Williams on Grace's move to Syracuse and what to do late in games

The Nationals recalled left-hander Felipe Rivero on Monday and optioned left-hander Matt Grace to Triple-A Syracuse.

Manager Matt Williams said Grace needs to work on keeping the ball down. The Reds scored four runs versus Grace on Sunday in an 8-2 win over the Nationals.

"We want him to just be down in the strike zone," Williams said. "He's gotten hurt by that ball being up. That's not his game. His game is to sink the ball down and create grounders. In recent outings, that hasn't happened.

"He's missed the strike zone, been outside of it and fallen behind, as well. It's most important for Matt to be in the zone and down, getting ahead of hitters and inducing grounders. So it's an opportunity for him to get back and get back in a routine, get fresh, get back on top of the ball and be back with us at some point."

The bullpen's struggles in Cincinnati open a few questions. Is the team hurt without setup man Tyler Clippard, now with the Athletics?

Williams was asked if his bullpen needed to have set pitchers to be called upon in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings of each game. He said despite Casey Janssen getting knocked around four runs on four hits Saturday, the Nats still have confidence in the 33-year-old veteran.

"You always want to put the players in position to succeed in whatever position that is," Williams said. "However, we have Casey back now. It's still early in his process. He had some really good outings and had one that wasn't so good. He's itching to get the ball again. He's got experience. The resume speaks for itself. He understands it. He's a guy that fits in the back of that bullpen.

"There are adjustments that need to be made sometimes, but what we want to have is going into the seventh, eighth and ninth with the lead and we'll be able to have our guys go out there and hopefully hold those runners down and win those games."

But Williams is not going to throw in the towel and alter his strategy late games just because of the rough weekend series. Prior to this past weekend, the bullpen had operated fairly well during the team's run of 21 wins in 27 games.

"We've seen that a lot, it's happened a lot," Williams said of the bullpen's early-season success. "So the last three games not withstanding, it's been fairly good."

Clippard is gone to another team. But are the Nationals overlooking the value and importance of Craig Stammen, who is likely lost for the season with right forearm surgery?

"It's always a blow to a team if you lose someone of that caliber," Williams said. "On the other hand, guys have stepped in and helped us win games, too. So (you) never want to lose someone like Craig though."

Williams would not announce a starter for Wednesday's series finale against the Blue Jays, saying it depends on how the bullpen is used in these first two games of the series.

Williams confirmed that Sammy Solis went through a short bullpen session today and did well. Solis has been on the disabled list with left shoulder inflammation. With Grace sent down, Matt Thornton is the only left-hander with substantial experience in the bullpen.

Rivero, who returns today, was on the disabled list from April 18 to May 21 with a gastrointenstinal bleed. He pitched in one game, allowing one run (a Ryan Howard RBI single) on three hits, with no walks and two strikeouts in his lone inning of work April 17 against the Phillies. The Nationals won that game 7-2.

Solis has been on the disabled list since May 18 and has missed nine games. He would be eligible to return tomorrow or Wednesday.