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Washington Nationals’ lineup for second of three with Brewers in Milwaukee...

Davey Martinez’s squad tries to bounce back from a long trip to Milwaukee and a dispiriting loss in the series opener with the Brewers...

By Patrick Reddington
Washington Nationals v Milwaukee Brewers Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Washington’s trip from Philadelphia to Milwaukee was a long one, with the team trapped on the tarmac in Philly for seven hours before they decided to head back to the hotel and wait for another ride. With a flight in the morning, they arrived in Wisconsin with around seven hours to rest up and get ready for the series opener with the Brewers.

They played like a team that spent seven hours sitting around on a plane in the first of three in Milwaukee, committing four errors in a 5-3 loss, but Nats’ skipper Davey Martinez was not interested in using the delays as an excuse when he spoke to reporters after the game.

“I can’t make any excuses, because I know before the game the guys were pretty amped up to play, you know, we’ll see how they come out tomorrow,” Martinez said.

“Tomorrow is going to be — I hope they all go home like I am and hop in that bed, put the covers up over my head, and not see daylight till about noon.”

Martinez wouldn’t use the makeshift lineup the Nationals have been fielding with all of the injuries they’ve dealt with as an excuse either.

“No, I mean we’ve got some young players, obviously, but then again these are players that are prospects, a lot of them, and they’ve done this before at a high level, in Triple-A, so when you come up here, like I said, there’s two constants for me, and that’s play good defense and good baserunning. You want to be a good teammate, run the bases well, get to the next base for your teammates. And we’ve got to continue to do that, we’ve got to continue to talk about it, we’ve got to continue to press them on it, I mean, really, I mean, if we’re going to do this and turn it around, we have to clean that up.”

Will a well-rested lineup be able to even things up with the Brewers? Or will the travel catch up with the Nationals on the day after, once the adrenaline has worn off?

Will the return of Anthony Rendon spark something?

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR THE 2ND OF 3 WITH THE BREWERS:

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