paired up well in the opener, Finnegan tossing a scoreless sixth on 16 pitches while Hand tossed a scoreless seventh on 10 pitches. But summoned again in the nightcap, things didn't go as well. Hand threw 17 pitches while working around a leadoff walk in the seventh. Finnegan then took over in extra innings and allowed two runs to score (one of them the automatic runner placed on second base) while throwing another 26 pitches.

So Martinez may not be able to ask either of them to come back and take the mound today. And with Daniel Hudson now on the 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation, the Nationals' late-inning options could be awfully thin.

Then consider both Kyle McGowin and Ryne Harper appeared in Friday night's 1-0 loss, then again in Saturday night's loss. Is either righty available to pitch three days in a row?

Paolo Espino probably isn't ready to return either after a 50-pitch emergency relief appearance Friday following Max Scherzer's early exit due to a tweaked groin.

So who does that leave? Wander Suero (who remarkably didn't pitch in either game Saturday, though he did warm up at one point), Tanner Rainey (who threw 23 pitches Saturday night) and Sam Clay (who pitched Friday but did not make an appearance Saturday).

The Nationals had promoted 28-year-old right-hander Andres Machado from Triple-A Rochester as the 27th man for the doubleheader. But after he didn't appear in either game, Machado was returned to the Red Wings, so he's no longer available.