Washington Nationals’ lineup for series finale with Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday Night Baseball...

Saturday afternoon’s loss to the Philadelphia Phillies left the Washington Nationals 3-7 in their last ten games and 7-12 in 19 games in June.

Davey Martinez talked after the second straight loss to the NL East’s second place Phillies about his sincere belief that doing, or not doing, little things right ends up deciding most games.

“I repeat myself every day,” Martinez said, “but it’s about the little things. Today was about the little things.

“Not knocking balls down. The plays at home, things like that, but you know what, I’m proud of the guys.

“We fought, they battled, and we’ve just got to come back tomorrow and do it again. Look, I’ve got all the confidence in the world we’re going to start swinging.

“[Bryce Harper] is swinging the bat a lot better. [Daniel Murphy] is starting to swing the bat better. [Juan] Soto has been Soto. They’re all going to start swinging. [Anthony] Rendon, what an at bat he put on to hit a home run. We’ll start scoring some runs. Bullpen right now is a little beat up, so we’ve got to get that going again.”

The Nationals will try to get things going again with a rookie right-hander on the mound.

Jefry Rodriguez, in his third appearance, and second start, will try to help the Nationals avoid a sweep in the third of three with the Phillies in D.C. tonight on Sunday Night Baseball.

The 24-year-old right-hander impressed in his MLB debut, tossing 4 ²⁄₃ scoreless against the Atlanta Braves back on June 3rd, and there were positives to take from his first MLB start, in which he gave up four hits (two home runs), three walks, and five earned runs total over five innings of work against the New York Yankees this past week.

Will the Nationals be able to avoid a sweep and salvage the series finale? You’ll have to wait until 8:05 PM (or more like 11:30-12:00-ish to find out).

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE FINALE WITH THE PHILLIES: