Wire Taps: Nationals’ bullpen struggles again; Lineup shifted; Juan Soto, Matt Adams come through...

Well, that was super fun. Homers and bullpen meltdowns: that’s what DC does!

Here’s the news from Nats Park:

Big blasts for Juan Soto and Matt Adams, for different reasons (MASN)
Soto hasn't seen any fastballs this season, but he got one to drive off Jeff Samardzija last night. Adams, in the meantime, got some more confidence.

Davey Martinez forced to go to Sean Doolittle again as bullpen almost gives away big lead late (MASN)
“That happened really fast,” said Martinez. “You guys saw it. Everybody saw it. It happened. The biggest thing is to have to use Doolittle up seven there in the ninth was tough, but we had to close out the game. I figured if we could use Barraclough and tried to get an out, keep Doolittle’s pitch count down, we could use him tomorrow."

Early, late blasts power Nationals to 9-6 win over Giants (MASN)
The Nationals had a rout in hand. It should have been an easy win. Then Austen Williams allowed a seven-run lead to become a three-run lead, and things got stressful.

After sluggish few days, Martinez trying out different lineup (MASN)
In an effort to get Juan Soto and Co. some men on base, Anthony Rendon got moved up. In an effort to help Brian Dozier get out of his funk, Howie Kendrick got a start. But Victor Robles is still hitting ninth!

A day after a loss, Nationals’ lineup gets a shake-up for first time this season (WaPo)
“If you look at it,” Martinez said, “it’s just bumping guys up a spot and wanting to play [first baseman] Matty [Adams] today. . . . [The] rest of the guys are hitting pretty much the same. We just bumped 'em up."

Nationals squeak past Giants, survive yet another careening night from the bullpen (NBCSW)
The Nats are back at .500, somehow. Matt Adams and Kurt Suzuki had a lot to do with it, Juan Soto is adjusting, and another Nat fouled a ball off their foot.

Jeremy Hellickson strong again as Nationals hold off Giants, 9-6 (WaPo)
Jeremy Hellickson had a typical start: quiet, with little damage done, especially thanks to the help of his defense.

Chronicling Brandon Kintzler's transformation from doghouse to circle of trust in Cubs bullpen (NBC Sports Chicago)
"I think the drama of my trade last year, you couldn't really be yourself because there's all this media about whatever they tried to say I did [in Washington]," he said. "It kinda hurt. It messes with your mind a little bit so you don't really wanna be yourself."

How Yankees’ Gio Gonzalez has been Triple-A Santa Claus (NJ.com)
Gio has about $66 million in the bank, so Nikes for the clubhouse and arcade games for the team aren't actually that much of an issue, believe it or not. (He's also, shockingly, getting along well with everyone.)